Hey gang, In terms of RGB output vs Component, is there any real technical difference between the two? I assume both will produce similar quality levels in terms of output? The reason I ask is because component inputs seem much more common in North America than RGB (Scart-like) inputs. Should I worry about quality loss between choosing one or the other?
Depends on the console you are using it with. The Xbox 360 for example will do 480i over RGB Scart but 720p or even 1080i over component.
I mean in terms of technical reasons. Ie. All things being equal, will one produce a better picture than the other? I assume functionally, RGB and Component are equivalent technology and converting from one to another is rather trivial.
Ah I see. So if given the option to wire a classic console up (PC-Engine) with RGB or Component, RGB would provide the better picture?
Its not going to big a very big difference,there very similar in picture quality. I have my super fami component modded and from comparing pics online with rgb I can't tell the difference but you also have to factor in what kind of tv your using.
Well, not necessarily as with rgb scart it usually has to be scaled where as a 240p component signal can be handled by many tvs in North America. The more processed a picture is the more undefined it becomes. There is a lot variables to consider.
Well, in this case, for a PC-Engine I'm not sure what is done to the video before it is pumped out. But I know native RGB requires less work to get going than Component from what I can tell.
"Component video has simulated green where as rgb scart doesn't." Mathematically YPbPr's green is identical to the RGB green. RGB and YPbPr are for all intents and purposes identical in quality for analog links. The loss from transcoding RGB to YPbPr over an analog link is a negligible amount of noise and distortion from the transcoder's amplifiers. For digital links YCbCr source video is often compressed to save bandwidth (the Cb and Cr components), so RGB might offer a better picture quality if the source video is natively RGB, but that only applies to modern games over HDMI. YPbPr is a better choice than RGB for all analog video from the PS2 onwards.
Personally I'd only convert RGB straight to component on an SDTV. HDTVs are hit and miss, the worst catastrophically fail at 240p component with a "signal not found" type message or similar.
