Tip: Zune A/V Cable Explained

The good news for Zune owners is AV cables are similar enough to a standard camcorder cable as well as the iPod video where as swapping cables will give you the correct connections.

Anythingbutipod did this simple but useful analysis of the pinout configuration of different video players on the market. The good new for the Zune is you can use a standard A/V cable you may have at home. Since the Zune ground is located at the same place as standard camcorder connectors, you just have to switch audio-right and video connectors to make it work on your TV.

Comments

[RoshanM]

This is great news.. I tried the TV Out with a standard camcorder cable and got only static/noise on the screen, although audio seemed to come through. I thought I'd bought a lemon. It never occured to me that MS might have reversed the RCA jacks.

[Robert Mc]

Thanks for this information I guess any IPOD type should do then

[Wenderson]

Same here, I can see some image, but it's distorted.
I've tried with the Nokia N95 cable and a standard camcorder one.
I'll try again tomorrow and see if I come up with something.

[JJ]

um its not working for me, i just see a distorted image and hear static, and ive tried every possible RCA combination. I think ill have to buy the zune A/V Kit

[Derek]

Also pure static on my Zune 30. Is the author of this page serious? Has anyone had success with this cheap workaround?

[fj]

it worked fine on my first generation 30 gb zune. Use red RCA plug for video and yellow RCA for right audio and it works just fine. You may want to make sure that the video signal type is set correctly on your zune (i.e. PAL/NTSC).

[Wesmeister]

HAHA I found an old cable in my basement, and it WORKS LIKE A CHARM!!! seriously don't drop 40 bucks on the A/V kit.

For me, the Red plug on the cable was the video cable, so try every combo.

This guy's a genius. thanks for saving me 40 bucks.

[Elaunah]

Worked like a charm for me! I was about to get fed up and take the docking station back to the store, but decided to see if there was a difference between a standard a/v cable and the zune a/v cable. Thanks!

[Edward]

works as long as you switch red and yellow jacks

[Matt]

Ha - definitely works! Yeah, just use the YELLOW plug for Right audio, the WHITE for Left audio, and the RED plug for video.

I didn't know the Zune cord wasn't standard, so I was getting mad at my new car's A/V inputs, thinking it was their fault!

THANKS!