Page 1 of Making the most of available RGB SCART and S-Video SCART inputs

On my Sony KV-28FS20U TV there are two SCART inputs at the back: one handles RGB and the other S-Video.

Before I bought my DVD player (Oritron DVD600), I had my ONdigital box connected to my TV through the RGB connection. Neither my DVD player nor the ONdigital box output S-Video, so I have given the RGB connection to the DVD player for better quality at the cost of a glazy picture for ONdigital.

Can I get the best of both worlds?..

- Am I stuck unless I get a DVD player that outputs S-Video?
- If so, what`s the cheapest, remote-hackable DVD player that outputs S-Video?
- Is there some connector that I can buy to plug both the DVD player and the ONdigital box into the RGB SCART socket at the same time?

Opinions and experiences welcome!


Thanks,

Heather.

Heather,

yes, your stuck! Not sure about the cheapest DVD with S-Video, but check the specs for the Cyberhome player that Smiths and Richers sell. Otherwise you`ll have to look around the £180 -200 mark.

You could try Maplins, Letropacks or Keene Electronics for a Scart switcher that throughputs an RGB signal, though there may be others. Hopefully, one of the other regulars might be able to help.

I have the same TV I think - is it a 28" widescreen? I too have the same problem - I`ve put my DVD into AV1 which is the RGB and Sky Digital into AV2 - the picture is certainly watchable but not as good as through AV1 - I need a suggestion too!!!

Yes, it`s the 28" widescreen.

I think the only solution is to get a SCART switch - which means having to physically flick a switch whenever I want to change between DVD and ONdigital.

Does such a thing as a SCART RGB to SCART S-Video convertor exist?


Thanks for the replies,

Heather.

This item was edited on Friday, 5th January 2001, 12:16

Try Lektropacks as mentioned.

I thought you were on to a winner with this thing:

http://www.lektropacks.co.uk/acatalog/cmt-7.html

but it doesn`t seem to convert the way you need.
Try them anyway...?

(This thing would work in my application....only the £179 price puts me off!)

Does the ONDigital box have two scarts? Mine does (Nokia) so I`ve just daisy-chained.

You can get automatic Scart switches that just pick-up whichever Scart is in use, but whether you can get them in RGB I don`t know.

There is an RGB Scart to S-Video converter. I just came across a review of one while re-reading the November issue of "What Video TV" in my "study" (ahem!).

Its made by a firm called J.S. Technology, The Bungalow, Cunningham Head Estate, Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, KA3 2PE. Phone number is 01294 850238.

URL is http://www.rgbtosvideo.com

Looks like a one man band, garage workshop type operation, but it worked apparently and got a good review. Costs £65 for the PAL version or £80 for the PAL/NTSC version.

This item was edited on Friday, 5th January 2001, 23:08

Automatic Scart switches with RGB exist, I got one.
But I can`t help you find one here as I got mine in France where Scart has been standard on every AV equipement for the last 15 years :-)

I`ve got a Nokia ONdigital box too (probably the same one, I`d guess). I thought that the SCART connection on the back marked "AUX" was an output not a throughput input (if that makes any sense).

Anyway, I tried that last night and I couldn`t get that daisy chain to work for RGB (I got only sound and no picture). However it did work for the standard composite SCART.

Scoobs: have you got it working with RGB output from your DVD player, going into your ONdigital box which also outputs as RGB? If so, please tell me how!


Thanks,

Heather.

Mick: Thanks for the link, but I don`t really want to spend that much - I was hoping they`d be something for £10!

As far as I can tell, I think an automatic SCART switcher is the best option - I`ll have to go on the lookout for one of them.


Thanks,

Heather.