Hah made you look: I’m not posting about The Wire.
The other day I had to connect a video camera to a television. The end-user wanted to be able to record some actors he was working with, with live feed or playback on a nice big screen. It looked straightforward enough: a 29-inch television and VCR, both around five years old, each with external AV inputs out front. They worked, and they talked to each other. The camera’s battery was fully charged and I got a picture in the eye-piece. I’ve connected dozens of handycams and digital cameras to TVs in my time. How hard could it be?
Connecting the camera to the television gave no signal. It didn’t matter if I used the AV inputs out front or in the back (all four sets).
Connecting the camera to the VCR, with AV cables from the VCR to the TV, gave no signal. The VCR had three AV inputs in total. I worked through all possible combinations between the TV and VCR’s inputs.
I took a breath. Maybe… I tested the cables I was using: the VCR sent pictures and sound from both television and VHS-tape sources flawlessly to the TV. Not the cable.
Half an hour had passed. Time flies when you’re having fun.
I spotted a quaint coaxial cable lying around. What if -? I wondered, not that it really mattered: I was desperate.
I set up the camera as follows:
VCR to TV with coaxial cable
I didn’t stand back in triumph. I was grumpy. It should never have taken that long.
But sometimes a script won’t go the way you want it to, no matter how much you curse and pray and cheat and steal. It works the way it works because it just does.
Take the win.
