TV options - regular / LCD / plazma - PS2/GT4 advantage?

[Samelborp]

S-Video is the yellow coloured phono-connector that plugs into the scart adaptor, the other two are left and right (stereo) audio. If your TV has separate inputs they should be at the front or side.

Mmm, I thought that S-Video conectors were black, with pins and a small plastic black rectangle... so this yellow connector is a S-Video connector in disguise?

 

[okoj]

Pic 1 = S-Video Input

Pic 2 = Scart cable

 

[GTXLR]

To get a little technical here, read the following.

RCA = A video, often yellow, connection (input/output) that sends video images to and from electronic equipment.

S-Video = A higher quality video signal connection that keeps parts of the video signal separated. Luminance (Brightness/Darkness) and chrominance (Color) are kept seperarte from each other. All TV sets must separate these parts of a video signal, for processing, before beaming them to the back of the TV screen. This process causes a lot of picture detail loss, and color fading. S-Video prevents that from happening by keeping these two parts separated.

Component = Takes a further step to separate the video signal. Luminance and chrominance are seperated, but chrominance is separated into two different colors. This improves clarity, and especially color detail, further than what S-Video can provide. It is the ultimate analog video connection.

SCART is the Rectangular shaped 21 pin connector, which has support for 21 signal inputs, (not all used by PS2).

RGB scart would be superior to Component as it basically strips the video signal into its three primaries i.e Red, Green, and Blue, the Audio signal is also stripped to its own channels. Making it the ultimate Analogue video connection.

Although i understand the U.S dont have this option which means Component for You would be the best.

Mmm, I thought that S-Video conectors were black, with pins and a small plastic black rectangle... so this yellow connector is a S-Video connector in disguise?

S-Video usually comes in the form of a small circular connection which encompasses a number of Pins carrying the signal, It is not as common as an RCA jack or scart socket on many TVs, so Sony decided to work around this when they launched the PS2 by providing a Three part cable with RCA jacks with a Scart socket adaptor, this meant that the Most people would be able to get the S-Video quality image, as most Tvs Would have either the Three Jack sockets (yellow, white and red) or a Scart socket.

 

[Pak]

Golden coating for European RGB SCART cables don't improve anything - the best RGB SCART cable money can but is an official Sony's RGB SCART cable. I was strictly reffering to that.

Word.

I know you were reffering to that, but my question was why a Gold Plated connector doesn't help, cause it's supposed to lower the resistance. And why is the official sony RGB scart the best? You tested em all??

 

[GTXLR]

I know you were reffering to that, but my question was why a Gold Plated connector doesn't help, cause it's supposed to lower the resistance. And why is the official sony RGB scart the best? You tested em all??

Not sure there is a great deal of difference in picture quality.
I have an Official lead plugged into my main set up, where the TV has 5.1 audio and an alternative branded one (cant remember which, i bought it long ago) which has the junction for Audio outs so I can connect to my 5.1 setup on my secondary set up, they both provide Superb clarity in RGB.

However for some reason on my 4:3 secondary set up the non Sony lead causes the outputted image to be compressed slightly giving small blak bars top and bottom, which doesnt happen if i Use the Official one.

 

[slackbladder]

In my experiance of using my PS2 with my 42"Rear Projection TV I find component the best for picture quality, which is conveniant as the two scarts are for my digibox and video. Unfortunately my DVD player has to use S-Video, but the pic quality is still good.
And to my knowledge Component also splits the colours into RGB as it comes with 5 plugs; a red, a blue, a green and two for stereo.

I find scart on PS2 varies in quality a great deal depending on the quality of the scart lead itself. They are also bulky and awkward to use. Component on the other hand are easy to use and although quality is still important generally you can get away with a cheap lead. But most TV's in Europe don't have component unless you have Plasma, RP etc.

I remember reading that Progressive Scan was considered for GT4 but dropped as PD discovered that the PQ actually dropped. As for the PQ of GT3 on my RP I am perfectly happy. The PQ is great and I expect GT4 may be better.

 

[GTXLR]

In my experiance of using my PS2 with my 42"Rear Projection TV I find component the best for picture quality, which is conveniant as the two scarts are for my digibox and video. Unfortunately my DVD player has to use S-Video, but the pic quality is still good.
And to my knowledge Component also splits the colours into RGB as it comes with 5 plugs; a red, a blue, a green and two for stereo.

I find scart on PS2 varies in quality a great deal depending on the quality of the scart lead itself. They are also bulky and awkward to use. Component on the other hand are easy to use and although quality is still important generally you can get away with a cheap lead. But most TV's in Europe don't have component unless you have Plasma, RP etc.

I remember reading that Progressive Scan was considered for GT4 but dropped as PD discovered that the PQ actually dropped. As for the PG of GT3 on my RP I am perfectly happy. The PQ is great and I expect GT4 may be better.

Never Having seen or experienced Component, I was just going by Solids description of how it breaks it down, if your description is correct then it would be pretty much on a Par with scart.

Progressive scan was dropped because they would have to remove some Effects they were using to keep the game running at pace, which in turn meant that the game wouldnt have looked as good as it does without it.

 

[slackbladder]

SCART is generally very, very good. On my old 28" TV the PQ was brilliant. But when I got my 42" RP the PQ seemed to lessen. Lines were more visible and colour seemed slightly washed out. When I changed to component the PQ was superb, which is a bit of a shame as I intended to use it with my DVD player.

My TV is also 100hz and GT3 and every other game I have looks stunning. But again, on my old 28" and 50hz tv the pic was still very good. I have noticed on large screen TV's (over 40") that if they run at 50hz there is a little more smearing in the image. 100hz does seem to correct that.

Also, widescreen is essential for GT3 and GT4. I was very happy when I discovered that GT3 had a widescreen option. That, plus the new DDPLII sound I'm going to be as happy as a pig rolling in its own filth when GT4 arrives!

 

[Arwin]

In my experiance of using my PS2 with my 42"Rear Projection TV I find component the best for picture quality, which is conveniant as the two scarts are for my digibox and video. Unfortunately my DVD player has to use S-Video, but the pic quality is still good.
And to my knowledge Component also splits the colours into RGB as it comes with 5 plugs; a red, a blue, a green and two for stereo.

I find scart on PS2 varies in quality a great deal depending on the quality of the scart lead itself. They are also bulky and awkward to use. Component on the other hand are easy to use and although quality is still important generally you can get away with a cheap lead. But most TV's in Europe don't have component unless you have Plasma, RP etc.

I remember reading that Progressive Scan was considered for GT4 but dropped as PD discovered that the PQ actually dropped. As for the PQ of GT3 on my RP I am perfectly happy. The PQ is great and I expect GT4 may be better.

An RBG cable with a scart plug is of no less quality than a component RGB cable, as the same separation of image components happens. The SCART Plug has many pins and the RGB cable connects the pins for R, G, B, L, and R to the proper SCART pins, that in turn are picked up by a TV SCART Input that supports this. The only deceptive thing is that the signal is ALSO transferred to another pin on the SCART cable in the S-Video method, and even in Composite method I believe. The TV simply picks up the best signal it supports.

This makes it also possible for cables to exist that look like RGB cables but are in fact traditional composite with l/r / s-video sets connected to SCART plugs but in a closed cover rather than the default s-video cable with loose SCART plug set you get with the PS2. This can be rather deceptive.

I'm not sure I understand btw how one connector is more awkward to use than 5 separate ones.

 

[kinigitt]

No, it's just a connection for digital signals only. DVI is crap, anyway. The real good digital connection is HDMI. DVI may, or may not be, HDCP compliant. Plus, it wont do multi channel digital audio.

ahh ok. Thanks.

Are HDMI connections even available for gaming consoles?

P.S. what does HDCP compliancy get you?

 

[slackbladder]

There SHOULD be little difference in quality between composite and SCART, but a lot depends on your tv, quality of lead etc. With mine I get a better pic with composite. This may be due to the PS2 cable but I feel that composite works best with my TV. Indeed, equipment varies in compatability with Scart, S-Video, composite. Sometimes Scart is better, sometimes not.
And I'm not sure about this but if you want to use Progressive Scan do you not have to use composite?

I also find them awkward because they are bulky and fitting them and removing them are a pain. That may be due to the actual socket on the TV being hard to reach. But that's probably just a personal preference!

Anyway, games look great even with 100hz and even when using pic modes such as Super Live or Cinema (which I use for FFX to get rid of the borders)!

 

[kinigitt]

This whole SCART thing seems overly complicated with the pin connectors and whatnot.

My TV has inputs for Red, green and blue, and that's what my component RGBs are for. No hassle, just plug em in the corresponding inputs.

Aren't european tv's similar?

 

[Solid Lifters]

ahh ok. Thanks.

Are HDMI connections even available for gaming consoles?

P.S. what does HDCP compliancy get you?

HDMI will probably be the next ultimate digital connection for all electronic equipment. Most likely it will be a digital connection for the PS3. But, Sony appear to have returned to the iLink (IEEE1394) digital connection for its HDTV sets, so I have no idea if that will be the digital connection for the new PS3. I don't know of any game console with DVI or HDMI.

If and when HDCP is activated, I will be forced to watch HDTV movies in standard definition. But, that's for HD images that are delivered to my HDTV set via another device, like a pay service HDTV reciever. Over-the-air HDTV movies will continue to be in HDTV, but that is far and few between. There has been almost no HDTV movies aired on regular TV for at least three or four months.

Pic 1 = S-Video Input

Pic 2 = Scart cable

Here in the States, that yellow video cable connection is called RCA. S-Video is a much larger, mostly round, black connection that will have four metal prongs.

 

[SilviaDrifter27]

Just get a 27" or 32" flat screen tube TV- Sony, Toshiba or Panasonic-JVC sucks. Get monster component cables(get em on ebay-do not buy them at a retail store$$$$). And get your TV properly tuned. They sell dvds for like $20 on ebay that show you how to get the maximum quality picture out of your TV. Believe me, it works. I have the Sony 34" XBR960 and you won't believe how clear the gameplay is. Lets just say it tickles my eyes.

 

[Jedi2016]

I'm not sure about the tuning DVDs on Ebay, but quite a few DVDs (in my collection, at any rate) have a "THX Optimizer" feature that's designed to help set up video and audio. Pretty much any film that's been mastered at THX will have this feature. Worked great when I got my 5.1 setup, in making sure everything was set up right. I'll run the video end of it whenever I get a new TV.

 

[gumavarie]

Im currently using a 32" Wega, but am soon upgrading to a KD34XBR960 (second pic).

Quick question...when I use component on the Wega, the green wire doesnt seem to always work. The color cuts out on me, and I have to fiddle with it to get it back. Or hit the TV. (The tvs only 10 months old) They're the Sony brand components, so they should be alright...

 

[Symtex]

SCART = Syndicat des Constructeurs d'Appareils Radiorécepteurs et Téléviseurs.

Meaning.. don't know...lol...

Union of the Radio Receiving and Television constructor

 

[Mr Whippy]

Soooo, I'm in the UK, and have a normal TV with a composite input and an s-video input at the front, and two scarts at the back, with both the scarts supporting s-video in (not bundling it up in the scart cable and loosing information).

I was under the impression that s-video was the best, but now read the composite (the little yellow plug on the official PS2 output cable) is of higher quality.

So, am I best using my scarts at the back, or the composite's at the front?

How can one get s-video from the ps2 without using a different cable and adaptor?

Cheers

Dave

 

[Kaniyodrift]

This thread is too long for me to read thru, but i noticed the RGB Scart being mentioned and i must point out that the dongle that comes with PAL PS2 is not RGB so forget that!

Get a proper RGB cable and enjoy the clear vibrant colors and smooth motion that surpasses S-Video like S-Video surpassed Composite.

I got this dirt cheap RGB Scart

and i'm never going back to S-Video - i'll only use that for screen capture.

NB! RGB is PAL thingy - u guys in the states have this Component thingy which produces more or less same quality.

 

[Mr Whippy]

Kaniyodrift,

how does that plug into my TV in PAL land?

Does your TV need the s-video pinned Scart inputs? As I remember, some scart in's are the crappy type, which are just wired up to give a composite in, yet some are wired inside to keep the signal purer, aka s-video.

Does that cable thing you have keep the signal s-video into the scart adaptor?

Hmmm

Dave

 

[the Interceptor]

Kaniyodrift,

how does that plug into my TV in PAL land?

Does your TV need the s-video pinned Scart inputs? As I remember, some scart in's are the crappy type, which are just wired up to give a composite in, yet some are wired inside to keep the signal purer, aka s-video.

Does that cable thing you have keep the signal s-video into the scart adaptor?

If I may ...

- Composite (single yellow plug) gives the worst quality

- s-video (round plug with a few pins) gives much better quality

- Scart gives better quality than S-Video if it uses RGB. If it only is the crappy version, it's equal to s-video!

- Component signal (YUV) is known to be the best, although I don't see much difference to RGB. You need a component input on your screen (red, green and blue plug) to be able to use this

Now there are cables for all of these types available for the PS2. If your screen does support RGB or YUV (check the manual), go and buy an appropriate RGB cable (cheap) or YUV cable (expensive). If it doesn't, you can stick with a (cheap) s-video-cable. If your screen only has a composite input, use the cable that came with your PS2.

Cheers,
the Interceptor

 

[franz]

Can someone tell me if any widescreen tv (not plasma/projection, just regular type) can provide a mode to display 4:3 source without stretching? which means when I watch regular tv programme, 2 black box on left and right
is it possible?

 

[the Interceptor]

Can someone tell me if any widescreen tv (not plasma/projection, just regular type) can provide a mode to display 4:3 source without stretching? which means when I watch regular tv programme, 2 black box on left and right
is it possible?

I'd say most of the widescreen tvs can, mine at least (Panasonic). I remember there were some models that always streched the image to widescreen, but that's years ago.

Cheers,
the Interceptor

 

[XspudX]

+



+



=

This is my setup right now and I love it

 

[SimRaceDriver]

I've read here that it's possible to use an S-Video cable with the PS2...
and with that being said, here's my question..

If one end of the cable, seen here

Goes into my TV, (Which I know it does) then where does the other end get plugged into on the PS2? I don't see any option for this type of cable? Am I missing something?
NOTE: I'm not a TV expert all right, so remember that when you reply! LOL

 

[McLaren]

48" TV
+
6-8 feet away
+
Gran Turismo 4
+
PS2
+
Tila Nguyen
=
Heaven.

 

[spooony]

I've read here that it's possible to use an S-Video cable with the PS2...
and with that being said, here's my question..

If one end of the cable, seen here

Goes into my TV, (Which I know it does) then where does the other end get plugged into on the PS2? I don't see any option for this type of cable? Am I missing something?
NOTE: I'm not a TV expert all right, so remember that when you reply! LOL

You have to get the s-video cable for PS2, the other end is the same as the normal composite cable you currently have right now.

A quick google pic:

 

[franz]

48" TV
+
6-8 feet away
+
Gran Turismo 4
+
PS2
+
Tila Nguyen
=
Heaven.

if there is an ugly chick replace Tila Nguyen, you can't tell the different with this combination ... coz your eyes always stay with GT4
unless PD put her in the game .... but I don't think so

 

[SimRaceDriver]

You have to get the s-video cable for PS2, the other end is the same as the normal composite cable you currently have right now.

A quick google pic:

Spooony: Thanks for the heads up there...Much appreciated! 👍
Never knew this type of accessorrie was available for the PS2 until now!

Checking out Amazon.com, I found what you were referring to:

I'll also give my local electronics store (Fry's) a try as well to see if they have one available before attempting to make the purchase from Amazon!

 

[McLaren]

if there is an ugly chick replace Tila Nguyen, you can't tell the different with this combination ... coz your eyes always stay with GT4
unless PD put her in the game .... but I don't think so

Actually, it'd be 50/50.
50 for GT4 b/c I can't believe it finally came out.
50 for Tila b/c I can't believe she's sitting right next to me.

I would never replace her.