SCART v S-Video

Mosko

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Hi

I have a regular Sky+ box. It has SCART out and S-Video out. Is there any advantage to using the S-Video over the SCART, e.g. better quality picture/sound? (I dont really know anything about S-Video).

Also, I only have one LNB cable, so am using an LNB priority switch to get "fake" Sky+. If I got an HD box, would the same trick work? (I assume HD box needs two LNB's)

thanks
David
 
The TV SCART socket will output RGB and composite video. In order of ascending quality the outputs are
1 Composite video
2 S-video
3 RGB

It depends on what your TV will accept on its SCART inputs which of SCART or s-video will give better quality for you.
 
Sky+HD boxes require two feeds for the same reason Sky+ boxes do - for full Sky+ functionality. With only one feed, you can only view/record one channel at a time. You will still be able to watch HD channels with only one feed, if that’s what you were concerned about.

Presumably due to the number of people in flats who only have access to a single LNB feed via a communal dish system, Sky have added a single feed mode to their HD boxes. If you upgrade your box to an HD one and enable the single feed option, you should able to operate the system normally without your LNB switch. You will of course still be limited to watching or recording just one channel at a time.

In the video settings on the Sky box, you can switch the scart output between composite (PAL) and RGB. If you have the box connected to an RGB capable scart input on the TV with a fully wired scart cable you should see the change in image quality if you switch back & forth between the two settings.

In the unlikely event that your TV does not support RGB video, it may be worth looking into the s-video option. One disadvantage of s-video compared to scart is that s-video cables carry video only. You need a separate audio cable connected alongside the s-video cable if you want sound.
 
Is there any advantage to using the S-Video over the SCART, e.g. better quality picture/sound?
using an LNB priority switch to get "fake" Sky+
(I assume HD box needs two LNB's)
No for video if you select RGB on Scart, and no for audio as it doesn't do that so you do it separately.
What is a "priority switch" and what do you actually get with it?:confused:
It doesn't need two LNBs, but you could replace the present LNB with a new one and take two feeds from that.
As T G says, you need to do that only if you want to watch one programme while recording another.
 
What is a "priority switch" and what do you actually get with it?:confused:
It doesn't need two LNBs, but you could replace the present LNB with a new one and take two feeds from that.
As T G says, you need to do that only if you want to watch one programme while recording another.

A "smart priority switch" is a switching splitter that connects one lnb feed to two lnb inputs on a satellite PVR (or its intended purpose of connecting two separate single tuner receivers to a single feed - automatically switching control of the feed to whichever receiver is on if only one used at a time). One output from the switch has "master" control of the lnb and the second output merely has the same frequency band and polarisation as the master output if that tuner is in use or can control the lnb if the master is not in use So using it on a twin tuner PVR once you choose the first channel you can only choose your second channel from around 25% of the remaining channels (those that have same frequency band and polarisation).

So basically it achieves what the freesat Foxsat HDR does on a single lnb feed in allowing viewing/recording of a limited number of second channels but without the nicety that the Foxsat has in its software of not allowing "impossible" second channel choices.

As to whether it will work with an HD+ box, I have severe doubts as the HD boxes do not make their tuner choices for viewing/recording in the same way as the Sky+ SD boxes so I believe you will have problems assigning which is the master and slave inputs. As stated above HD+ boxes do have a single feed mode but this will only allow viewing or recording of one channel at a time
 
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Hi

thanks for the replies.

I'll test the SCART inputs as you suggested at the weekend.

The single LNB mode sounds like what I need. I don't watch so much that I am likely to want to watch and record (things are usually repeated). What annoys me on the Sky+ is that, without te priority switch, you can only record the channel you last watched. When you say the HD+ box has a single LNB mode, I assume that you mean I can watch, say, channel 4, then go out for the day and record a program on sky1 and another on bbc hd.

The LNB priority switch is a bit of a pain as I lose someweaker channels, e.g. Channel 4, SciFi, from the signal.
 
Yes, the Single Input option does let you record that way.
 

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