Hello everybody, please forgive me if this is one of those questions that will be answered by one of our pro's here and make me look silly, but. I was looking at a website for adapters. They had adapters for turning s-video into an RCA connection. I started to read up on S-video connections and it was discribed as being a Y and C composite signal. below are the quotes.

"S-Video (also called Y/C or component video) is carried on cables
that end in 4-pin Mini-DIN connectors".

"Y/C signals use two separate video signals. The luminance (Y)
is the black & white portion, providing brightness information.
The chrominance, or chroma (C) is the color portion, providing
hue and saturation information.".

I know it can't possibly be the same "composite" as pro equipment, So here's the question. What type is it? Some websites haves cables for converting s-video into RCA? some s-video to composite? We (I) generally overlook s-video as common useful output, have we missed something. If s-video (according to all the manuals I have read) is better quality than RCA, then how can it be converted back to RCA by simple cables?

http://www.svideotorca.com/ http://www.datapro.net/videodoc.html

Thanks

Ummm,

When you write pro composite do you mean

component?

Composite = Bad
S video = better
Component=
r/r-y
g/y
b/b-y

S-Video (S-VHS, Hi-8mm etc.) is composite video, not component. The composite signal is put through a comb filter and you have Y/C (S-Video). The advantage of Y/C is 400+ lines of resolution and reduced cross talk in the color. The resolution shows up in your images as greater detail. Cross talk is the image deterioration in high frequency detail (busy plaid or pattern the weatherman wears, looks like he is crawling with ants).

So how can (or can it) cables convert s-video to a single RCA video signal?

Does anyone have experience with a company called Harmonic Research. They have a line of products for

Model VC101A - NTSC to RGB/S
Model VC111A - NTSC to Component
Model VC102A - PAL to RGB/S
Model VC112A - PAL to Component
Model CV223 - RGB/S to Video
Model CV233 - Component to Video

I know, some one is going to ask "what are you trying to do", the only answer I can give is, learn.

the company also has line doublers, claiming they can make NTSC look good on high def displays?

http://www.hrx.com/

snake oil??

S-video (s for separate) can provide better video because it avoids the signal separation process that splits the chroma from the luma portion of the video signal. To do this splitting process well requires sophisticated circuitry (e.g., comb filters) only recently added to the higher end consumer gear. Low cost gear used simple low- and high-pass filters that reduced signal resolution significantly while showing artifacts of the poor filtration.

Why comb filters work is a rather technical discussion best left for research.

One can reform the composite video signal from the s-video signal by simply ading the two signals. The cables that do this trust to the connected equipment having proper input and output impedances.

Thanks Don and Jeff, Don I believe I added some things (edited) to the post since you replied.