How to Hook Up a DVD Player

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DVDs are ubiquitous in the entertainment world today, and DVD players can be purchased for less than the price of a nice dinner. Hooking up a DVD player to your TV will give you access to countless hours of movie-watching bliss, and most modern TVs and DVD players make the setup process a breeze.

Plug the HDMI cable into the television, then plug the other end into the DVD player. Plug the DVD player's power cord into the wall, then press the "Power" button on the player and TV. Change your TV's input mode to the appropriate HDMI port.

Powering On the DVD Player

Plug in the DVD player and make sure it turns on. Before trying to hook up your player, make sure it is plugged in and turns on when you press the "power" button. Usually, a small light or welcome message appears when the DVD player is working correctly.

• HDMI: The most modern connection, HDMI resembles a longer, thinner USB cord. HDMI connections are the highest quality connections and you only need one cord for both the audio and video.
• A/V Cables (Three-Prong): Standing for Audio/Visual cables, this is the most common connection for DVDs. There are three prongs at either end-- red, yellow, and white -- and they match up to corresponding colored inputs on both the TV and DVD player.
• Component Cables: Sporting better quality than A/V cables but less than HDMI, component cables are a set of five colored prongs attaching to five matching inputs on both the TV and the DVD player.

• If possible, use an HDMI cable, as they are the easiest to install and have the best quality video.

• Do not stack different electronic equipment on top of one another -- they can quickly heat up when in use and damage the electronics.

Turn off the DVD player and TV before you connected them. This prevents the likelihood of electric shocks and protects the equipment.

• Some projectors use a "DVI Input" instead of the three connections listed above. If so, follow the same procedure as "Connecting with an HDMI Cable," substituting a DVi cable for an HDMI. [1] X Research source

Connecting with HDMI Cable

• This is the highest quality connection for audio and video and is typically found only on modern DVD players.

• If there is an input number, like "HDMI 1," remember it for later. This is the setting your TV must be set at to see your movies.

• There are a lot of different HDMI cords available, but unless you want a pristine, perfect picture then any length and type of cord will work just fine as long as it reaches. [2] X Research source

• If there is no label or you don't know what input to use, leave the DVD player on and test each input for 5-10 seconds to see where the video appears.

Connecting with A/V Cables

• The set of sockets are typically grouped together with a border or line indicating the included sockets.

• The input sockets are usually grouped together, and are often marked by a border or a line separating the group from the other Inputs.
• The Red and White sockets (Audio) may be separated from the Yellow one (Video). The labels should indicate which socket goes with which Input.

• The Yellow video plug may be a separate cable from the Red and White audio cable.

• If there is no label or you don't know what input to use, leave the DVD player on and test each input for 5-10 seconds to see where the video appears

• If the video is not showing up, ensure that the Yellow plug is connected to the correct Input on the TV and Output on the DVD player.
• If the audio is not coming through, ensure that the Red and White cables are plugged into the correct Input on the TV and the correct Output on the DVD player.

Connecting with Component Cables

• You will notice that a component cable has two Red plugs, which can make things confusing. To figure out which is which, lay the cable out flat so that all of the prongs line up. The order of colors should be Green, Blue, Red (video), White, Red (audio).
• Some component cables only have the Green, Blue, and Red video plugs. You will need a separate Red and White plug audio cable in order to hear your DVDs, like the one found in the A/V section above.

Plug the other side of the cables into the input sockets on the TV. Like on the DVD player, these will be color-coded to match the cable and grouped into Input groups. Look for the "Input" or "In" group. They are typically numbered to indicate which Input you select on the TV.

Make sure your connections are snug and matched to the right color. Match the colored plugs on the cable to the colored sockets on both the DVD player and TV.

• If there is not a label or you don't know what input to use, leave the DVD player on and test each input for 5-10 seconds to see where the video appears

• If the video is not showing up, make sure that the Green, Blue, and Red video cables are plugged into the correct Input on the TV and the correct Output on the DVD player.
• If the audio is not coming through, ensure that the Red and White cables are plugged into the correct Input on the TV and the correct Output on the DVD player.
• Double check that the Red cables are plugged into the correct sockets. If they are in the wrong ones, both the audio and video will be messed up.

Troubleshooting

Make sure that the DVD player is plugged into a power outlet. DVD players need a power source in order to work, so double-check that the player is plugged into the wall or a power strip.

• Some TVs will label the Input channels based on the type of input, such as "HDMI", "AV", and "COMPONENT." Refer back to Method one if you have a question about which input type you are using.

• Note: There are a lot of companies that market extremely expensive cables. For the most part, you will not see any significant difference using high-end cables. This is especially true for HDMI, where a $5 cable will perform the same as an $80 cable. [3] X Research source

Community Q&A

This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

There are several possibilities here. One is that you’ve not connected the cables properly; check that the cables match the color coded jacks they’ve been attached two. The second possibility is that there is a fault with the chroma signal due to either the connections or chipset having a fault. The third possibility is that the color saturation on your display has been turned down to black and white by mistake––unusual but worth checking. Or, finally, you may have inserted a black and white DVD, somewhat common with older TV shows and movies that you expected to be in color or colorized but were not.

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