I am totally clueless about this stuff I've always had a crappy TV and never needed to know any of this stuff. Now that I have a decent TV though ( Thank you Black Friday) it is time that I learned. I've got 2 HDMI slots, 2 Component slots, and 3 standard (composite?) with S-Video connections. I know HDMI is the best so is Component 2nd best and S-Video 3rd?
As far as i know, from best to worst: HDMI -> Component -> (RGB Scart) -> S-Video -> Composite -> RF Where HDMI is the only true digital signal, the rest all analog.
you forgot RGBHV, ending in D-sub (aka VGA plug), and its RGBHV BNC and RCA ending variations. RGBHV>RGB component, since RGB component (and japanese D-terminal) carry HV sync on Green.
I would say RGB(SCART) > Component, since each red, green, and blue signal is carried directly over RGB. Component has one of the channels mathematically generated (meaning loss of signal purity) from the other two.
yes, but u forget that RGB(Scart) doesnt do progressive (TV sets that have the RGB SCART standard being the bottleneck) , or high-resolution, beyond 520i, whereas component goes as far as you want + progressive Also, I don't think all component DACs calculate one color mathemtically. RGB (component) and RGBHV (on VGA graphic cards etc) have often the SAME exact DAC, just different wiring. That's why you can solder/cut circuits to extract HV signal from Sync on Green.
I recently upgraded my gaming TV to a LCD Monitor and also have been looking for the "best" cables. Other than your PS3, nothing will do digital which is the best. Digital includes HDMI and DVI. Here are a few systems and the better quality signals you can get from them. PS2: Component Video, some output 480p. Also Analog RGB is possible, but that would either require VGA support on the game or SCART RGB support on your TV. Given that you have Component inputs, I'd just go with that. That's what I'm getting. PS1: Best you can get is Analog RGB, but again not that many TVs will input it as I believe its at 15khz, where as VGA is something like 31khz. The next best thing is to go with S-Video. Sega Genesis: Analog RGB again at about 15khz. There's ONLY composite video as your other choice. =( Now there is an exception, which is the JVC X'Eye which actually has S-Video. If you use Sega 32X however, you're screwwed unless you use the RGB signal from the 32x output somehow, like through a JROK rgb encoder. Sega Saturn: Not entirely sure on this one, but I'm sure it has analog RGB, it also has S-Video I believe. Sega DreamCast: Analog RGB, VGA on some games, S-Video also. Xbox: Component, I think also RGB, not sure though. SNES (Model 1): Analog RGB, S-Video. N64: S-Video I believe, no RGB. GameCube: Component Video if you have one with the digital out. Otherwise S-Video. Those are some of them. Obviously they all tend to output crappy composite video, then more of them later on support S-Video. S-Video should offer good picture quality. Much better than composite atleast. If you really want the best picture on systems that don't output component video, you could use a JROK RGB to Component Video board. www.jrok.com
Oh stop nagging about analogue as if it sucks. Dvi/HDMI have issues too, trust me. Honestly though, I ve seen machines hooked-up on DVi-D, and machines hooked on VGA (RGBHV), and having a 20/20 vision, I swear I didn't see the least difference. True, the signal on analogue transmissions is more vunerable to distortion and EM inteference, but I don't have a tesla cannon next to my computer.
Of course they do, that's why it's YPbPr and not YPbPrPg. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YCbCr Motzilla has it down; one addition though: some N64s can be modified for RGB. Current consoles are best in component since they natively use YUV instead of RGB.
I see..So the XBOX 1 has got a YPbPr DAC? I thought it would be the same as with the GeForce 3 Ti200. Or is RGBHV also YCbCr?
Who was nagging about analogue? I'm in the same boat as you, I've seen digital displays through HDMI are honestly it didn't look any different/better than what I've seen through good analog connections.
Oops, certainly RGB is used internally by current consoles and perhaps YUV too. What I meant was YUV has to be used for DVD playback but whether or not the consoles do soft or hard playback I don't know. (Dunno to what extent loss is introduced internally) I'd think Xbox has separate DAC for RGB and component in the same IC so for each mode there is only one stage. RGBHV has the same color components as SCART but just with separated sync components. The loss from RGBHV to SCART isn't much of an issue though since syncs are digitalish.
