TV Out NOT Working?

[Guest MrTex]

I cannot get TV Out on my Omnia II(i920) to work correctly. I have played around with all tv out settings but all I get is a distorted screen on my tv...I select TV Out when I plug in the cable.

I am using the Samsung OEM branded cable.

Does anyone have the same problem or any suggestions?

[Guest dwallersv]

I cannot get TV Out on my Omnia II(i920) to work correctly. I have played around with all tv out settings but all I get is a distorted screen on my tv...I select TV Out when I plug in the cable.

I am using the Samsung OEM branded cable.

Does anyone have the same problem or any suggestions?

Same problem. You probably have the i8000 cable, not the i920 cable. They have different part numbers, and I suspect are wired differently -- i.e., the pinouts in the O2 connector are not the same, and/or have a different mechanical spec for the size of the contact bands on the plug. However, I don't know this for sure to be the case -- just speculating based on the fact that there are two distinct cables.

My own story: I ordered an OEM cable from a vendor in Hong Kong, by Samsung Part # for the i920. They first sent me the i9x0 cable :lol: Let them know, emphasized the part number, and they sent a new cable that looked right. Identical to the picture on the Samsung site. However, like you, the video won't sync (looks all wavy and rolls, with occasional glimpses of some sort of distorted video in there).

So, I hooked it up to an oscilliscope (I own a Protek 840 handheld/portable), and yes indeed, there is a identifiable NTSC signal there. However, I have to really fiddle mightily with settings on the scope to get it to properly trigger, which is a strong sign there is a problem with the sync pulse -- this is what the scope triggers off of in NTSC mode. So, I'm not surprised a TV can't find the sync pulse either. (For those that have had their curiosity piqued by this, go here for a decent explanation of an NTSC composite video signal)

When I look at the signal, the bottom of the sync pulses are not at 0V... rather, they are positive voltage, and I have to use AC coupling on the scope to get it to trigger (EEs and other electronics folk will know what I'm talking about here). This strongly suggests that there is not a true ground connection between the phone and the TV, and that ground is "floating", or what is the "ground" connection in the wiring of the cable (which connects to the outer clamps on the RCA connectors) is not connected to ground in the phone from the 3.5mm jack, but instead is connected to one of the other signal pins, maybe L or R audio.

In any case, since there's no part number on the cable itself, I can't verify that it's the right part. I have heard elsewhere in the forum that the i8000 cable is different and doesn't work on the i920, so I'm assuming they sent me one of those. I'm also guessing that's what you've got.

If anyone knows a good, reliable source for a real i920 TV cable, I'd I (and I'm sure others here) would be very grateful!

Edited June 27, 2010 by dwallersv

[Guest MrTex]

Same problem. You probably have the i8000 cable, not the i920 cable. They have different part numbers, and I suspect are wired differently -- i.e., the pinouts in the O2 connector are not the same, and/or have a different mechanical spec for the size of the contact bands on the plug. However, I don't know this for sure to be the case -- just speculating based on the fact that there are two distinct cables.

My own story: I ordered an OEM cable from a vendor in Hong Kong, by Samsung Part # for the i920. They first sent me the i9x0 cable :lol: Let them know, emphasized the part number, and they sent a new cable that looked right. Identical to the picture on the Samsung site. However, like you, the video won't sync (looks all wavy and rolls, with occasional glimpses of some sort of distorted video in there).

So, I hooked it up to an oscilliscope (I own a Protek 840 handheld/portable), and yes indeed, there is a identifiable NTSC signal there. However, I have to really fiddle mightily with settings on the scope to get it to properly trigger, which is a strong sign there is a problem with the sync pulse -- this is what the scope triggers off of in NTSC mode. So, I'm not surprised a TV can't find the sync pulse either. (For those that have had their curiosity piqued by this, go here for a decent explanation of an NTSC composite video signal)

When I look at the signal, the bottom of the sync pulses are not at 0V... rather, they are positive voltage, and I have to use AC coupling on the scope to get it to trigger (EEs and other electronics folk will know what I'm talking about here). This strongly suggests that there is not a true ground connection between the phone and the TV, and that ground is "floating", or what is the "ground" connection in the wiring of the cable (which connects to the outer clamps on the RCA connectors) is not connected to ground in the phone from the 3.5mm jack, but instead is connected to one of the other signal pins, maybe L or R audio.

In any case, since there's no part number on the cable itself, I can't verify that it's the right part. I have heard elsewhere in the forum that the i8000 cable is different and doesn't work on the i920, so I'm assuming they sent me one of those. I'm also guessing that's what you've got.

If anyone knows a good, reliable source for a real i920 TV cable, I'd I (and I'm sure others here) would be very grateful!

Sounds like we have the problem, I ordered a different cable off eBay. Not sure if it will work, but it's cheap(Nokia)...Thanks for your help.

[Guest Snow02]

Yeah, I tried a Nokia cable on my i920. No joy. Good luck.

[Guest ray1234]

try connecting the different colored plugs to the video in and see if it works. My cable doesn't work when connecting the yellow plug to the video, but the video goes to the white plug instead, just try it may work....

[Guest MrTex]

try connecting the different colored plugs to the video in and see if it works. My cable doesn't work when connecting the yellow plug to the video, but the video goes to the white plug instead, just try it may work....

Yeah, I tried that but no luck. Only the yellow plug tries to work but picture is distorted\scrambled...thanks anyway

[Guest Snow02]

Yeah. I tried that as well.

[Guest om990rt]

Had the same problem but its cause of the 3.5m jack, did not plug it all the way in for it to be detected. you can try.

[Guest ray1234]

Had the same problem but its cause of the 3.5m jack, did not plug it all the way in for it to be detected. you can try.

Yes, the jack is designed with very tight fit, I actually have to cut away part of the plug to fit it in. I don't think this is MrTex's problem though as he got the option box for TV Out already, if it isn't plugged in, the option box will not pop out.

[Guest chench]

Yes, the jack is designed with very tight fit, I actually have to cut away part of the plug to fit it in. I don't think this is MrTex's problem though as he got the option box for TV Out already, if it isn't plugged in, the option box will not pop out.

I tried a cable a while ago and got the wavy distored image. I'd assume that's because the ground pins dont match up. I lost that cable a while later and bought a different one, which works fine. It's just described as "3.5mm Jack to 3 RCA Phono Lead Audio / Video AV Cable" on ebay. I think different manufacturers wire their cables different. I heard that there is a Sony way, and a China way.

[Guest chench]

Also, the video out is crap quality, no matter what setting I use. Much poorer than the phone's screen with artifacting and muck. Anyone find a way to clean it up?

[Guest kibiwi]

I use a nokia n95-97 video cable and after I updated my ROM to the last version here on modaco the tv out work like a charm not problem at all :lol:

[Guest Snow02]

I'm using the nokia cable as well. I can say that both left and right audio do indeed carry audio (not switched like some cables apparently). But my video still won't output. The ground is absolutely coming from the rca jack, as guessed here.

I was thinking that my ROM might be the issue. It's a custom one, so perhaps something was removed that's hindering the TV out functionality. Might have to try loading the factory just to see when I get some spare time.