Something unexpected happened while making some video recordings from my PC.

Short story is that there are some YouTube channels I've enjoyed for years, and I want to save some of my favorite videos from these channels. At first I tried to download the FLV files, but then had issues playing these on different computers. Then I converted the FLV files to other formats like WMV, AVI, or OGV. Same problem, codec on different PCs were a nightmare.

So I decide to go DVD. First I used Windows 7 DVD maker, which is simple but takes ages to encode the video. So long in fact, that it's 2X to 3X as long as watching each video.

Finally, I decide to go the hardware route. I plug in a standalone DVD recorder to the s-video output of my graphics card. This works perfectly, and there is zero encoding time as the videos are saved to DVD as quickly as I can watch them.

My problem emerges today. To start with, I had been using my large color TV (CRT) to monitor the video coming out of the DVD recorder. This was inconvenient due to the physical placements of the equipment, so today I swapped out the color TV to a small black and white tabletop TV set (also CRT) on my computer desk.

Everything was perfect now... Except when I played a disc after recording, the video was on the disc in black and white! It seems that when I use the black and white TV as a monitor, I get black and white recordings. If I use a color TV set, I get color recordings. What's weird is that the TV is on the END of the signal chain, not in the middle!

So, is my PC graphics card detecting the black and white TV, and outputting a signal stripped of color? Is there a setting in the drivers for this? Or maybe the DVD recorder is doing this? How can either hardware sense what kind of picture tube is on the other end of the composite RCA video cable?

Its either:

A. the DVD Recorder records based on its output settings
B. The Video Card bypasses the DVD-Recorder and Detects the Display Type (Mine does this.)

It's difficult to troubleshoot this problem if you do not describe which cable is connected to which connector etc... you need to give an accurate description of each cable, connector, and the routing. Whatever the case, it sounds like your DVD recorder is recording from your TV's output and not from your computer. Disconnect the TV altogether and then try to record what you watch. If you do not get a recording, then you need to re-route your connections correctly. HTH

Thanks guys. My PC's s-video output feeds the DVD recorder. The DVD recorder's composite video output feeds the TV. The TVs have no video outputs.

In graphical form:
PC -> s-video cable -> DVD recorder -> composite video (RCA) -> TV

I had a few minutes to test over the weekend, and wasn't able to narrow it down. Safest bet is probably to use the color TV, however inconvenient, especially now that I know either the PC or the DVD recorder can and will sense what kind of display is on the end of the chain.

Quite strange in any case. I never would have expected that it would be possible to determine what kind of TV was on the other end through a composite video cable.