Be Excellent To Each Other

EDIT - retooled the thread to make it be all about cables. And that.
So which is best?
In one corner we have: RGB scart(which is better than Scart I believe)

In the other we have S-Video? which I've not really seen before - but just noticed on my 'new' tv.

I take it S-Video is better than the three coloured pins - but is it better than RGB Scart?

As I'm in the SDTV world I figure I should do my best to maxamise picture quality - but don't want to buy new cables if I don't need too.

Thank you oh wise ones!

Component is better than both of those, but I believe there's minimal difference between S-Video and RGB Scart.

Component is the standard red, yellow & white pins where 2 deal with sound though is it? Thats something else? Composite I think...

Composite is the yellow (video), and red and white (audio). It's the crappest. Component is lots of cables.

Ah ok, I don't have that then.

Just this mysterious S-Video connector...

Also: my Xbox came back! On my new TV you can even read the text in Dead Rising. Huzzah!

RGB scart is what I used to use on my old SDTV. It's almost as good as component, I reckon.

RGB SCART is better than S-Video, which in turn is better than composite.

We have this conversation every time this comes up. Why didn't they pick more descriptive names?

I found RGB through scart to be WAY better than s-video.

Or at least names which aren't extremely similar.

Could we take a moment please to have a chuckle over my in-laws, who have a sky HD box (and another regular sky box) but distribute it through the house through the aerial cables on an rf channel. As a consequence, it looks totally fucking shit.

Ta.

HERE COMES THE SCIENCE.

Composite is awful and should be burnt. Component is for hidef (not entirely, but mostly).

SCART can carry more than one signal types over its 21 wires, including composite, S-video, and RGB. Very often, it carries both composite and RGB at the same time, and very often, your TV will only process RGB signals on the first SCART socket. Hence moving a cable from one socket to another can improve picture quality. Composite signals over SCART are no better than composite

In theory, the difference between RGB S-video signals can be very small. In practice, certain devices or certain TVs will often muck one or other of them up. RGB is the better bet for games consoles, because they work in RGB values internally and have to translate things into the luminence/chrominence encoding used for s-video. DVD players are better in s-video, as they use luminence/chrominence internally, and often have a very cheap Europe-only encoder chip to transform that into RGB for the SCART jack.

Woah woah woah. Right ladies.

In very simple terms:

Composite is the entire picture shoved down a single wire. Due to all the encoding and decoding required you end up with distortions that manifest themselves as fuzzy edges, colour bleed and patterning on certain picture elements.

S-Video is the picture component in black and white, and a separate colour component. So this uses two wires. It's better than composite but the colour doesn't tend to be quite right.

RGB is the picture elements split down into Red Green and Blue. Picture quality is good and RGB is what old style TV's expect as the picture guns inside them are indeed Red Green and Blue. Overall luma is derived from the sum of the RGB.

Component uses 3 wires, like RGB, except the picture is sent as luma on one wire and then blue and red are sent on the other two wires. The green is then worked out by summing the differences between the luma, red and blue. So although you have 3 wires, there are 4 picture elements giving a slight edge over RGB.


In short for your purposes S-Video is crap, SCART RGB is the best option. However consider component as there are marginal benefits.

But remember kids, SCART is a multipurpose connector. It can carry many things.

Chinnyhill is right, trust him.

I voted for scart-lett johansson though.

I've never seen an SDTV with component ins, although I suppose they can exist...?

Aha! You appear to have added this after reading my post where I said this. IS THIS A GAYWOODPWN I SEE BEFORE ME?!

To be honest it has never occurred to me if I've seen an SDTV with component or not as I've spent so much time working with broadcast kit that has component on it. Not that we ever used component, it was a hang over from the 1990's.

I did steal your Gaywoodism, but it's what I would have said anyway. The GX4000 has a SCART connector and outputs composite and RGB at the same time. So you have to hope your TV picks up on the RGB signal. CHINNYTRUFAX!

What about a red yellow white thingy through a scart adaptor?

That's composite (the red and white are the audio).

So composite doesn't get better by running it through a SCART adaptor then? Do they use different metals in the cables or something?


Why does this shit have to be so CONFUSING. I've used up all my mental space remembering stuff like the difference between an F-16B and an F-16C, and the various marks of Spitfires. I don't have the capacity for my fucking audio-visual stuff to be giving my memory tests, man. ONE CABLE and ONE REMOTE CONTROL PLEASE.

I don't know how to answer this.

Glad it's not just me then.

MAKE IT MAKE SENSE PLEASE.

You're basically taking everything the SCART carries, and throwing away the stuff that won't go down a composite cable.

Ok, my answers are No and No.
Hope that's ok.

Is it because the ones won't fit through the yellow bit in the composite cable?

Yes. They are pointy, see, and they get stuck. The 0s get through fine, with their rounded corners.

Yes. the other signals are square-shaped, and a thin round lead can't carry them.

EDIT - Bloody Gaywood.

I had an extra level of comedy in my response, because I'm talking about an analogue signal as 1s and 0s.

Can one of you intelligent and knowledgeable people please explain the difference between a SCART cable and a composite cable and why a composite cable running through a SCART adaptor loses stuff, and what it loses? Thanks.

Brilliant, thats what I thought thanks guys.

My last TV only had one RGB scart, with the other scart being rubbish. This has two, which is ace.

So the Xbox 360 gets an RGB scart, and the Freeview Box gets the other. The Freeview box also passes through the Wii RGB Scart - which seems a hell of a lot clearer now than before, so I think the Freeview box is passing through a RGB signal. Which is nice, i thought it would probably only pipe the more rubbish version. The Xbox 1 uses the composite connection, but I might try to find a S-V connection for it.

Oh and the Mastersystem Plus gets the aerial cable connection. Represent!

No matter what adapters are on the ends of the line, it all comes down to what the cable can carry.

A composite cable connected to a scart adaptor still can't carry the extra information that the scart adaptor can process.

Panasonic used to do a CRT that wasn't HD, but I seem to remember it had a few more lines than an SD telly. I think it was officially called ED (enhanced definition) or something. They later branded similar sets 'Acuity'

Anyway, the big selling point was that it had component inputs and could do progressive scan. It was hideously expensive but came on a nice stand. I wish I had the model number though.

(This was back in 2002, I think, just as freeview boxes were coming out and 42" plasmas were 5 grand or more. I worked in a TV shop during my final year at uni)

I doubt that's working, I doubt your TV can display RGB signals from both incoming SCART jacks. Check the writing on the back.

Right, RGB signals are much better than composite signals, but SCART connectors can carry both of them at once. When you plug a composite lead into a SCART adapor, you still only have a composite signal. Only if you use a SCART lead from end to the other can you possible carry a RGB signal -- the RGB signal needs five wires minimum (red, blue, green, left audio, right audio).

Do you mean the TV having two RGB Scart connectors? Or the passing through the Wii?

The TV reports it to be RGB scart for both - but I'll check. Either way the pictures a huge improvement. Proper blacks and whites, and not of that banding that floats across the screen on dark colors - that I got with the old tv.

Oh. The bloody Xbox cable is composite.

Reading it that way, the only difference is the shape of the plugs - Composite through SCART will look the same as using the cheapy bundled yellow/red/white cable. The SCART cable can carry different signals, composite being the poorest.

Also Mr Chris, think of composite through a scart cable as not using all of the pins in the socket. RGB through scart uses more of the pins, carrying more information for a nicer picture.

Aaah - right. Okay. That helps. Thanks.

So I've got the problem that the Eggbox came with a composite cable then.

The Scart connector isn't co-axial, and it's an extra set of contacts with a small resistance etc.

I'd be very surprised if you noticed any difference to the picture.

I'll run that through Babelfish from Greek to English.



Between scart and composite, do you mean?

Or think of it like a gun that for some reason has a two clips, one full of 5.56mm rounds, and the other full of shotgun shells. With a rifle barrel on it (composite), only the 5.56 can fit down the barrel. With a nice fat shotty barrel on it, you could use either (SCART). Ignore what would probably actually happen if you tried to fire a NATO round down a shotgun barrel.

I bought a 360 scart cable (I believe it's RGB Scart) for about £5 out of the bargain bin in Game.

Ah - righto.

How much of a difference will I notice between composite and SCART then?

Lave - sorry to hijack your thread - I can split my bit out if you want?

No, a composite cable going into a scart adaptor going into your TV, compared to a composite cable going into your TV. That was your second question above, your first isn't clear enough to answer.

See entire rest of thread ^^^^

Short answer: enough difference to notice.

A SCART connector is a multipurpose connector that is capable of carrying many different signals. Think of it as a carrier bag.

If you buy a pound of bananas and put them into a carrier bag they will still be a pound of bananas at the other end.

If you take that pound of bananas, stick them in a food blender and then put them into a carrier bag, they will still be blended when you get to the other end.

In short, the connector is irrelevant, it's what you put down the cable.

Composite is a banana smoothie, RGB is a solid banana.

It's not the BETEO way to read, is it?

In that case, score! Ignore what I'm saying.

You need the letters "RGB" before "SCART", and then the answer is "huge".

Can anyone confirm if the 360 Scart cable only comes in RGB flavour? I'm pretty sure mine is.

I'm pretty sure the Core only came with a composite/SCART adaptor cable, I'm not sure about the Arcade though. And the Pro/Premium has always had a component/SCART lead, I think?

So there's SCART and RGB SCART then? For goodness' sakie.

I give up.



Poorly worded, perhaps. I meant (a) what's the difference between scart and composite (now answered) and (b) if I run a composite cable through a scart adaptor, what am I losing doing that compared to using SCART? (asked due to a comment of Craster's).

(b) is basically (a) as it turns out.