Component vs. S-Video

[landry_p2000]

Guys,

I was just wondering if anyone could explain the difference in PQ from the component to the s-video input for dvd. I know that it will be better on the component input, but how much better? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Landry

[Schris22]

from what I've heard...

RCA/Composite to S-video is a huge jump. (I agree)

S-video to Component not so huge. (don't have any component cables yet.)

Also kinda depends on how nice your TV is I assume. If you have a really crappy tv than I don't think the difference will be noticable. But probably don't have the worst TV.

Good luck

Anyone else think cables are expensive?

Chris

[Skynut]

From what I hear the s-video sends the picture in two signals 1 is B&W and the other is color.
The component sends the signal in 3 different signals like the primary colors and is the better way to go.

[BrentMcGhee]

ok.... i think i can clear this one up for yha

First to understand how the cables send the signal you need to know the two things that need to be present in order to display a video signal.

You need the chromanance (the shade of a particular color) and the lumanance (the brightness of a particular color) of all three primary colors.

Composite Video:
composite cables just have a single conductor that sends both the chromonance and the lumanence of all the colors down a single line leaving it to the tv to decode this information and get the right chromanance and lumanance matched up with the right color. Video being such a high bandwidth application it is nearly imposible for the tv to keep up with all the decoding. you can easily spot decoding errors on things like striped patterns where there seems be diagnoal rainbow colors going through them. This is the tv putting the wrong chromance with the wrong colors. You can also see errors when you see two seperate colors that come to a hard line but dont really seem to have a hard line but actually several colors right there in the middle.

S-Video:
s-video corrected these decoding errors by having two lines going down the wire instead of one. one line is for the chromance of all the colors and one for the lumanence of all the colors. This really makes it easier for the tv to interpret all of the different information because there is not so much crosstalk going on and errors are few and far between so you get a more accurate pictre

Component video:
now component video on the other hand has three indviual wires one for each color. each wire carries the chromance and lumanance for that particualr color so there is no decoding errors done by the tv because there is no decoding to be done. It simply takes what it is given by the lines and puts it up verbatim on the screen. absolutley no errors.

so as you can see in the end yes there is a big jump in picture quality going from composite to s-video. There is not so much of an improvement when going from s-video to component (when viewing 480p or less material) because s-video is already almost dead accurate. What makes component so much better is the higer bandwidt that is offered by the three indidual lines for all the colors. That is why you have to use component cables to view anything above 480p becasue of the extra space that is required.

[landry_p2000]

Thanks a million guys. That definetly clears it up for me. I am getting an HDTV cable box Friday, and I will hook it up with component cables to get the best PQ possible.

[BrentMcGhee]

sounds good

[Skynut]

BrentMcGhee

Very good explaination, I had heard it explained that way before but could not remember all the terms.

[maggiefan]

Of the three types of cables, only component will carry an HDTV signal, so there is no choice here. Composite and S video won't do it.

[Toxis]

FYI, S-video will not carry a progressive picture, only interlaced. That's another huge jump for Component.

[dbournival]

If you are getting HDTV from Comcast they will include component cables with the install. They are of low quality (I kept losing one signal) so You may want to upgrade them, if you have problems.

[landry_p2000]

I got the HDTV box and it is pretty cool. I have my dvd player on the component 2 input and my HDTV box is on component input 1. I love it.:D

My service is through Time Warner (Memphis), and it came with the component cables and audio cables. I also hooked up the digital out (coax) to the Onkyo. What a difference it makes when you can watch tv shows and movies from HBO, Cinemax, etc. in Dolby Digital 5.1 or Pro-Logic II. The box is a Scientific Atlanta HDTV tuner. Glad to make the change.

I also like the sound that coax gives in 5.1 DD surround. The receiver I own has only one coax input, and that sucks. It doesn't matter anyhow since my Xbox and Panasonic dvd have optical outputs only.Thanks for helping me to better understand the video side of things fellas.:)