N900 - TV out - No Display of video's only on Tv
 

Hi,

I connected my phone several times with my 50 INCH Sony LCD. I get the video output on TV but when I switch on the videos recorded by my phone camera, there is no display and only sound comes.

Now I have checked the cables and I am 100 % sure the connection is correct since I get the menu displayed but when I play the videos, no display.

I think there might be some codec problem but not sure, any advice anyone, really appreciate it.

Thanks

Re: N900 - TV out - No Display of video's only on Tv
 

I can verify this. I can watch movies I put on the phone but not those I record with the phone.

Re: N900 - TV out - No Display of video's only on Tv
 

dont go for the highest resolution try fine 4:3

Re: N900 - TV out - No Display of video's only on Tv
 

I just discovered this same problem. I have a DVD encoded with mp4 at 720, and it doesn't display on the TV-out, only plays sound. It does play on the N900 screen. Also, none of the camera-recorded videos play on the TV out either,as mentioned above. I do have a few (very) smaller-res Divx vids that do play on the TV, though.

Why should higher-resolution videos fail to play through TV out? What's the point of supporting high-res if it doesnt play on the TV?!?! And even the internal-codec camera videos,too? WTF?!?!

I can't remember if I had this problem before, I dont think I did but I could be wrong. It's been a while since I've messed with the TV out function.

Other TV-out funtions work ok, though. The destop shows up, and video games like MAME, Mupen, etc. show fine.

Suggestions?

Shinig, what do you mean by "don't go for the highest resolutiuon, try fine 4:3", anyway? Do you mean encoding resolutions? Or some internal, N900 video-out setting?

Re: N900 - TV out - No Display of video's only on Tv
 

I have the same issue as well.

Re: N900 - TV out - No Display of video's only on Tv
 

Yup, I've got the same thing here. From reading the maemo.org archives, it appears that video-out at the highest resolutions may have worked when the device first came out, but for some reason was limited in one of the later Maemo updates. My guess would be this is a work-around for some hardware or software issue they couldn't quite address; after all, smashing HD video down into NTSC requires a bit of effort to do well (or at least a lot of cropping). But who knows...

Well, if you really want to see the high-res video in all its high-res glory, you need to get it off the n900 in a different way. If your TV supports USB input, the n900 works fine as an external drive (this is how I usually do it); otherwise, you'd need to download the video to an HDMI player of one sort or another. The output of the n900 TV-out is, of course, old-fashioned composite NTSC, so it'll never do justice to the actual quality of the video on the phone...

You can control the resolution when you record video. The third icon on the bottom row will let you do this. You can choose between "high", "fine", and "low"; "fine" and "low" videos both still display through the composite tv-out.

Re: N900 - TV out - No Display of video's only on Tv
 

Wow, that royally sucks. I'm positive now I sent some hi-res video to TV out, but it was several months ago. I'm getting ready to travel so I'm prepping some video for the trip.

I was really hoping for some super hi-res mp4 video both on the N900 and for TV out after the plane ride - major bummer that I'll have to settle for old-fashioned XviD (that's if they'll even play!).

As is is, I was stunned when I couldn't even get x264 video to stream in synch at 480, and had to settle for mp4.

This is really is a big change, how did we all miss this? Has anyone been discussing this and I just missed it?

Re: N900 - TV out - No Display of video's only on Tv
 

Honestly, are you sure you purchased the right device? :) This is a phone, man, not a TV set-top box. :) :) I'm amazed at all the gadgets they've managed to squeeze into the thing, but I don't expect it to do everything.

In any case, NTSC is obsolete. Find a TV (or a PC or whatever) with a USB port, connect your n900 to that, and you'll be able to see anything at its true resolution (even videos that the n900 graphics card can't itself handle).

I've only had my my n900 for a month, so it isn't a big change for me. :) But yeah, it looks like there was plenty of discussion about this last year. Looks like it happened with the PR1.2 update. Here's one of the threads:

http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php...ghlight=tv-out

Re: N900 - TV out - No Display of video's only on Tv
 

I love how regularly this is the opening line to replies around here. %^P

Oh ye of little faith! http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php...ghlight=tv-out

By the way, please remember, "it's not a phone, it's a pocket computer with cellular functionality".... ;-]

Re: N900 - TV out - No Display of video's only on Tv
 

Very cool! I'd love to hear if the author of this ever discovered why Nokia dropped support for wide-screen video over NTSC...

(But remember, the n900 still has to reduce the resolution of HD video to fit into NTSC. If you are, as you say, using it to display 720p video, you're just wasting space and CPU; the vertical resolution of the n900's screen is 480 pixels, and NTSC's limit is (roughly) 525. You're never seeing the full resolution of the video.)

Indeed, I do use the thing much more as a pocket computer than as a phone. And yes, it is an amazing little device. :)

Re: N900 - TV out - No Display of video's only on Tv
 

Yes, actually I mistyped at first and edited my post later, I meant to type 720x480 but I originally just typed 720. Funny thing is, I edited that before you replied, as evidenced by your quotes of my post which read "480" not "720". So how you concluded I was attempting to watch 720p video is a mystery (unless you read my post before I edited it, and then went back and replied later after I changed it...)

Either way it's moot. But you're absolutely right, there is no reason to try and watch 720p video on the N900. And yes, you could rightly store HD video on the N900 and stream it onto an HDTV, using the N900 as a mass storage device. But, some people (and I'll include myself in this analysis) would consider that a waste of the N900's precious resources. It would be a lot simpler, and more logical, to bring along an external HDD for such a purpose, if your only goal were viewing on an external source.

Regarding the TV-Out widget, I remember way back in the day, I actually paid money for a bit of software called, of all things, "TVTool", the sole purpose of which was to make adjustments and compensations for one's inadequate video card in order to produce a successful PC-to-TV-out experience. It seems so ironic to me that now that very same function is needed (and able to be provided!) by one's "phone"!

And another thing - "the wrong device"?! I'm not aware of a single other smart phone that even has TV-out! I'll go so far as to say that TV-out functionality was in my top five reasons for getting the N900 in the first place! So to be so cavalier about losing it... I should think not!

Re: N900 - TV out - No Display of video's only on Tv
 

I was reading your first note in this thread, which still reads as 720:

In any case, I'm glad you're enjoying your device. Honestly, I rarely have any desire to use the n900 for video; the only time I do is when I want to show off some videos to friends & family. As such, using it as an external hard drive makes more sense for me than trying to directly use its internal graphics card. But yeah, it's nice to have all the options that this device provides. :)

Re: N900 - TV out - No Display of video's only on Tv
 

Ah, silly me, and I thought I was being so careful. Well, let's hope all this chatter on the topic has called the attention of those needing a fix, as I did.

Let me tell you, when you're traveling to visit relatives, and will need to occupy time both on the plane as well as at your destination, it's nice to have your choice of screen options.

I just purchased and configured a Sixaxis controller as well, which will add lots of value to the N900 too, in conjuntion with all the great video game emulators. It really works a treat. Ebooks, web browsing, music, photos - it just gets better and better!

Re: N900 - TV out - No Display of video's only on Tv
 

i'm on pr1.3 and i have nor problem with any video over the tv-cable.
maybe you guys should try a other player.maybe sib?

Re: N900 - TV out - No Display of video's only on Tv
 

Ah, sorry; we probably should have mentioned that this is entirely an NTSC problem. The n900 has never had a problem with PAL-format tv output, so if you're using a European TV, you've never had to deal with this...

Re: N900 - TV out - No Display of video's only on Tv
 

My problem is that when my N900 was new I used to play some emulated games through TV-out. After a month or so from the last time I had used it, it didn't work. It has been over 7 months now, it still isn't working. When I plug it in, the TV makes an AV channel, but nothing is heard or can be viewed. What do I do?

Re: N900 - TV out - No Display of video's only on Tv
 

ah ok thanks for that info,i didn't know that..

Re: N900 - TV out - No Display of video's only on Tv
 

Yah that could be a problem but then it is a bug which Nokia should fix, it isn't cool you pay for beer and get just half of it.............

There must be a tweak of coding which can be fixed. Looking for support here people, help on this one.

Re: N900 - TV out - No Display of video's only on Tv
 

Hmm. The first thing I would do is try to isolate the fault. If you can, try connecting the n900 to another TV, and see if you still have the problem. Also, if you can, try using the n900's earphones (or some other external headphones or speakers) to listen to some music or other audio; if that works, then it is likely that at least the headphone jack is still functioning correctly...

Re: N900 - TV out - No Display of video's only on Tv
 

Honestly, this seems like such a minor bug to me! Does everybody think the inability to display a few types of video over NTSC tv-out is like "half" of the value of an n900? :) :) In any case, the new tv-out control widget mentioned earlier in this thread does fix the problem; I just installed it and tried it out this morning. Here, again, is a link to the announcement of that widget:

http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=68294

Re: N900 - TV out - No Display of video's only on Tv
 

we have two 32" lcds, philips and samsung, and both act the same way. i was able to listen to music since the beginning, but i cant tell now sice the nokia headphones broke down THE SECOND TIME and the warranty doesnt cover it after 6 mths... anyway, i was able to lsiten to music perfectly!

Re: N900 - TV out - No Display of video's only on Tv
 

Actually, that might be enough to isolate the problem pretty well: I believe audio for tv-out should be using the same electrical path as audio for headphones. So, if you are able to listen to music through headphones, but cannot hear the same music over the TV speakers on either TV, odds are that there is a problem with the tv-out cable itself.

Anyway, that's my best guess. My next step would be to try a different tv-out cable, but I don't know how easy it would be for you to run that test...

Re: N900 - TV out - No Display of video's only on Tv
 

Hey it worked....excellent....so it was a software glitch only....thanks again for the link ....now able to watch high resolution recorded videos again

Re: N900 - TV out - No Display of video's only on Tv
 

The control widget allows scale adjustment. Bumping the default (90) down a point or two was enough to cause the video to appear on the external display. Thank you!