Problems with picture on a vcr while its hooked to a onkyo receiver?

Question

my customer is having problems with his vcr playback when its hooked up through the onkyo receiver model# TX-SR805. I tried 3 different A/V cables, another VCR,and I tried hooking it up to the AUX , DVD, and Sat port , they all did the same thing. What happens is the top of the picture gets a pinkish tint and the bottom gets a greenish tint. This only happens when he plays VHS tapes. We tried 10 different tapes and no difference. when I hook it direct to the tv it works fine, and when I use the satellite or dvd they both work fine through the onkyo. There is no s-video on either one of the vcrs so I cant try that. I checked the menu and owners manual of the onkyo but there is nothing that talks about this problem. Is there anyone who has run into this problem and if so please help Ive run out of ideas. thank you

Answer 1

I have never seen this symptom from a VCR, and I've seen a lot of broken ones. A company I own, and used to work at, repaired about 3000 VCRs per year back in the day, and I've taught video theory at our local college.

It's likely that the Onkyo isn't processing correctly. I would guess a timing problem exists in chroma processing whereas the green sinc is tardy and the red/blue is early, or they are both compressed.

That's just a guess. It's hard to say without a lot more info. Does the VCR exibit this condition when plugged directly into the TV? That would eliminate the Onkyo obviously. Are you using the upscaling feature of the receiver? Try swapping the surround receiver with another model or brand. I know that's a pain in the butt, but it will give you valuable information. You need to learn whether or not it's an inherent condition or if the receiver is defective.