Update - Reset PS3 Video Setting - Blank Screen - How to switch from HDMI to Composite - Composite to HDMI

Posted August 25th, 2008 by Purazar

After posting the quick "How to" regarding resetting your PS3 video settings, I received a ton of comments and questions. So, here is a post dedicated to answering them.

Confusion over which power button I was refering to!!
The main power button on the back of the PS3 must be ON. The main power light in the front of the PS3 must be red. This means that the unit is getting power, but is turned off.
If the light is green, don't panic, all we need to do is force the PS3 to shut down. You can do this by holding down the power button for a few seconds until the light turns red.
Now you're ready to reset the video settings on your unit.
All you hear is the sound, but no video!!
If you're connecting via HDMI, it's not possible to get one and not the other, unless your TV is off, but your Amplifier is on. With the composite connection (white and red for audio, yellow for video), make sure you've plugged them into the correct connections - I have seen too many people plug the video connector into another audio connector.
Make sure you're TV is set to output the proper source.
In any case, if you have everything hooked up correctly, try resetting the video settings one more time - it doesn't hurt the PS3.
Everything was working, but the system froze!!
This has nothing to do with the video settings. The system probably crashed. You can hold down the power button on the front of the PS3 for a few seconds to reset the system. If things are really locked up, this won't do anything, and your only option is to turn it off with the button on the back. After you've turned it off, give the unit a minute, then power it back on.
It still won't reset the video settings!!
Hold down the power button on the front of the unit till you hear a beep (4-5 seconds). If you don't the unit will power on, but won't reset the video settings. Most people don't hold the button down long enough.
Ready to throw it out the window?
Here are a few other thigns you can try. Try to narrow down the problem further. Test the system out on a friends TV or a computer monitor. (Instructions on how to do that are here). Make sure you reset the video settings for that TV/Monitor. If that works, then the problem is possibly your TV.
If that doesn't work, try a new/different set of cables. After being bent and twisted, cables can break inside their rubber casing, which can cause the problem.
If all else fails, you might have to contact Sony to troubleshoot further.

Hope this update help, if not, post your problems in the comments, and I'll do my best to answer.

Purazar's blog

HELP MEEEE!

On January 5th, 2009 ross (not verified) said:

HELP MEEEE! i turned my ps3 off my the main power switch and it made a loud, high-pitched noise, now my ps3 isnt showing on my screen nor is my controller turning on

Hey Ross I'm not sure why

On January 5th, 2009 Purazar said:

Hey Ross

I'm not sure why you did that, but you should avoid turning off the system with the main physical switch at the back unless the system is completely irresponsive.

But to try and fix your problem... turn on your PS3. Give it a 15-20 seconds. Plug in your controller with the usb cable. After a few seconds (10-15) unplug it, this will at the least, sycn your controller to the system.

As for the video, I've responded with almost every possible solution I can think of when others have asked... take a look at the comments below. If none of those help, let me know, give me more details, and I'll see how I can help.

Good luck

vital when reseting ps3

On January 1st, 2009 chicken skin (not verified) said:

make sure you have the hdmi cable unplugged from your ps3 when resetting the button for 5 seconds on start up! worked 1st time for me

Thanks for that tip. I've

On January 4th, 2009 Purazar said:

Thanks for that tip. I've never tried it that way, but it could work just as well as the above.

button broken

On December 27th, 2008 murat (not verified) said:

but my ps3s starting button is broken what can i do?

I'm not sure how you could

On December 29th, 2008 Purazar said:

I'm not sure how you could possibly break the button. There is no physical button there... it's is just a touch sensitive portion of the front panel.

If it is really broken, as in, it doesn't turn the system on, you might want to check the main power button (real/physical switch) on the back. Also plug the system into another wall plug just to make sure you're getting enough juice to the system.... other than that I don't know what else you could do - contact Sony?

Move cable around

On December 25th, 2008 No name Jack (not verified) said:

switching the cable to opposite ends when was turned on worked for me. thanks

ps3

On December 16th, 2008 No name Jack (not verified) said:

My ps3 system recently froze on the main screen and there was just that wavey line. So i held the button in for the 5 seconds and it beeped 3 times. Now when i turn on the system i get just a blank screen. Anyone now how? to fix this

If the system is on, and

On December 16th, 2008 Purazar said:

If the system is on, and you hold down the power button for 5 seconds, it is shutting down the system.

Try to follow my instructions again and reset the video output. It should start working.

Let me know if you need more help.

Still not working

On December 27th, 2008 sara (not verified) said:

I held down the button for 4-5 seconds until the playstation 3 beeped. However, my tv remains blank, my playstation did not turn off it just beeped and the green light flashed once. any suggestions? i was thinking about getting hints on how do navigate the menu with a blank screen to do this the long way, any help?

Hi Sara Have you looked

On December 27th, 2008 Purazar said:

Hi Sara

Have you looked through some of the comments on this post and my original post? There were lots of other ways that people got it to work.

Trying to navigate through the blank screen is a moot point..But here are a few check list of things that you can try to begin with.

What did you do that made it stop working?
Can you reverse it?
Was the PS3 off when you tried this method to reset the video?
Are all your connections correct, and does your display (monitor/TV) support HDMI (HDCP)
Can you try to see if you can get the video to appear by using the composite cables (that came with your PS3) instead of HDMI?

Hope that helps... if not, let me know and we can troubleshoot further.

Good luck

hmm.. what i did was unplug

On December 13th, 2008 Alex Campkin (not verified) said:

hmm.. what i did was unplug the hdmi from both ends, swap them around turn the ps3 on then i reset the graphics and a screen popped up saying do you wish to do blabydy bah i just say yes and it worked!

lol ive been trying to get

On December 12th, 2008 No name Jack (not verified) said:

lol ive been trying to get this working for about an hour now and i finally figured out what was wrong you forgot to say that you have to unplug the cord from the back of your ps3 and then reset the settings :P i really think you should add it so people dont get to confuzed...or maybe you did ad it and i just missed it but meh haa

ps3 switches back from 1080i to 480i

On November 20th, 2008 McDsNuTs (not verified) said:

ps3 switches back from 1080i to 480i as soon as i start a game. Tryed it on a few diffrent games and I cant figure it out. Help please!!!

Check to see what

On November 20th, 2008 Purazar said:

Check to see what resolution your monitor/TV supports. Also, if you are playing PS2 games, then i think that the max res for those games is 480i. What sort of games have you tried? Check the game pacaking to see what resolution it supports.

If not, you might want to check your connections, and maybe reset your video and try it again - should only take you 2-3 minutes.

blank screen

On November 9th, 2008 kev (not verified) said:

while playing final fantasy 7,ps1 game on the ps3 everything was fine untill i reached the end of disc one and save point,it said insert disc two and all i get is a black screen that makes a buzz noise every 30 seconds or so????? why why why??? i treid the reset thing and still no go. the disc is brand new. any help would be had. thanks. kev.

PS3

On October 7th, 2008 OMEN (not verified) said:

what i did is unplug my tv and i took the HDMI cables out.later i plug in the tv in egain took the hdmi cables in egain did the 5 second crap and it worked.

I just tried this and it

On November 20th, 2008 badger (not verified) said:

I just tried this and it worked! Unplug HDMI lead from PS3 Switch on TV Press and hold PS3 power button to reset video settings Plug HDMI lead back into PS3 WooHoo PS3's back again!

PS3 HDMI to Composite

On September 23rd, 2008 nbcengineer (not verified) said:

I'm trying to move my PS3 from my front tv (wife kicked me out) to my bed room tv. The front tv had HDMI but the back only composite. I tried the reset procedure, but still no video. I hooked it back up to the front tv and it said an HDMI video had been detected do I want to change the video setitngs to HDMI? I said no, and I still have no video or audio on the composite inputs. HELP!!

You can do what the above

On November 7th, 2008 Purazar said:

You can do what the above user suggested. Plug the PS3 into the 'front TV', switch to COMPOSITE. Then turn off the PS3, move it to the back and it should work out.

Or you could try resetting the PS3. I should work, maybe you're holding down the power button long enough. It works everytime for me.

you should hook it up to the

On November 6th, 2008 No name Jack (not verified) said:

you should hook it up to the front TV which has HDMI and you can switch to composite it display settings then you can take it to the back, hope dis helps, Peace broda :D

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