Q: I recently purchased two movies from iTunes. I can watch them on my computer just fine, but when I try to watch them on my iPod only the sound works, and no visual.
– Eileen
A: If these videos play fine and were purchased from the iTunes Store, they should also work just fine on your iPod as well. The most likely cause of getting sound without on-screen video is that the iPod has been set to enable the “TV Out” feature, which instead would direct the video signal out through your headphone port and/or Dock Connector port instead of displaying it on the iPod screen.
With the newer iPod classic and iPod nano models, the TV Out function cannot be enabled unless a compatible video accessory is attached. With the fifth-generation iPod, however, this setting does not attempt to detect an accessory, since a wider range of video output options are available on the 5G iPod, including video output via the headphone jack.
To check this, select Videos, Video Settings, TV Output and ensure that it is set to either “Ask” (in which case you will be prompted each time you attempt to play a video), or “Off” (which will direct video output to your iPod screen).
If this setting is in fact “Off” and you are still not seeing video on your iPod screen, you should try removing the video files and retransferring them back onto your iPod, in case there was a problem with the video transfer.
You can also try resetting your iPod by holding down the CENTRE+MENU buttons for a few seconds to see if that resolves the issue.
It should also be noted that if you’re working with music videos, rather than movies or TV shows, these will only display video output when played from the Videos menu. Playing a music video from the Music menu will only play the audio portion of the video. Movies and TV Shows, on the other hand, can only be accessed from the Videos menu.
