Hooking a converter box to an older TV

The old tube set in the guest room does not need replacing. It needs three plugs. Our converter boxes were designed with exactly this television in mind, and the composite cables it takes are already in the package.

Find the jacks

On the TV, look for a row of three round jacks colored yellow, white, and red, usually labeled AV IN or VIDEO IN. That trio is composite video and stereo audio, and it is the doorway we use. On the back of the converter box you will find the matching outputs.

Connect by color

1. Plug the included 3RCA cable into the box and the TV, matching colors on both ends: yellow to yellow, white to white, red to red.
2. Screw the antenna cable onto the ANT IN port of the box.
3. Power the box on and switch the TV to its AV input. Depending on the set, that is an INPUT or TV/AV button, or channel 00 on some very old models.

If the screen shows the box’s menu, the hard part is over. Run the channel scan and let it finish.

Make the picture fit

Older sets have squarish 4:3 screens while broadcasts are widescreen. In the box’s picture settings, choose how to bridge that: letterbox keeps the full width with slim bars, pan-and-scan fills the screen and trims the sides. Neither is wrong; pick whichever your eyes prefer.

One remote instead of two

Out of the box you would juggle two remotes: the TV’s for power and volume, ours for channels. The 2-in-1 learning remote ends that. Its top keys can learn power, volume, and input directly from your TV’s original remote, after which one wand runs the whole evening. It is also the sane replacement if the original box remote has gone missing under a couch cushion. Worth knowing: it pairs with our converter boxes specifically, it is not a universal remote for other brands, and it takes two AAA batteries that are not in the package.

If there is truly no AV input

A small number of very early sets offer only a threaded antenna socket and nothing else. Those need an RF modulator between box and TV, a small adapter that turns AV output into a channel 3 signal. It is an uncommon case, but we would rather tell you now than let a scan-day surprise do it.