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Why is My DVD Player Playing in Black and White on the TV?

Author by Kevincy

Updated on Jan 11, 2024

DVDs playing in black and white on the TV seems to be a frequently-asked issue throughout the web. Actually, there are several causes that will result in this confusing problem. If you're in this terrible situation, I have summarized 3 verified solutions below that may be of help to you.


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Well, assuming that you're going to enjoy the cozy movie time with family. After you've made a series of preparations: connect DVD player to TV > dust off desirable DVD case > place DVD disc on tray > press Play on remote control, God damn it, the audio was fine but there's no color in video. Yes, my father also had the ridiculous experience before, the DVD plays only in black and white without color. Actually, this problem can be manually fixed if you find the root cause, here come the solutions.

Solution 1 - Match up the Cable Connection

The DVD player black and white issue is most likely to be caused by the incorrect cabling. As you know, many DVD/Blu-ray players have more than one connection type. Generally, a DVD player can be hooked up to a TV set via an HDMI, composite, A/V, component or S-Video cable. HDMI is the most modern connection that offers the best quality with only 1-step simple cable connection. However, if you have an older DVD player that does not have an HDMI output, you could probably make a mismatch between the three or five colored jack-plugs and the output sockets on the DVD player.

Different Cable Connection Types

The DVD player is recommended to be connected to a TV set directly, for the commercial DVDs, to protect copyright, a DVD is designed to play only when the DVD player is directly connected to a TV. In this case, again, make sure you match up to corresponding colored inputs on both DVD player and the TV. I've seen a dozen cases that a composite cable is plugged into a component connection by mistake and the like. Also, check if the cable connection is fully plugged in, sometimes lose cable connection can cause loss of video signal.

Solution 2 - Switch Input in TV Menu

If you ensure the connection is correct, here is another case. Many TVs have a shared composite and component video input which can do switch automatically between composite and component. But sometimes, you'll get a B/W picture if it doesn't work well. So you may need to do it manually. There's always a menu for that but the access may vary due to different TV models, so I would suggest you check out the instruction manual and drill down to find it. Also, despite a very small possibility, you may just want to check if your TV display mode is set to black and white.

Switch Input in TV Menu to Solve DVD Player Black and White

Solution 3 - Change PAL to NTSC and vice versa

Modern TVs support both NTSC and PAL as do DVD players. But for the old models, if your DVD & DVD player is not compatible with TV broadcast format, e.g. connect a PAL DVD player to an NTSC TV, you likely ended up with an image in black and white, and vice versa. So, to connect PAL and NTSC equipment together, it will require something to change the signal format. That's the need for a gadget named PAL to NTSC/NTSC to PAL converter. Fortunately, it's easily available on most shopping platforms. But frankly, it's more expensive. In contrast, I would prefer to purchase a modern low-cost, region-free PAL/NTSC DVD player. You decide!

Fix DVD Player Playing in Black and White

The Ultimate Solution - Digitize Your DVD Discs

The magic solution is to transform your physical DVDs to digital movie files, so that you can simply enjoy the movie on TV via USB drive, Plex, Roku, Kodi, NAS, etc. without those complex cable connections, settings and operations. At this point, the only necessary program is an outstanding DVD to digital converter. WonderFox DVD Ripper Pro is a literally excellent assistant that stands out in every respect: ease of use, DVD decryption and conversion speed. Free downloadFree download the program and experience the amazing 3 simple steps.

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Step 1. Insert a DVD into DVD-ROM and launch WonderFox DVD Ripper Pro. Click "DVD Disc" to load the entire DVD content. DVD ISO image and Video_TS folder are also supported.

Step 2. All DVD copy protection will be removed during the analyzing process, then it will mark the main movie title automatically. Select your preferred video format or device profile on the right side.

Step 3. Specify a destination directory and hit "RUN" button to start the Disc-to-video conversion. After done, you can enjoy the movie with ease.

Digitize DVD to Avoid DVD Player Black and White Issue

Disclaimer: This guide aims to help get digital copies of your own DVDs for backup and convenient playback purpose. Remember, any copyright infringement is strictly prohibited. Figure out whether it's legal to rip a DVD in your country beforehand.

Wrap Up...

After walking through the solutions above, there is always a method that suits you to fix DVD player black and white issue. I'm glad to hear from you if you've benefitted from this post. Meanwhile, any problem or issue would be also welcomed. See you in the next how-to guide.

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WonderFox DVD Ripper Pro

WonderFox DVD Ripper Pro

WonderFox DVD Ripper Pro is specialized in standard DVD backup. It supports different DVD sources import: recorded/homemade/commercial DVD disc, DVD ISO image and the entire VIDEO_TS folder, and help output a wide range of mainstream video/audio formats. A 2 hour-long DVD movie in 8 GB file size can be compressed to a 2 GB digital video file with trailers, ads, etc. The built-in editing features are practical and user-friendly as well.

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