Member Avatar for andersupra

Hi there,

I have a dell Inspiron 6400 connected to my TV with an S-video cable. I have clear picture on the TV but its black and white. My laptop has a Radeon x1300 display adapter. IF anyone has any suggestions of possible fixes it'd be appreciated.

Thanks,
Andrew

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by BstrucT

Dani AI

Generated

Quick, practical checklist and why the image goes B/W (adds to suggestion)

S‑Video carries separate luminance (Y) and chrominance (C). If the C path is missing or miswired you get a perfectly sharp black‑and‑white picture. Common causes beyond a bad cable include a wrong adapter/pinout (some bundled leads only wire Y), a damaged S‑Video jack or dirty contacts, or a TV input set to the wrong type. Also check the graphics driver TV/output settings — the TV standard or output mode can sometimes force an odd result.

Troubleshooting steps (in order)

  1. Inspect the S‑Video plug and laptop jack for bent pins or debris; gently clean if needed.
  2. Try the same cable/adapter on another TV or VCR to isolate laptop vs cable vs TV.
  3. Try a known-good S‑Video cable or a different adapter with correct pinout.
  4. In the Radeon/ATI control panel, confirm TV output is enabled and set to the correct TV standard (NTSC/PAL) and output type (S‑Video, not composite).
  5. If the laptop has a combined/composite adapter, test composite input separately — some adapters route chroma differently.
  6. If problems persist, test with a different output method (component, VGA->TV converter, or HDMI if available) to rule out the GPU jack.

For background on how S‑Video separates signals, see S‑Video basics: S‑Video on Wikipedia.

Acknowledgement: is right that cables are often the culprit; the above expands diagnostic checks and driver/T V‑input causes so the real fault can be isolated.

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Member Avatar for BstrucT

I had the exactl same problem, on a N6600.

I changed my cable and it worked fine.
I had color.
Reconnected the old cable, and all b&w.

>BstrucT<

Member Avatar for BstrucT

Its the cable, replace with a better one, never use the bundled ones.

:-)

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