Improving Sky box picture ?

[olli]

Hi all,

at the moment my Skybox is looped by RF aerial cables, as I don't have any spare scart sockets on the LCD tele. They are taken up by my Free to air receiver and the DVD-R/Video combo.
Now the Sky picture is ok through the RF loop, but as I have a composite signal and a component signal connection available as a spare on my tele, I was wondering if using a scart (out of skybox) to composite or scart to component connection would improve the picture quality.
I don't want to use a switch, as I might be watching on the FTA receiver, while my son upstairs uses the skybox via magic eye.

Does it make sense and which is the best and reasonably priced conversion cable or adapter to use. If I use the "component in", do I need to have 3 RCA video and L/R RCA's connected ?

Thanks

 

[davepuma]

The only way to improve the pq IMHO would be to either go via the DVD-Rec (presuming it has RGB pass through) or buying something like a QED RGB to Component converter box (or getting a RGB SCART switching unit such as Joytech but I see you don't want that). Composite via SCART might look just about acceptable on a small screen but on larger screens it will look terrible (and probably more so on LCD). As I said, try looping the Sky box (assuming you're not doing that with your freeview box) from the RGB SCART output on sky to the SCART in, then run another SCART cable to the TV. The DVD recorder would have to be in standby mode for it to work though. The QED Component converter (around £60) would probably offer the best pq and yess you would need to connect the Sky via RCA analogue phono cables as well.

 

[olli]

Hi Dave, thanks for the quick answer.
I think the problem has just solved itself nicely. Just realised the DVD-R/Video combo has got a component out (progressive scan) and the LCD tele has got the component in option, too. So I guess I'll receive top picture from the DVD when connecting it to the tele that way, which in turn would free up the 2nd scart socket on the tele for the skybox.

Anything I need to take care of, apart from setting the output correctly on the DVD/video ? Do i need to connect the Y Pb Pr AND the L/R audio leads ?

Thanks again

 

[davepuma]

Hi Dave, thanks for the quick answer.
I think the problem has just solved itself nicely. Just realised the DVD-R/Video combo has got a component out (progressive scan) and the LCD tele has got the component in option, too. So I guess I'll receive top picture from the DVD when connecting it to the tele that way, which in turn would free up the 2nd scart socket on the tele for the skybox.

Anything I need to take care of, apart from setting the output correctly on the DVD/video ? Do i need to connect the Y Pb Pr AND the L/R audio leads ?

Thanks again

Sorted! You will probably need to connect the DVD/VCR up via both SCART and component (Red/Blue/Green - YpBpR) (plus L/R audio) just to be able to access the menus to do the switch to component. If both TV and DVD/VCR support it, select progressive scan. Once the switch has been done, connect the Sky box (TV output) to the TV. Check your TV's manual as sometimes on older TV's only one of the SCART sockets is RGB (best quality) enabled (usually SCART 1). Then set the Sky to output RGB in the video options menu (within Services IIRC). You can then run a second SCART via the VCR SCART to the DVD/VCR for recording assuming the Freeview box isn't already connected to the DVD/VCR?

 

[olli]

Thanks again, Dave, excellent tips there.
I think I can just connect the component without the scart, as the DVD remote has got a progr. scan button, you just keep pressed for 3 secs and it switches to progr. scan.

The freeview box already is connected to the VCR/DVD, but I thought the TV scart on the VCR/DVD is an in/out, so shouldn't that support a connection to the skybox, too, as it can work both ways ?

Thanks for sharing your knowledge, very much appreciated.