A TechLore "Ask the Experts" Question...
Question:
My mother has a Sylvania SSC192 TV/VCR combo. I bought her a DVD player for her birthday, and I can't help her connect it over the phone. Her TV/VCR unit only has a place for the white and yellow connectors, but not the red. Plus, her remote does not have a button to switch from TV to video. Help please!!!
-submitted by misty
Answer:
Sure enough, instructing people on how to set up A/V components over the phone can be a frustrating experience. Luckily for you, we here at TechLore have a lot of experience in helping users from afar. You really have two questions here, so let's see if we can tackle each of them and get your mother watching DVDs today!
You mentioned that you are unsure how to connect the yellow, red, and white cords from the DVD player when the TV only has a jack for the yellow and the white. Luckily, this can be easily dealt with.
If a TV is missing the red connector, it means that it is not a stereo TV (also known as monaural). This means that there is only 1 speaker in the set that is handling the audio instead of the separate left and right speakers in a typical stereo setup. The sound in mono setups will not be as dynamic as it would be if the sound were to come out of a left and right speaker.
Many will connect the white audio cord and let the red one go unplugged, but this is certainly not the best way to do it, and it is possible that many sounds in the DVD movie will not be heard. Instruct your mother to take a trip to her local radio shack, and purchase part number 42-2536, which is a 2 female/1 male phono stereo to mono adapter ($3.99). 
This will allow her to combine the audio from both the red and white cords into one. Then, instruct her to connect the yellow cord to the yellow jack, and the single male plug from the adapter cable (with the red and white plugged into the other end) into the white jack.
Just so you don't feel like you're the only one that has to deal with this problem, you may take comfort knowing that I have an older 9" TV/VCR combo in my kitchen that only has a yellow and white jack. Check out the picture at the very top of this article to see it connected the same way your mother needs to connect hers.
It would also seem that your mother is unsure how to view the external A/V input since neither the TV or its remote has an input selector button. On the SSC192, channel down below the lowest memorized channel, and eventually a screen labeled "AUX" will appear. This is where your mother needs to put the TV in order to view the DVD player when connected to the front inputs of the TV.
Matt Whitlock - Editor, TechLore.com
Did You Know...
Many TVs don't have external A/V inputs, but you can still connect external A/V devices by using an RF Modulator. Read more about it in this "Ask The Experts" article.
Commercial movies are filmed in different shapes, which can impact how a DVD movie will fit your home TV screen. Read "How various DVD aspect ratios will appear on your TV screen" to learn more.
While You're At It...
Ready to abandon that rusty old VCR for a shiny new DVD player. There are many difference, so read "Upgrading from VHS to DVD" to help you learn more about common DVD features.
