8mm Forum: S-Video Vs Component Video

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Topic: S-Video Vs Component Video

Paul Adsett
Film God

Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted June 08, 2007 09:11 AM

Everything I have read says that a component video connection to a VP is superior to an S-Video connection. Since my DVD player is now 6 years old and only outputs interlaced scan via an S-video connector, I went out and sprung for a new DVD player which has all the bells and whistles, including upscaling to 1080i , progressive scan, Component, S-video, and HDMI connectors etc. So I hooked this up to my trusty Panasonic 700, using the best component cables on the market,set the thing to progressive scan, and switched on. The results were obvious- yes the picture was definately inferior to the old DVD player with the S-Video connection! I know it should'nt be this way, but I believe what my eyes are telling me. The new DVD player picture lacks contrast and saturation compared with the old DVD picture, which looks wonderful.
So back to Circuit City the new DVD player goes, along with that $100.00 Monster cable. The whole excercise was a waste of time.

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The best of all worlds- 8mm, super 8mm, 9.5mm, and HD Digital Projection,
Elmo GS1200 f1.0 2-blade
Eumig S938 Stereo f1.0 Ektar
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Jean-Marc Toussaint
Film God

Posts: 2392
From: France
Registered: Oct 2004

posted June 08, 2007 12:13 PM

If it ain't broke, why fix it?
Good try, Paul. And many thanks for the information.

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The Grindcave Cinema Website

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Robert Wales
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 100
From: Toronto
Registered: Nov 2005

posted June 08, 2007 05:05 PM

Did you make any adjustments of the television's video controls when you switched to the component inputs ? You can adjust things to just about any way which suits you, as well as to obtain the most accurate picture. There are THX calibration test signals on many DVD's out there, such as most of the Star Wars discs and select Disney titles such as The Lion King.

The most common mistake people make when tuning their televisions by eye is setting the sharpness controls far too high, introducing a lot of artifacts that appear to enhance the picture but in fact degrade it.

Also, be aware that no DVD player will upscale to 1080i over any output except the HDMI out. This is a copy-protection issue so if your TV does not have HDMI-inputs, you're out of luck.

One final bit of advice : Forget the high-priced Monster video cables and go to MonoPrice.com. They sell superb video cables that are every bit as good performance-wise for a fraction of the price. Take it from someone who has spent hundreds of dollars on so-called high-end cables like Monster and will never make that mistake again!

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Graham Ritchie
Film God

Posts: 4001
From: New Zealand
Registered: Feb 2006

posted June 08, 2007 06:24 PM

Hi Paul
A few years ago I bought some cheap 10 metere component cables to use instead of the S-Video for the VP, I feel the end result was worth the effort, as there seemed to be an improvement over S-Video which in itself was pretty good, most DVD players these days even the cheap ones are now fitted with component.

Graham.

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Lars Pettersson
Master Film Handler

Posts: 282
From: Stockholm, Sweden
Registered: Jan 2007

posted June 09, 2007 01:41 AM

Paul, I think you´re absolutely right in trusting your own senses when it comes to this sort of issue. I find many times that perhaps with a given combination of machines, the composite video signal may look better than the s-vhs, etc. To me, this is also a big issue when it comes to sound, the 2-channel stereo may sound better than the 5.1-sound from a given disk, for instance (i think I´ll start a separate thread about that one [Wink]

).

I have a Panasonic VP that´s a close realtive to yours and with it the component progressive video connection does look better than the others, but S-Video and composite also look surprisingly good. [Smile]

Sorry you had to go through that pointless excercise to find out, I think many of us have had similar frustrating experiences where in the end one finds out one had a perferctly good setup to begin with... [Roll Eyes]

Cheers,
Lars

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Paul Adsett
Film God

Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted June 09, 2007 11:58 AM

I think, as Lars has noted, it probably comes down to how well these black boxes 'talk' to each other. For my particular set up, it appears that my original 8 year old Sony DVD player puts out the kind of signal that the Panny 700 really likes. The results I got with the new upscaling DVD player, connected with component cables, was not as good. The picture may have been marginally sharper, but it did not look as clean and 'film like' as withe the s-video hook up from the old player, and the color looked better with s-video. Of course it may all come down to personal taste, but as Lars says you have to go with what you are seeing on the screen, not necessarily with what the experts say should be best.

--------------------
The best of all worlds- 8mm, super 8mm, 9.5mm, and HD Digital Projection,
Elmo GS1200 f1.0 2-blade
Eumig S938 Stereo f1.0 Ektar
Panasonic PT-AE4000U digital pj

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