LCD TV to Display PC
- Thread starter Diyisfun
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Right then...here goes:
1) How do you know if a SCART lead is RGB enabled?
2) How do you know if a SCART lead is RGB only?
I got a brochure of some upmarket cable manufacturer the other day. Some of the SCART leads in there cost....I hope you're sitting down, James...around £180! I nearly fell off the bog when I read this. I mean at this priced I'd want to wear it for a couple of days before I connected it!
What was also confusing was that they showed a SCART to S-Video as well as an S-Video to SCART. Doesn't look any dammed different in the pic. I mean can't you just turn bugger round?
1) How do you know if a SCART lead is RGB enabled?
2) How do you know if a SCART lead is RGB only?
I got a brochure of some upmarket cable manufacturer the other day. Some of the SCART leads in there cost....I hope you're sitting down, James...around £180! I nearly fell off the bog when I read this. I mean at this priced I'd want to wear it for a couple of days before I connected it!
What was also confusing was that they showed a SCART to S-Video as well as an S-Video to SCART. Doesn't look any dammed different in the pic. I mean can't you just turn bugger round?
Scart leads can be very expensive. The most i've paid was for an Ixos .5 metere and that was £50.
As for RGB, all scart leads from a few quid upwards will cary RGB signals.
Some only carry RGB in the sense that the audio, automatic switching pins are removed. These are usually used with Plasmas and LCD's where the sound would sent direct to an amp.
Some scart leads are directional however and these will have an arrow printed onto the thick cable itself.
As for RGB, all scart leads from a few quid upwards will cary RGB signals.
Some only carry RGB in the sense that the audio, automatic switching pins are removed. These are usually used with Plasmas and LCD's where the sound would sent direct to an amp.
Some scart leads are directional however and these will have an arrow printed onto the thick cable itself.
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With an RGB only SCART lead then, are the pins which carry the video (only) signal the same size as bog-standard SCART plug? I would have thought that these would need to be increased so that an improved contact is made. Also, are they designed for an RGB only socket?
Last month I picked up a copy of What a big Plasma you've got! monthly with this bloke - Barry Fox (rather revered in this industry, so I am told) - banging on about the SCART lead being a complete Euro ballsup and that no such animal was ever foisted on the American market. I can confirm this having lived there. Although in some ways I can see the wisdom of having a one-plug-does-all job.
Also, if you go down the component path do you use optical video connection?
Last month I picked up a copy of What a big Plasma you've got! monthly with this bloke - Barry Fox (rather revered in this industry, so I am told) - banging on about the SCART lead being a complete Euro ballsup and that no such animal was ever foisted on the American market. I can confirm this having lived there. Although in some ways I can see the wisdom of having a one-plug-does-all job.
Also, if you go down the component path do you use optical video connection?
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Components are the connection to aim for, in particular Progressive scanning components followed by interlaced.
The actual "scart" socket, 21 pins, is correctly labled a Euro connector which as you've said is only available in Europe. For 98% of users it's the ideal connector as it covers a wide variety of applications.
There is no physical difference between traditonal scarts and RGB only. RGB only offers an advantage as they are not subject to any potential picture interferance associated with any other info carried by the cable.
The actual "scart" socket, 21 pins, is correctly labled a Euro connector which as you've said is only available in Europe. For 98% of users it's the ideal connector as it covers a wide variety of applications.
There is no physical difference between traditonal scarts and RGB only. RGB only offers an advantage as they are not subject to any potential picture interferance associated with any other info carried by the cable.
A scart lead that is suitable for RGB video is just one that is "fully wired". As has been said, pretty much any scart-scart lead will be.
When the scart connector was first used on TVs, it didn't carry RGB video or SVHS. They actually added RGB in order to allow people to connect up computers to their TVs with increased picture quality. RGB scart never really took on, but thankfully when digital TV boxes and DVD players came on the market someone had the bright idea of reviving it.
RGB is almost exclusively done with a scart connector at either end, so leads are the same either way. But with scart SVHS you usually have a scart connector at one end and an SVHS connector at the other. So you need to buy the right direction cable.
RGB video is superior to SVHS, this is something to bare in mind because there are still plenty of US webpages saying "SVHS gives best picture quality", because this was true in the US. The US has recently cottoned on to component video, albeit an inferior system to RGB. However, their new system looks set to gain more popularity because it is HDTV-compatible, and yet another scart update would be a bit of a bu**er for us all (although my DVD player can output component HDTV via an adaptor that connects to its scart socket)
When the scart connector was first used on TVs, it didn't carry RGB video or SVHS. They actually added RGB in order to allow people to connect up computers to their TVs with increased picture quality. RGB scart never really took on, but thankfully when digital TV boxes and DVD players came on the market someone had the bright idea of reviving it.
RGB is almost exclusively done with a scart connector at either end, so leads are the same either way. But with scart SVHS you usually have a scart connector at one end and an SVHS connector at the other. So you need to buy the right direction cable.
RGB video is superior to SVHS, this is something to bare in mind because there are still plenty of US webpages saying "SVHS gives best picture quality", because this was true in the US. The US has recently cottoned on to component video, albeit an inferior system to RGB. However, their new system looks set to gain more popularity because it is HDTV-compatible, and yet another scart update would be a bit of a bu**er for us all (although my DVD player can output component HDTV via an adaptor that connects to its scart socket)
JamesG said:
Not entirely true. The same connector is in use in Japan, however it is wired differently so you can't plug UK equipment in to a Japanese TV by scart and have it work.
Scart connectors (I believe of the European standard wiring) are also used in Australia and New Zealand, and no doubt many other countries too.
Just did a google on Japanese scart to find something explaining the difference, and read this on a US website:
I think the whole of Europe and Japan would disagree and say this is a very standard plug indeed!
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JamesG said:
I have been reading up on progressive scan and get the drift. Most DVD players seem to have this facility but if featured on a DVD recorder there seems to be a hefty premium to pay at the moment. The pundits seem to fancy prices are genner tumble though. I understand your point re the RGB only not suffering any interference from any other cable. How, though, would this compare to using an optical connection?
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AdamW said:
So will the direction always be marked?
AdamW said:
I haven't got around to actually trying RGB yet though I have used S-video via my Dell laptop. I played it through my folks TV and it worked pretty well. That TV having gone t1ts-up has now been replaced with a plasma and trying to get them to get DVD player or recorder. (Some people must do things in reverse). They have have got an S-video option but obviously it's better to use component but the laptop doesn't have that, sadly.
Does your DVD not have dedicated component output ie not SCART?
Also would you know how to connect an S/PDIF digital audio connecter (from the laptop again) to the TV? I don't think I had the correct connection before so had to use the mini (hadphone) jack to the TV phono inputs?
Direction - Yes it will be marked by an obvious arrow.
Connecting laptop to plasma - You have 2 options really. S-video which is going to give average results or VGA to VGA depending on what is available on the plasma.
I'm somewhat puzzled by the quote refering to component being inferior to RGB. Inferior in what sense? Simplicity? Quality? Availability? As any novice who works with displays and they will tell you how superior component is over RGB.
Components signals are carried over 3 RCA/phono cables breaking in the signal into Luminance, Pb and Pr. Any self respecting DVD player will have these outputs in addition to a Scart socket.
Finaly as for S/PDIF you would need an amp with a suitable input. As this is a digital signal, not analogue, the plasma is very unlikely to have a suitable input.
Connecting laptop to plasma - You have 2 options really. S-video which is going to give average results or VGA to VGA depending on what is available on the plasma.
I'm somewhat puzzled by the quote refering to component being inferior to RGB. Inferior in what sense? Simplicity? Quality? Availability? As any novice who works with displays and they will tell you how superior component is over RGB.
Components signals are carried over 3 RCA/phono cables breaking in the signal into Luminance, Pb and Pr. Any self respecting DVD player will have these outputs in addition to a Scart socket.
Finaly as for S/PDIF you would need an amp with a suitable input. As this is a digital signal, not analogue, the plasma is very unlikely to have a suitable input.
JamesG said:
Being pedantic, RGB is also component video, but of course what has been come to be termed "Component video" is the Y, Pb, Pr 3xRCA phono connector standard.
I should have been more specific: RGB is superior in terms of quality. It is a matter of bandwidth. With an RGB scart system, the video signal is sent to the display along three conductors, with a fourth for sync purposes. Displays work on red green and blue, so there is no conversion required in order to display the picture. The red conductor controls the red pixels, and so forth.
With component video, the Y/Pb/Pr signal has to be converted to RGB values at the display.
I am not sure if DVDs store video in an RGB format or a Y/Pb/Pr format, or if it can be either. If it is RGB, then RGB connection is superior because you maintain the separate colour signals all the way from the DAC to the display. If it is stored in Y/Pb/Pr format then the difference between RGB and Y/Pb/Pr is less, because conversion will still have to take place either way, but RGB would still win out because you are converting your (analogue) video signals earlier.
Y/Pb/Pr isn't really pure component video. Green has to be reconstructed from the three signals, which means that green information is therefore composited with the other three signals.
The reason Y/Pb/Pr is becoming popular is one of bandwidth and signal quality. Due to the lower quality of the video
less bandwidth is required, thus cables are cheaper and easier to make.JamesG said:
That would be best. I haven't got a plasma, but the ones I have seen in department stores seem to connect up to their tuner box via a VGA connector.
Dunno if those with integrated tuners would have this connector too. Can you shed some light on that James?
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Thanks for all that info James and Adam. I genner print this stuff off take it in slowly and then get back. Cheers.
And off he went...smug in the knowledge that some scart leads were uni-directional and that RGB stood for Red, Green and Brown.
And off he went...smug in the knowledge that some scart leads were uni-directional and that RGB stood for Red, Green and Brown.
JamesG said:
Shwweeeet. Good excuse... I mean reason to buy a DVD player with DVI output.
My bro has actually totally done away with CRTs. He just spent shedloads on a massive Sony TFT, has the DVI connection coming from his PC, the analogue connection is connected to one of those boxes that lets you plug in consumer electronics devices, so he has TV, DVD and PC all connected up to it.
Of course it would have been significantly cheaper to buy a 32" Sony Wega plus a smaller TFT, but what the hey, it's cool!
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