S Video output of gm/xm 2- please help! at DVinfo.net

Michael Connor · October 19th, 2004, 11:34 AM

I need to use the s video output so that whan editing footage it is easier to see colour correction/filters etc. On a professional monitor this is easy, but on a normal tv with analogue av type connection this is difficult. Today i walked into a TV shop to try out the s video connections when linking with my xm2. The picture using svideo clearly had much less noise than the analogue (AV) output, however, the pictures were in black and white. Please help! Should this happen? Does s video produce colour picures? Im sure it should. Is there something i need to do?

Chris Hurd · October 19th, 2004, 11:42 AM

Switch cables. The one you used wasn't passing the color info, and is probably bad. Try that first. If it's still b&w then you're looking at a bad S-video jack either on the monitor or the camera.

Michael Connor · October 19th, 2004, 11:46 AM

cheers... will try tommorrow, any other advice out there...?

Chris Hurd · October 19th, 2004, 11:53 AM

Check the PAL / NTSC switch on the monitor? I wonder if that would affect the color output...

Michael Connor · October 19th, 2004, 12:00 PM

it would do yes, it would appear black n white. but it is a pal tv with a pal camera, i hope its just the wire but i have that feeling that it isnt, hope im wrong, and this is not an xm2 issue! cheers.

Aaron Ferguson · October 19th, 2004, 10:21 PM

Hello! I had this happen once, I saw video but only in B&W, found out one of the pins on one end of the cable broke off!

Rob Lohman · October 20th, 2004, 04:56 AM

It might also be that the TV is only accepting composite in and
not s-video. How did you hook it up (through what kind of
connector)?

Keep in mind that s-video is still analogue. So I'm not sure what
other connection you where using earlier.

If you are using SCART then it usually accepts both composit and
s-video (which internally actually go over some of the same pins!),
but the TV might still NOT support it (quite common with at least
older TV's in Europe)!

Michael Connor · October 20th, 2004, 09:09 AM

i was using an actual s video cable into s video socket on tv (not through scart adaptor). I need to try another cable i guess but shop was closed today half day lazy beggars! tomorrow.....

Cosmin Rotaru · October 20th, 2004, 12:07 PM

On my TV, I have the front in with both Svideo and composite (separate connectors). Anyway, if I plug in the Svideo cable but the video-in on TV is set to the composite, I see black and white image.
I had some frustrations (when I bought the TV) untill my wife pushed the right button. :)

Alan McCormick · October 20th, 2004, 11:30 PM

Michael,

I do know on some TV's you have to go into the picture setup and select Svideo as the input to get colour. This is mostly on old TV's.

Michael Connor · October 21st, 2004, 01:50 PM

cheers everyone, i went back to shop with another lead and it worked. I ended up not buying the tv after all becuse of a fault i then noticed the screen had (with or wthout my xm2 connected). So now on look out for second hand tv shop in n.e england with s video television! They are actually becomming a little hard to find here in the UK, unless you buy a big expensive one.

Andre De Clercq · October 21st, 2004, 03:23 PM

You don't need S-video connection if color correction/filter is yr first concern. AV doesnt show more noise, appart from some cross color/luminance effects. Also chroma (color) isn't much different.

Michael Connor · October 22nd, 2004, 03:31 AM

okay why then do television proffesionals use an s video into a monitor as opposed to an analogue? Simply because s video gives more lines than standard analogue. perhaps someone could explain the difference, i think analogue is sometwhere in the region of 312 pal, 5oo s vid and 600+ scart as a rough guestimate????! There is a notable amount of improvement even on a standard TV. I used to play with various filters and tools on my pc screen, there was barely any difference. However on a monitor using s video these filters could be played with sucessfully. For example dropping a bit of motion blur effect or a sharpnes filter on a poor NTSC to pal conversion, then playing with the colour range, can make a horrible picture be acceptable enough for broadcast here in the UK. As for the use of a TV... i know its not gonna be ideal, but im sure there will be a difference. I could see a ifference in the shop... but if you know better, and happen to have a spare pal mo9nitor you want to give away, then, im your friend!
cheers.

Andre De Clercq · October 22nd, 2004, 07:43 AM

There is indeed a (potential) resolution difference in the luma channel. The chroma channel (color) is exactly the same for S-video and composite video. F.Y.I Michael, real professionals use (used to use...today it's SDI) component video. At the time JVC invented S-VHS consumer video recording, Y/C video connection became popular, and some lower end "pro" monitors got the Y/C input.

Michael Connor · October 22nd, 2004, 10:48 AM

however complicated or simple you make it.... s video offers more lines and is far superior to analogue. The standard was a big jump and pushed out purely for commercial reasons. There are broadcasters in the UK using s video as a capture medium for dvd, and achiving proffesional, i mean by this broadcastable, results. Im not talking about film standard, but certainly uk standard which exeeds that of crappy usa ntsc!

October 19th, 2004, 11:34 AM	#1
Michael Connor Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Durham, England Posts: 138	S Video output of gm/xm 2- please help! I need to use the s video output so that whan editing footage it is easier to see colour correction/filters etc. On a professional monitor this is easy, but on a normal tv with analogue av type connection this is difficult. Today i walked into a TV shop to try out the s video connections when linking with my xm2. The picture using svideo clearly had much less noise than the analogue (AV) output, however, the pictures were in black and white. Please help! Should this happen? Does s video produce colour picures? Im sure it should. Is there something i need to do? __________________ StMichael

October 19th, 2004, 11:42 AM	#2
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,368 Images: 513	Switch cables. The one you used wasn't passing the color info, and is probably bad. Try that first. If it's still b&w then you're looking at a bad S-video jack either on the monitor or the camera. __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

October 19th, 2004, 11:46 AM	#3
Michael Connor Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Durham, England Posts: 138	cheers... will try tommorrow, any other advice out there...? __________________ StMichael

October 19th, 2004, 11:53 AM	#4
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,368 Images: 513	Check the PAL / NTSC switch on the monitor? I wonder if that would affect the color output... __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

October 19th, 2004, 12:00 PM	#5
Michael Connor Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Durham, England Posts: 138	it would do yes, it would appear black n white. but it is a pal tv with a pal camera, i hope its just the wire but i have that feeling that it isnt, hope im wrong, and this is not an xm2 issue! cheers. __________________ StMichael

October 19th, 2004, 10:21 PM	#6
Aaron Ferguson Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Lima, OH Posts: 55	Hello! I had this happen once, I saw video but only in B&W, found out one of the pins on one end of the cable broke off!

October 20th, 2004, 04:56 AM	#7
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	It might also be that the TV is only accepting composite in and not s-video. How did you hook it up (through what kind of connector)? Keep in mind that s-video is still analogue. So I'm not sure what other connection you where using earlier. If you are using SCART then it usually accepts both composit and s-video (which internally actually go over some of the same pins!), but the TV might still NOT support it (quite common with at least older TV's in Europe)! __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

October 20th, 2004, 09:09 AM	#8
Michael Connor Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Durham, England Posts: 138	i was using an actual s video cable into s video socket on tv (not through scart adaptor). I need to try another cable i guess but shop was closed today half day lazy beggars! tomorrow..... __________________ StMichael

October 20th, 2004, 12:07 PM	#9
Cosmin Rotaru Major Player Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Romania, Timisoara Posts: 453	On my TV, I have the front in with both Svideo and composite (separate connectors). Anyway, if I plug in the Svideo cable but the video-in on TV is set to the composite, I see black and white image. I had some frustrations (when I bought the TV) untill my wife pushed the right button. :) __________________ Cosmin Rotaru

October 20th, 2004, 11:30 PM	#10
Alan McCormick Major Player Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Chatham, UK Posts: 282	Michael, I do know on some TV's you have to go into the picture setup and select Svideo as the input to get colour. This is mostly on old TV's. __________________ Alan McC

October 21st, 2004, 01:50 PM	#11
Michael Connor Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Durham, England Posts: 138	cheers everyone, i went back to shop with another lead and it worked. I ended up not buying the tv after all becuse of a fault i then noticed the screen had (with or wthout my xm2 connected). So now on look out for second hand tv shop in n.e england with s video television! They are actually becomming a little hard to find here in the UK, unless you buy a big expensive one. __________________ StMichael

October 21st, 2004, 03:23 PM	#12
Andre De Clercq Major Player Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Belgium Posts: 804	You don't need S-video connection if color correction/filter is yr first concern. AV doesnt show more noise, appart from some cross color/luminance effects. Also chroma (color) isn't much different.

October 22nd, 2004, 03:31 AM	#13
Michael Connor Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Durham, England Posts: 138	okay why then do television proffesionals use an s video into a monitor as opposed to an analogue? Simply because s video gives more lines than standard analogue. perhaps someone could explain the difference, i think analogue is sometwhere in the region of 312 pal, 5oo s vid and 600+ scart as a rough guestimate????! There is a notable amount of improvement even on a standard TV. I used to play with various filters and tools on my pc screen, there was barely any difference. However on a monitor using s video these filters could be played with sucessfully. For example dropping a bit of motion blur effect or a sharpnes filter on a poor NTSC to pal conversion, then playing with the colour range, can make a horrible picture be acceptable enough for broadcast here in the UK. As for the use of a TV... i know its not gonna be ideal, but im sure there will be a difference. I could see a ifference in the shop... but if you know better, and happen to have a spare pal mo9nitor you want to give away, then, im your friend! cheers. __________________ StMichael

October 22nd, 2004, 07:43 AM	#14
Andre De Clercq Major Player Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Belgium Posts: 804	There is indeed a (potential) resolution difference in the luma channel. The chroma channel (color) is exactly the same for S-video and composite video. F.Y.I Michael, real professionals use (used to use...today it's SDI) component video. At the time JVC invented S-VHS consumer video recording, Y/C video connection became popular, and some lower end "pro" monitors got the Y/C input.

October 22nd, 2004, 10:48 AM	#15
Michael Connor Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Durham, England Posts: 138	however complicated or simple you make it.... s video offers more lines and is far superior to analogue. The standard was a big jump and pushed out purely for commercial reasons. There are broadcasters in the UK using s video as a capture medium for dvd, and achiving proffesional, i mean by this broadcastable, results. Im not talking about film standard, but certainly uk standard which exeeds that of crappy usa ntsc! __________________ StMichael