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just4mrg's avatar
just4mrg
Explorer
Jun 19, 2016

DVD - Lousy picture

Just wanted to run this by all the pros out there. Maybe somebody else has had this problem before I start ripping things out.

I have a 7" LCD dash mounted radio/DVD player in my Ford E450. From here the DVD signal goes to 2 flat panels. One in the LR area and one in the rear bedroom. Both TV's are crystal clear playing TV, but the one in front has a floating herringbone pattern when watching DVD. I would say a bad coax likely, but what confuses me, is I doubt very much they would run 2 different cables from the dash. More likely they would run one and split this at the first TV. And the TV in the rear has a perfect DVD picture while the front has the herringbone pattern. And this same TV has a perfect picture watching TV.

So now, do I remove unit from the dash? Remove the TV from the front? Wish I knew how they ran these cables.
  • Thanks DrewE and Cousin Eddie for the very detailed explanations. My unit is at the dealer now getting a leveling system installed. So tired of boards and crawling under. Expensive but we are sure to love it. Soon as I get my unit back I will post whatever I find. Thanks again guys! Much appreciated.
  • I'd say it's most likely a loose or fried RCA video (yellow) connector or wire. I have the same unit as yours in my 2009 Greyhawk. If you do have the manual, there is a set of pins supplied needed to remove the LCD from the four mounts accessed by pin holes on the corners. Otherwise a very small Allen wrench or even large pin should do it. My Cable TV setup has a single coax connector spit three ways. The DVD player uses RCA connectors, two audio (red and white) and one video (yellow) which were electrical taped together. (Not the finest quality RCA connectors either). My DVD was fading into B & W, the mail video RCA was not snug fitting into the female on the unit itself. I crimped it a bit with a pair of plyers to fix.
  • It is probably a loose connection on the hardest one to get to so start there.
  • There may well be two separate cables from the head unit (in the dash) or a Y of some sort. These are most likely composite video runs, with separate audio cables. It's a separate cable system from the RF coax from the antenna, of course, as you presumably realize since the broadcast TV is lovely everywhere.

    The head unit is typically removed by pulling off any trim ring or trim plugs and then sliding some sort of a thin metal key/tool in slots in either side of the radio (to disengage the catches that hold it into the dash mount) and then sliding it forward. The precise details of where the tools are inserted and what shape they are and so forth vary from radio to radio. If you have a manual for the radio, it might tell you more details. (If you're fortunate, the sheet metal keys were included with your RV somewhere and nobody has thrown them out not knowing what they were.)

    I've no idea how your particular TV is mounted. There are a wide variety of mounts possible.

    My guess is that there is a poor connection on one of the video cables, and probably unplugging and cleaning and replugging them will cure the problem. It might be necessary to pinch the outer shell of the RCA plug slightly to get good contact there with its socket. A bad cable is certainly possible, but in my limited experience poor connections are more common.