what is "S" video?

s k r o o t a y p wrote on 2/27/2006, 9:24 PM
well, really blowing up the forums this week!

in my quest to find the right AD converter. i've gotten to wondering just what is "S" video and what is it's application. i've never used it and figure i probably ought to be informed about it.

no audio goes through it right?

when would you use it instead of the RCA video?

would you ever use the RCA video and the "S" video?

thanks!

Comments

rustier wrote on 2/27/2006, 10:59 PM
S-video: Seperate-Video, transmits video signals over a cable by dividing the video information into two separate signals: one for color (chrominance), and the other for brightness (luminance). It produces sharper images than composite video (those red white and yellow "RCA" jacks).

the progression for better quality video is

antenna - 300 ohm "flat" wire (break out the aluminum foil)

coaxial - F type connection 75 ohm

composite (red white yellow) - (not component - thanks discdude)

S-video Black 4 pin end( and stero sound cables)

component {not composite}(blue green red) with red and white RCA stero sound, digital (orange) audio or optical for surround sound {gotta have digital for true surround sound}

dvi /hdmi both of these high def - HDMI being the latest generation (to my knowledge anyway)

all these connections refer to the "final" connection to your tv.

FYI
Satellite uses coaxial 75 ohm cable but it carries a high frequency digital signal to be decoded in the box. Cable uses the same thing but uses a blend of low frequency analog and high frequency - usually the lower 50-60 channels; in other words - its not all digital quality.

I would imagine most people would try to use the best possible connection - sometimes this is limited by the number of other devices to be joined in a system and the available connections. So if you watch your vcr once every blue moon, and your satellite box every day and you got two RCA inputs and one S-video connector to the TV . . . .you see what I mean
discdude wrote on 2/28/2006, 9:31 AM
rustier,

In your progression, you have a typo. You need to swap component and composite around.
dwoodward wrote on 3/1/2006, 9:59 AM
Actually, he's got it right. Composite video is the yellow cable. It's usually bundled with the red and white audio cables.

Basic: Coaxial

Good: Composite

Better: S-Video

Best: Component

http://lyberty.com/encyc/articles/svideo.html
s k r o o t a y p wrote on 3/1/2006, 9:38 PM
so say i'm running from:

Source component (camera or VCR)
to
A/D Converter
to
Computer (Capture)

and my Source component has RCA audio (L/R), RCA video and "S" video out, all of which my A/D Converter has inputs for. when you say good, better, best - is that saying i should always opt for the "S" video (whenever it's available from the source component) over the RCA video? IOW it isn't an "application" thing, rather, the RCA's are just there to accomodate older equipment like VCR's that may not have "S" video? and component would be the latest and better still way to connect where available? is that correct?

but you still have to use the RCA's for audio right? you can use, say, "S" video for the video transfer to the A/D Converter while using RCA for the audio transfer to the A/D Converter just leaving the RCA video unplugged and the audio and video will sync just the same?



Pal wrote on 3/1/2006, 11:33 PM
"it isn't an "application" thing, rather, the RCA's are just there to accomodate older equipment like VCR's that may not have "S" video? and component would be the latest and better still way to connect where available? is that correct?"

Yes
"but you still have to use the RCA's for audio right? you can use, say, "S" video for the video transfer to the A/D Converter while using RCA for the audio transfer to the A/D Converter just leaving the RCA video unplugged and the audio and video will sync just the same?"

Yes, I would just add that IF you had audio digital output, that would be a step up from the RCA's. You would also need an audio digital optical cable.