Composite Output, Component Inputs (Not Sage Related)

[greggerm]

I know this isn't SageTV related, but I am coming here because you all have great home A/V system minds and may be able to assist me.

Due to butterfingers and a bad balancing act, I accidentally smashed my parent's older 36" CRT on the floor the other day, breaking off circuit boards on the inside and rendering the set inoperable. (oops)

My fiancee and I have a spare Samsung 32" LCD TV (model number escapes me) at our house, and I brought it over to my parents house today to get it set up. This spare TV has (2) sets of component inputs, (2) HDMI, (1) cable/antenna, and a few RCA audio in ports. It has ZERO/ZILCH/NADA composite video inputs (standard "yellow" video in), and there's my problem.

I will need a traditional yellow composite video in to link up a healthy portion of their gear. The TV linked back to their AV receiver with this cable, and from there it links back to their digital cable box and their VCR.

The digital cable box is also composite (yellow) only, and doesn't have component or HDMI out, thus leading to a bad day for me.

My question:
Can I get the television to recognize any signals coming over the composite jack by utilizing any one of the 3 component inputs? I have serious doubts I can, but I am holding out hope that perhaps it's possible.

I'll most likely have to have them exchange their digital cable box for one with component outputs in order to make this work right, but in the meantime I am hoping to at least get them functional.

Worst case scenario is that I buy them a new TV (*after all, it was my mistake that their set went crashing to the floor), but I'm trying to avoid that as much as humanly possible right now.

Your "input" is greatly appreciated!
-Greg

[Beefcake550]

easiest thing is to get a new cable box with HD outputs (either HDMI or component). Should be an easy switch. Good Luck!

[SWKerr]

They sell a box that goes from RCA to Coaxial channel 3/4 for about $10-20.

If the TV accepts analog cable then I would expect that would work but I would half expect an old cable box to have an coaxial out port to channel 3/4 anyway.

Also: helping out some older people at church I learned that just because they had a cable box does not mean they need one. Hooking up the cable to the TV and running a channel scan without the box got them everything they had with the box. (Time Warner) Nothing in there plan was digital or encrypted.

[paulbeers]

I have a Samsung with no actual composite connectors (yellow), but I thought it had auto sensing that if you hooked the yellow connector to one of the component connectors (I think it is the green connector?) it would treat it as a composite connector. Unfortunately this 32" samsung is now hung on the wall of my bedroom so I cant be anymore help than that...

[paulbeers]

Quick follow up:

I have an LN32A330 and per the manual it states that the Green connector can be used for composite (yellow) video connector.

"Connect a Video Cable between the AV IN 1 [Y/VIDEO] jack on the TV and the VIDEO OUT jack on the camcorder."

Y = green.

Check to see if this is true for yours as well.....

[greggerm]

Paul,
That model number seems very familiar... (the spare TV is my fiancee's, so I am not 100% on which one it is). I'll give that a shot first!

SWKerr,

You're RIGHT - a decade or two ago I bought one of those RF converters for use with an old TV which didn't have a video-in. Low and behold, I still have it sitting in my box of AV cables and equipment.

Unfortunately the cable box will be needed, as they subscribe to digital services. They get some extra stations on the digital side which need to be descrambled.

===============

Step One: Try Paul's "use the green component-in" trick as listed in the manual for Samsung. Hopefully that does it!

Step Two: See if my RF converter still works, and use SWKerr's idea of that!

Step Three: Just plug the coax into the TV and use the old fashioned cable-ready features to make it work.

Thanks, gentlemen!

[greggerm]

Paul wins the prize - component "green" = composite "yellow" on my Samsung.

Thanks for the assistance!
-Greg