sony 29" 4:3 auto switching problem!!!

[mixalot]

When i use my consoles on my sony tv they are connected via scart and when i power them on, the tv switches to the relevant console but it enables the widescreen mode and i have to press the widescreen butto to get it back to full size again. I know i can cut a wire in the scart cables to stop this but it won't auto switch then, is it possible to disable it via a service menu? Any ideas appreciated.

Cheers

[MikeK]

Originally posted by mixalot
When i use my consoles on my sony tv they are connected via scart and when i power them on, the tv switches to the relevant console but it enables the widescreen mode and i have to press the widescreen butto to get it back to full size again. I know i can cut a wire in the scart cables to stop this but it won't auto switch then, is it possible to disable it via a service menu? Any ideas appreciated.

Cheers

You'll probably just have to live with this.
It sounds like pin8 compatibility problems.

The original SCART connector spec simply required a 12V signal on this pin to switch to AV mode on whichever SCART this 12V signal was presented on.
This worked fine before the days of widescreen (16:9)

Then they added a mid level for widescreen, so now a 5V-8V signal will switch to AV mode in 16:9, and a 9.5-12V signal will switch into AV mode in 4:3.

Sounds easy. But with the old spec, basically any voltage over 5V or so would cause the switch, and so manufacturers weren't that fussy about the actual level being exactly 12V. Hence many devices may not actually put the full 12V on pin8 (they never needed to before).

Hence the incompatibility problems, like yours.
Sounds like the TV is working OK, but the console is putting a voltage less than 9.5V on pin 8 (hence telling the TV to switch into AV mode at 16:9).
It's easy to check if you have a voltmeter.

[ob1rob]

I think i had the same problem with a 29 sony. It's only a minor niggle, in fact i remember now constantly pressing the wide button everytime the PS was switched on.

When I run out of scart sockets I used the front inputs for the PS which stops the wide mode problem, but then it doesn't auto-switch. So it depends on which button you want to press. I preferred using front inputs in the end since i didn't keep the console by the set anyway and it only took a few secs to connect up.