How Can I Put My Sylvania TV on Input Without a Remote?

Sylvania makes a wide variety of TVs for American consumers. Older, larger CRT-based models are common in many households, while new flat screen models have recently dominated the market. Often, it's difficult to operate any television without a remote, and switching between various inputs can prove to be a difficult undertaking. Understanding the types of inputs available on your TV and how to change them will help you accomplish this task if your remote is lost or inoperable.

To understand the inputs on the back of your TV will better help you to change to the correct input without your remote. If you look on the back panel of your TV, you'll see myriad colored input jacks and connectors that allow the connection of VCRs, DVD players and digital cable boxes. With a few exceptions, the red and white jacks are audio-based while the others are usually video-based. Depending on how your system is configured, your components may either connect directly to your TV using these inputs, or to an external receiver.

Receivers drive larger speakers and can handle and switch between more input devices than your TV, hence their preferred use.

Inputs are selected by using a number of methods, depending on the model of your Sylvania TV. Switching inputs is usually accomplished by pressing the "Input Select" button on the remote. Each press will simply cycle through each available input on your TV. If no remote is available, the front panel has a button that matches the function on the remote. This button is located on the bottom-right side of the TV and doubles as the "Enter" button when accessing onscreen menus.

If you have other components hooked to your Sylvania TV via a receiver or amplifier, you may need to change inputs a different way. Your receiver has a remote and a front panel that allows you to change inputs between your DVD player, cable box, game system or various other components. On the front panel, this is generally accomplished via a knob that is turned or via buttons. Similar to your TV's remote, your receiver's remote usually has an "Input Select" button as well.