Cable Confusion !!

[tiberious]

Morning all !
My first post , so please be gentle with me.

I was enquiring about the new Thomson 52"RP, and asked about connectivity.I was surprised to learn that the set has 3 SCART connectors on the rear, and a SVHS connector to the side/front(for camcorder).

I had always thought SVHS connectors were better than SCART, and asked why no SVHS to the rear?.
I was advised that SVHS connectors had been "superceded" by RGB SCART ,and that I should connect to the set using "fully connected SCART RGB" lead.

Truth or Fiction ?

For the record, I am putting together a new system Pioneer 908 receiver and 626DVD, JVC 7700 VCR ,Quadral speakers, and (hopefully) the Thomson RP set.

Any helpful pointers would be appreciated.

[Mad Max]

Hi,

Will, here goes a try to clrarify your doubts...

There are several ways to carie picture. RF, Y/C, RGB.

RF is low quality, Y/C and RGB are good quality. (Some people like one better than the other, but there is no HUGE difference in quality.

An S-Video cable carries the Y/C signal only.

A Scart cable can carry all three signals. Then, your TV will switch (Automatically) to the signal it is receiving, or you have dedicated Scart sockets for each signal.

Ex: On my Phillips, I use Scart 1 as RGB (And I think is can also accept Y/C)for my DVD player, Scart 2 as Y/C for my S-VHS video, and Scart 3 can only accept RF, and is therefore unused.

If I get a satelite receiver (soon to come), I will pass the Y/C signals through my ONKYO receiver , to have only Y/C and RGB inputs working.

Therefore, Scart did not superseed S-Video, but it can carry many signals, depending on the image source.

Hope this helps.

Rui

[tiberious]

Thanks mate !

So.... Effectively the quality is the same, with SCART perhaps preferable as it is more versatile,and also carries audio signals (so no audio connections needed).

Problem is, of course, the Pioneer VSX 908 Receiver does not have any SCART connections!!!(7 SVHS sockets though !!)

Is there a SVHS - SCART lead , and would it be ok to use.I am a little concerned,as a 52" screen I`m sure will need the very best connections.

Further words of wisdom appreciated.

Steve

[Dodgey]

SVHS-Scart is common.

You should find on the back of the TV that one of the scart sockets will be marked SVHS. This means that the socket will "take" a SVHS to scart adapter and work properly.

They do it on nearly all modern sets. It's on my "old" Sony 29".

As you can imagine, most people don't want their SVHS connector going in the front (unless it is their camcorder etc).

[tiberious]

Excellent - thanks for the info.

The dream lives on !!

Steve

[Mad Max]

Just be carefull when you buy that cable... S-Video to Scart cables are directional, and if you buy a Scart to S-Video cable it won't work.

This is due to the pins on the Scart being different for video in and out.

Good Luck.

Rui

[tiberious]

Oh Lordy !!

Ok, so which of the following do I need ?

SCART to SVHS plus 2xphono plugs
(wired signal OUT of SCART)

As above, but with wired signal INTO SCART

As above, but switchable IN/OUT.

Sorry to be a thickie !

Steve

[Mad Max]

Better sabe thant sorry, right ?

S-Video to Scart, and don't bother about the phono plugs, because you'll be passing audio through your amp.

Switchable cables work fine, but you lose "a little" quality, due to the extra contacts inside the plug. Don't forget that the worse enemy of a good quality signal is too many connections. Connections allow interference of all kind to slip through.

How's this ?

Rui

[tiberious]

Thanks mate - thats perfect

Steve

[oml]

Hi!
My first post here too.

Just to get one thing straight (and maybe add to the confusion)
svhs ans s-video is not the same thing. svhs is a video format (as in svhs vcr's) and s-video is a video signal standard(Y/C).

Dedicated s-video cables/connections uses 4 pin mini-Din plugs.

But s-video (the video signal standard) can also be transmitted via scart connections.

Scart or EuroScart is a european connection standard that can carry a number of signals.

Scart can support composit video, s-video and RGB video along with mono/stereo analog audio and some other signals like sync. signals and 16 : 9 cue signals (I think).

Scart connectors/cables always support composit video. If it supports s-video and/or RGB video must be determined from the spesification of the device.

A rule of thumb (?) is that s-video will give a 20% increase in picture quality over composit video and that RGB will give a 5% increase over s-video.

To make the confusion complete, the americans have another video signal standard called component video (must not be confused with composit). Component video is very similar to RGB video, but not compatible (ofcource).

Composit video (often called regular video) uses one RCA (phono) connector as dedicated connector (when not transmitted via scart). This composit video connector is usually yellow.
Component video uses three RCA connectors in red, green and blue colours.

Even in Europe more and more DVD players have component video outputs. I do not know of any PAL TV's that sports component video inputs. But some video projectors have component inputs. this includes the Sony VPL-W400 which I'm a proud owner of. It also includes its successor the VPL-10HT.

About your problem: i would recomend that you use a quality Scart cable between the DVD player and the TV and set the inputs/outputs to RGB if necesary (this may be automatic).
This means not passing the video signal through the receiver/amp.
If you do need/want the switching capability of the receiver/amp you should s-video connections. If you need/want to use scart connectors for this make sure that the input of the TV and the output of the DVD player supports S-video. If you want to use scarts at both TV and DVD end, you need both a SCART - TO - S-VIDEO cable from the DVD player to the receiver/amp and a S-VIDEO - TO - SCART cable from the receiver/amp to the TV.
Think of it as a river in which the signal flows from the transmitter tu the receiver.


Hope this helps a little.
OleM.

[This message has been edited by oml (edited 27-09-2000).]

[This message has been edited by oml (edited 27-09-2000).]

[Mad Max]

Hi OleM,

You're much better at this than I am http://www.homecinemachoice.com/ubb/smile.gif

Cheers

Rui

[tiberious]

"I see things much more clearly now"

Thanks to everyone for your input, you have made a stupid man very happy !

Steve

[Arthur.S]

I agree with just about all of the above 'cept 1 (well there had to be 1 didn't there!) Speaking from a personal point of view, the difference in pic quality between S-video & RGB was more than a measly 5%. The increase in depth & clarity of colour knocked me out. Colours are just so much cleaner. 'Ringing' was much much less in evidence. As I own a CRT projector, this was quite important to me, a 7 foot picture is ruthless for revealing this. So, Tiberious, IMHO for a 52" pic, go for RGB.
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www.baldyplex.com (http://www.baldyplex.com)

PS. Before you buy an expensive cable for RGB, check that your colour/contrast/brightness controls are not disabled by using RGB input, as some TV's are. Use a cheap fully wired Scart-scart for this. This is important, as RGB will probably be too dark a picture for you otherwise.
Hope this helps.

[This message has been edited by Arthur.S (edited 06-10-2000).]