So I have tried many of the things mentioned here in the forums. But I cannot get the video out function to work with the chord that was provided by nokia in the retail package. I have tried plugging the video out cable into the TV first and then the n900, also tried switching from NTSC to PAL even tho i know that my tv is a NTSC version. I also tried it on three other television sets to no avail.

I went into xterminal and ran "cat /sys/devices/platform/nokia-av/detect" (was mentioned in another thread) and when the cable is NOT plugged in i get the response "3" when it IS plugged in i get response "0" Although I'm not sure what that means...

Any help getting this to work would be appreciated.

Yep, same here tried almost every thing but still cant get tv out to work. I also have LCD tv and tried almost all options to connect, but no joy.
If by chance anyone have solution please do tell us!

regards,

I have no problem with any tv.

only you must :
- use yellow marked connector to connect to a video IN connector ( also marked yellow ) on tv
- select aprppriate input . latest lcd tv have many av inputs av1, av2, .. etc.
sometimes the input is labeled CVBS or composite.
- select corect standard. my lcd work even if i set pal or ntsc but you can try at first time with your country standard.

as an option you can use AV to euroscart adapter

Mine is intermittant, and I have not been able to figure out what causes the times it doesn't work.

Well, not all phones are equal and not all TVs work the same. There's a difference in the reading of a TV versus a headset. Ideally it should work every time.

For example, some TVs have power saving features so they only detect at startup or "every now and then". As a result, it can be intermittent. My old CRT gets detected every time because back then "large TV" and "economy" went together like "truck" and "surgery".

New plasma though gets a bit irregular, so what I do is start the plasma with the N900 attached. Works every time. There is no indication on the Nokia that it detected it but it works, and sometimes there's a hint sometimes there's not.

Additionally, it's surprising how often people misconnect this stuff, because Audio Left, Audio Right, Luma, Delta Red, Delta Blue, Composite and outputs all have RCA. To make it confusing other standards also use RCA, To make stuff even more confusing, some TVs have no color codes. Others have "smart" jacks that try to guess signal. On the other side, another "smart" device tries to guess too.

N900 has a Composite out (yellow), with Audio Left and Audio Right (red and white). Most TVs have YPrPb connectors in the back, some only have that, and rely on SCART connectors to use "intelligent" switching between RGB, YPrPb and Component. An alarming trend with the new TVs is they all have unlabeled "inputs" that go automatic.

Perhaps one should invest in a Composite to SCART connector (it's passive and some 5$) to get reliability. Make sure you get the colors right. Oh, and, SCART is used for input and output, too, so make sure you read the direction right.

Basically,

a) If you get intermittent detection, you might have a smart system. Powering the TV with N900 plugged in could fix it. Also, a good adapter that is "for Composite" might hardwire the detection pins.

b) Image is black and white, maybe a bit blocky or shakey. You used a Luma port. The connector is a Component port, yours is Composite. Radically different, but if you use yellow on green you get a B&W (bad) image. All other combinations fail. Use a Composite port.

c) You have an adapter and it doesn't work. Your adapter might be RGB (need a new one if it's intentional), it might be Delta Coded (YPrPb AKA Component, yellow on greed is black and white, you need another adapter), it might be an output instead of an input (if it has a direction switch, use it, otherwise, new).

intermitent on nokia side ?
supposition - must be checked

check if you have application for pausing mediaplayer when headpone is unpluged . can cause conflict. i don't have installed and video work every time.
an other supposition to check
nokia can switch from headset ( microphone ) to av cable ( video out ) by checking impedance on video cable ( yellow marked ) to be 75 ohms. this is exposed by tv side. if tv don't have this impedance nokia maybe don't switch

red-withe mean sound and is always present.
so the single difference between headset and av is mic vs. video

Later edit

I checked with an ohm-metter the cable. between "yellow" central and ground nothing found. if I plugged the yellow marked connector on my tv I found "magic" 75 ohm so my opinion: n900 switch to av mode only if seen 75 ohm to the ground on yellow / mic.
any video cable must have 75 ohm impedance on BOTH ends so if n900 detect tv mode from cable it MUST activate 75 ohm impedance on his end.
if tv don't have precise 75 ohm on connector n900 may not switch to av mode.
if tv activate his 75 ohm only if cable ( n900 ) present 75 ohm make sense to final failure av mode. possible vicious circle

BTW my tv have black instead yellow mark on av in