S-video

[tvgk]

I'm running my PVR fed by my cablebox. The box is in another room, so I had to run a coax cable to feed my PVR-150. I'm starting to wonder if S-Video will provide a noticeable improvement in picture quality. Any opinions?

[merrypig]

Definitely will see great improvements. Twice the bandwidth means sharper images, more accurate colour and no chroma crawl artifacts. And less $$ in the pocket...

[ClamsTheCat]

S Video is the ONLY way to go. It is significantly better than coax and better than Composite as well.

[Bigbird999]

How long a cable run you looking at? Svideo has some length limitations

BB

[tvgk]

I think it'll be easier to just relocate the box. Cant wait to see the difference in picture quality.

[queonda]

Originally Posted by ClamsTheCat

S Video is the ONLY way to go. It is significantly better than coax and better than Composite as well.

Really? I know s-video was better than composite but coax? I thought you can put a lot through coaxial (aka cable wire).

I'm still learning...so teach me please.

[Bigbird999]

queonda
In simpest terms

Coax is one wire (the copper one in the center) and a ground (the outside sheath) to complete the circuit. The single wire carries both audio and video info.

Composite uses one wire and a ground (yellow) to carry the video information and two wires (red and white) each with their own ground to carry audio.

Svideo uses 2 wires and 2 grounds to carry video info and 2 wires (red white) to carry audio.

The next step up us component which uses 3 wires each with their own ground to carry video.

In short the more wires the better.

On a scale of 1 to 10
coax = 4
composite = 6
svideo =8
component = 10

There are much better and accurate technical explainations but that is the crux of it

BB

[queonda]

thanks BB.
the second one mean composite, right?

Yeah, I understand that much, but all that is coming in on the coaxial cable to begin with to the cable box, then s-video.

Now if it was coming from a DVD, then I would understand that s-video would be better than coaxial. Unless the cable box is doing some enhancements.

Plus, this is what exactly like BB explained: http://lyberty.com/encyc/articles/svideo.html

[Bigbird999]

the second one mean composite, right?

Duh YUP!!!!

I edited it!!

The coax to your cable box is carrying both digital and analog signals. The cable box is decoding digital to analog and sending it to your tuner as an analog signal. Coax, composite, component and svideo are all analog carriers. Your tuner converts the analog signal it receives back to digital (mpeg2). The quality of the mpeg2 file is determined by the quality of the analog signal it receives. The best analog sinal thus the best mpeg recording will be via svideo.

BB

[mlomker]

Originally Posted by queonda

Now if it was coming from a DVD, then I would understand that s-video would be better than coaxial. Unless the cable box is doing some enhancements.

I see your point if you're referring to an analog station but most cable is digital these days. The big difference is quality. The hardware that your cable company uses at the head-end to transmit a television station in analog down the wire is *way* more expensive and higher in quality than the cheap RF converter built into the cable box.

Due to the economics of building cable boxes they don't invest as much into the quality of each type of output...a $5 Svideo output will produce a much better quality signal than a $5 RF converter.

[queonda]

Ah, gotcha. That make sense.

[bserink]

Many modern video cards are capable of DVI or even HDMI output, which are both superior to S-video. If you don't have an HDTV already, you'll probably buy one by 2009. Pretty much any HDTV you buy will have HDMI inputs, and you can adapt a DVI output to an HDMI cable if neccessary. So if you have a newer video card and your TV supports HDMI, it might be worth the extra cost to run HDMI cable instead.

Another reason is that you'll probably eventually buy a HDTV tuner, and want to playback your recorded high-def shows. I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure S-Video won't be able to carry a high-def signal.

[queonda]

Originally Posted by bserink

Many modern video cards are capable of DVI or even HDMI output, which are both superior to S-video. If you don't have an HDTV already, you'll probably buy one by 2009. Pretty much any HDTV you buy will have HDMI inputs, and you can adapt a DVI output to an HDMI cable if neccessary. So if you have a newer video card and your TV supports HDMI, it might be worth the extra cost to run HDMI cable instead.

Another reason is that you'll probably eventually buy a HDTV tuner, and want to playback your recorded high-def shows. I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure S-Video won't be able to carry a high-def signal.

He is asking about cable box feed to 150 input. He is not talking video card out to tv.

[tvgk]

Well, it does look a lot better, only problem is that I can see lines scrolling up to the top of the screen in the background. I tried 2 S-vid cable that I had lying around and they both produce the symptoms.

[Bigbird999]

tv
How long a cable is it. It sounds like interference caused by something like a florescent light or running parallel and close to a 120v power line or through a jumble of wires at the back of your TV. Or maybe just a crappy svideo cable with poor shielding

BB