MXIII-G's AV output doesn't work

[Mannex]

I got this specific box because I have an older TV and wanted the AV out as an option.

http://www.gearbest.com/tv-box-mini-pc/pp_230335.html

MXIII-G with S812 chipset and running Android 5.1

But when I hook it up via the AV output, the picture on the screen oscillates rapidly from top to bottom, is grainy, is black and white, basically looks very broken.

The HDMI works perfectly fine.

Is this a hardware or software problem?

Edit: Further investigation shows that the box may be outputting PAL format, while my TV is NTSC. I searched through both the OS options and the deeper Android options but found no options for switching between PAL and NTSC. the only option I found that was remotely related was HDMI CEC.

[trebor]

Long shot its possible the cable has been made incorrectly(colours mixed)
If its a 3 RCA, try each one individually in the Video In (normally yellow) on your TV.
Cheers

[Mannex]

I've actually gone through three cables, one for camcorder (didn't work) one for video/mp3 players and a third one (also from GearBest) that is supposed to work with another brand of android box and supposedly the MXIII-G as well according to the FAQ on the product page.

the first one was messed up bad, the second two were a bit better, but identically broken. I already tried all the plugs in the tv's yellow video input, nothing helped. I really think the box is just defaulting to PAL since the box is chinese and the only countries that use NTSC are the US and Canada

my android 5.1 firmware doesn't have an option to switch between PAL and NTSC but I think installing an older Android 4.4 OS firmware might have the option, but everything other the AV works perfectly fine right now, I don't know how to make a backup image of what I got now, and I don't want to accidentally brick it.

I just bought a $50 HDMI to AV Component/S-Video converter from amazon that should work.

[trebor]

Also the length of the connector that fits the Media player is important (size does matter) some are 15mm and others are 17mm if you put a 17mm into a 15 socket it could be really messed up. You have the adapter/converter hope it all works out well.
Cheers

[Mannex]

my HDMI to AV component converter box arrived and it can bet switched between NTSC and PAL, and when it switch it to PAL it looks just like how it did with the AV cables, so the problem was definitely that it was outputting to PAL

[ccbrianf]

So can anyone else confirm that there is no hope of connecting to a US SDTV without a converter box?

[Mannex]

older firmware OS versions may have an option to switch the box's AV output between PAL and NTSC, but the current Android 5.1 lollipop OS that my box came with has no option, and instead of ******* around with flashing different OS's and firmware (which I have no idea how to do) I just bought this $20 converter from amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Mini-PAL-to-NT.../dp/B009TBFWJK

It seems to work pretty well, except that it introduces a bit of lag to the video, while leaving the audio normal, requiring me to delay a movie's audio by around 0.111 seconds in Kodi for it to sync up with the delayed video. but the picture is fine, and I'm happy

ALSO

You are better off buying a PAL to NTSC converter instead of trying to convert the HDMI output to composite or component out. I bought both a HDMI to y/r/w composite converter and then an HDMI to HD r/g/b component converter, the picture was dark and hard to see, and even worse, both ****ed up the colors so bad that it wasn't usable for me. the greens were all blue-ish and the reds and oranges were way over-pronounced, giving movies even more of a teal/orange color bias than they already have these days. also the audio was really ****ed up, the quiet parts were insanely quiet, but the loud parts were stupid loud (yes, I know that "full dynamic range" is normal, but this was somehow "curving" the dynamic range and making it even worse). not to mention that what should have been smooth color gradients had visible "stepping" like you used to get on older computers with 256 colors. I don't think they're able to convert digital HDMI signal into analog without it ******* up the video and audio severely, and you're way better off just converting the box's AV from PAL to NTSC.

three AV cables and three converter boxes later and I'm finally able to use my box with my older TV. jesus christ what a shitshow it has been, but I'm watching movies now and I'm happy. hopefully my posts save someone else a lot of time and frustration.

[ccbrianf]

Thanks Mannex for all your help. At the risk of trying your patience further though:

In the settings menu under display, do you have a HDMI auto-detection option that can be disabled? If so, is there also an HDMI output mode setting, and what options are there in the list? Is there a 480i option? Thanks.

[ccbrianf]

I got mine, downgraded to 316k4, and hunted through the vertical scrolling menus until I found and changed the display to 480CVBS. It's working, but I set the display size adjustment down as far as it will go (80%), and it's still over scanning. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know. Thanks.