We have a yamaha rx-V750 receiver hooked up to a Sony wega KE 42M1 plasma and a vcr as well which have worked fine for 10 months, although the vcr picture would "black out" briefly on occasion although the sound worked fine. Last week the vcr picture worsened dramatically with total blackouts and intermittent blips of the picture, but continued sound. Bought a new vcr- same problem. The tapes play fine on our other tvs, the receiver plays fine all tv and dvds.We had an AV/repair guy yesterday who checked the cables and the receiver out and for lack of an answer blamed it on reused tapes. We then used brand new tapes, recorded from another vcr, and the same problem occured! The AV guy had concluded it was an "upconverting problem and tracking issue" with the tapes. Commercially prepared vcr tapes play with no problem however. What do we do next? The Av guy can't tell us what to do now! (We are technically challenged)Help!
Is it supposed to be an upconverting issue or a tracking issue? Where do you have the VCR plugged into? Into the TV or into the receiver? And what input on what unit are you using on whatever you are plugged into? Are these all the same brand of VCR tapes? I'm guessing the AV guy didn't offer a solution, just a diagnosis. It would appear there is a problem with whatever unit you are plugging the VCR into. You might want to check your owner's manual and call the shop where you bought the unit for some assistance.
You could transfer all the VCR tape data to DVD using either a PC with a DVD burner or a DVD recorder in your HT.
The likely cause is the video frequency off the VCR is incapatible with either your receiver or your TV (or both). Using a different type of connection may correct the problem, (S-video, composite, or just use cable). First step if your running through the receiver is to plug it directly into the TV, if you really want the switching with the receiver try using a different cable (s-video would be best)