Scart RGB -> Component conversion

[matthewt]

Has anyone here used converters to output Scart RGB to a component device ??

I'm trying to hookup sky/xbox/dvd which all have scart connectors to my TV which only has component (along with s-video and composhit). I've seen the cypress csy-2100 box which I'm thinking of buying but I wondered if anyone else has been down this path.

I could just use the dvd which has two scart in and component out to translate for me but that then limits how I use my dvd recorder.

thanks in advance

[WRT]

Check with IT Products or Anyware (both in Auckland sorry!) to see what options are available. Both offer a wide range of converters and adaptors at very reasonable prices.

[bugjuice]

nothing Dick Smith or Jaycar would be able to help with..??
always a good excuse to upgrade the ol' box..

[Paul in NZ]

Hi

I have one sitting on my desk you can try..

SKY RGB to Component Video...

I got it made by Mark up the coast. See here http://www.videotheatre.co.nz/

Works OK...

[SN4PD]

Just checked with Jack from Anyware (ordering some keyboards) and they dont do any SCART products.

Try IKON AVS, the do a lot of hifi stuff, http://www.ikonavs.com/

IKON AVS NZ (Distributor)
Address PO Box 619, Pukekohe,New Zealand
Tel + 64 (0)27 662 8463

[matthewt]

nothing Dick Smith or Jaycar would be able to help with..??
always a good excuse to upgrade the ol' box..

The "ol' box" was just upgraded

Scart is really a european thing and not that popular here. Sky are meant to provide component thru scart on the boxes via a firmware upgrade but I don't think this has happened yet. Maybe they are waiting for the pvr boxes to resolve this instead of upgrading the older digital ones.

DSE have a scart to rgb output plug which doesn't convert the actual signal. I got one and it didn't work. After some research I know why now. RGB and component are just different. Jaycar have the converter box I'm looking at (part#AC1600 but the picture is wrong).

[matthewt]

Check with IT Products or Anyware (both in Auckland sorry!) to see what options are available. Both offer a wide range of converters and adaptors at very reasonable prices.

Thanks, I had a look but couldn't see anything.

[SN4PD]

Goto www.jaycar.co.nz and search for PA3659 its $17.

[matthewt]

Hi

I have one sitting on my desk you can try..

SKY RGB to Component Video...

I got it made by Mark up the coast. See here http://www.videotheatre.co.nz/

Works OK...

Thanks Paul, I should of asked you first. I found mark's www site this morning when I had a search for converters. I'd found the cypress one last week but wanted to see if there were any alternatives.

Have you tried the device on anything other than Sky ?? I'll be pushing my xBox and DVD thru it as well so I wondered how well it pefromed with the higher bandwidth devices.

[matthewt]

Goto www.jaycar.co.nz and search for PA3659 its $17.

Yer I've got one of those already on the other scart connector. All it does is output (or input) to s-video and std rca. RGB is different as it's picture only and much higher quality.

Jaycar/dick smith also have one that has RGB output but again that doesn't convert the picture to component so would only work on a tv/projector that had actual rgb inputs.

[**R1**]

I can do you a SCART to s-vid, but not component, does your dvd not have component out? how many component inputs duz ya telly have?

[Paul in NZ]

Thanks Paul, I should of asked you first. I found mark's www site this morning when I had a search for converters. I'd found the cypress one last week but wanted to see if there were any alternatives.

Have you tried the device on anything other than Sky ?? I'll be pushing my xBox and DVD thru it as well so I wondered how well it pefromed with the higher bandwidth devices.

Hmm...

Yes, we have used it with good results but we got mark to mod it so we could run a 15 pin mini D-sub RGB connector (from PC) into it (this causes a few additional challanges). We wanted component out from a PC. (usually RGB)

I'll ask him if it will still do what you want as well but I'm pretty sure it will.

What you are running up against is a bloody joke out there. People are selling all sorts of shite as HDTV and don't know their component from their composite. (in video terms that means arse from elbow).. It's a kick in the nuts to have a nice screen or a 100hz TV and have to run composite video into it from your decoder...

S Video (shudder) seems to either work... Or not work or worse just give you black and white.. Have never bothered to even try to sell it as a solution.

For quality we use 5 core coax ....

Cheers

The box is on my desk and you are welcome to try it.

[Lou Girardin]

Jaycar do all types of converters. See www.jaycar.com.au

[Paul in NZ]

Jaycar do all types of converters. See www.jaycar.com.au

Yup... and their RGB to Component one probably won't work in this application. (I have one of those as well if you want to try it matt)

My problem is I use a PC to drive a 40" LCD monitor and to do that I need the 3 RGB / Componet leads PLUS a vertical and horizontal synch ... (usually not required for you TV)

For a reasonable explanation... (in 2 parts)

So what is "Component Video" anyway?
If you are just getting into home theater you will no doubt be confused by a lot of the jargon. And since the term component video is sure to befuddle just about everyone, here's a little primer on the subject. It might sound a little technical at first, but if you've got a DVD player, read on for some important information.

Starting at the beginning: RGB
Believe it or not, your eyes can see only three colors—red, green, and blue. All of the other colors and shades of the spectrum you perceive are the result of your brain interpreting the mix of red, green, and blue signals coming from your eyes. Pigments of your imagination, you might call them. (Sorry.)
Therefore, since your eyes only see red, green, and blue, a video system needs to capture and reproduce only red, green, and blue, or RGB as it's called. The camera must capture RGB on the front end. That information must be delivered accurately to your television or projector which must display RGB. By varying the intensity of red, green, and blue, every color of the spectrum can be reproduced. Voila. Perfectly natural color on your screen.
A Problem: Bandwidth
So how do you transport an image from the camera to your TV or projector? You could transmit it in the RGB format in which the camera first captured it. However, RGB is a bandwidth hog and bandwidth is expensive. So the first thing that happens is RGB is converted into a more compact format. This format is component video.
Component video consists of three signals. The first is the luminance signal, which indicates brightness or black & white information that is contained in the original RGB signal. It is referred to as the "Y" component. The second and third signals are called "color difference" signals which indicate how much blue and red there is relative to luminance. The blue component is "B-Y" and the red component is "R-Y". The color difference signals are mathematical derivatives of the RGB signal.
Green doesn't need to be transmitted as a separate signal since it can be inferred from the "Y, B-Y, R-Y" combination. The display device knows how bright the image is from the Y component, and since it knows how much is blue and red, it figures the rest must be green so it fills it in.
Once we've got our video information packaged up in component video format we've reduced bandwidth requirements by a factor of 3 to 2. But more compression was required for broadcast purposes. So back in 1953 when color television was born, a technique was developed to compress all of the component video information into one signal for broadcast. That one signal defined by the National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) is known as composite video.
Composite video shows up everywhere these days. It is (except for HDTV) what comes over the air to your TV's antenna, or through the coaxial cable from your cable TV provider. The yellow "video" jacks on the back of your VCR, laserdisc player or DVD player all output composite video.
The good news is that it only takes one wire to carry a composite video signal. The bad news is that the display system, whether it's a television or projector, needs to un-compress the composite signal, restore it to its original three-signal component video format, and then derive from that the RGB information for final display.
The problem is that picture information is lost when component video is compressed into composite format. Furthermore, once you pack luminance (Y) and chrominance (C) information into one signal, it cannot ever be separated cleanly again. So when the television or projector tries to convert the composite signal back to component video, it can't recover the entire original signal. The result is that the final video image on the screen is diminished—the picture is not as crisp and clean, and the colors aren't as accurate and rich as they would have been had the composite video compression been avoided.

[Hoon]

Yes as others have said you need a magic box to convert scart/s-video into component, this can't be done with a cable or adapter - its more than just matching wires up to pins as the protocols are entirely different (edit: bahh beaten to it!!)

I had a similar issue trying to get the best picture out of my Sky/DVDHomeTheatre/VCR/Xbox/WidescreenTV combo and ended up having to make a few concessions as I couldn't acheive optimal performance for every combination without changing plugs. So the DVD Home theatre got component, Sky -> svideo and Xbox/VCR composite with no sound output to the home theatre system.

It all depends on what is acceptable for you. i.e. DVD quality is more important to me than Sky. Also I could've had the Xbox running through the Home theatre but it would mean pressing two remotes to switch between xbox and tv which for someone that shoots it up every ad-break is unthinkable.

Next I plan to ditch the VCR for a Tivo unit which will cause even more headaches....