DVD Player stuffed? P Scan & Split Screen

DVD Player was happily fixed today with the help of a cat, a magnifying glass and pure genius, of course! 

My pussy loves technology and if she can find a way to get involved, there is no stopping her!  Her latest favourite game is ‘mouse murder’ (her ‘pussy cat pom-pom mice’!) Clenched in her jaws she holds it against any cord with a live electric current running through it until it dies, before tearing it to shreds.  Vicious little minx!  This is wonderfully funny to watch, but when the t.v. aerial cable becomes her weapon of choice and something is taping , it is an extreme frustration!  But that is not the least of it!

Buttons.  Buttons, keyboards and in particular, remote controls are her latest passions and newly appointed playthings.  Pussy is a copy-cat of the most extreme and fortunately for us (in most things) and just as unfortunately for us (when it comes to electronics!) she is extremely intelligent!  Little puss has figured out not only how to make the computer screen make wonderful words and noises, by stomping  it with her front paws (she’s typing, of course!) but also that if she stands on the television remote and keeps pressing with her paws the television makes a lovely array of noises and new images to look at!  Funny, at first, but somehow she got a hold of the dvd player remote and did the same, so of course, when I came to switch it on this morning it had a split screen with a big yellow (and subsequently, red) square on it which said ‘pscan’ with an exclamation mark in a yellow triangle.  Bugger.  Now what?

No amount of fiddling with plugs and cables, popping dvds & cds in and out or switching on and off would fix it.  No listings in the manual helped either so I called my favourite electronics store (Dick Smith), who are always happy to share their guru expertise regardless of whether I purchased the item from there or not – and what is more, thus far at least, their advise is always correct.  This time was no exception and having slid my way with raised chin through the cackles on the other end of the phone after telling them the brand of my player (Magnovox) I learned how to ‘possibly’ fix it, followed by ‘good luck with that one’ and jovial chuckles).  For those unfamiliar with this brand, Magnavox is an extremely cheap, extremely efficient, generic ‘K-Mart’ brand which I purchased almost a decade ago; both the t.v., video and dvd player; all have worked without issue or consequence since!   

I am one of these crazy people who talk to their electronics and, if necessary even use enticements like singing and snuggles and the like… only pussy understands… !  Once again my little electronic gems stood by me and once again Dick Smith’s technical advices worked a treat…

To fix a dvd player sporting the ‘p-scan’ warming symbol, simply access your remote’s menu button or similar, search for something akin to ‘settings’ or ‘preferences’ and find ‘default settings’.  Select it and return all back to the system’s default setting.

On a Magnavox, specifically, go to page 28 of your manual.  If you’ve lost it;

Press SETUP button.  Arrow across to Preference.   Highlight Default selection and press ENTER button. 

Press ENTER button again to reset the player.

Done.  Problem solved!

All content (c.) Tahala 2010.