[krlock]

hi all,


i noted some comments elsewhere that using component over s video is like the difference between night and day.


do you all find this the case with dvd's as well as hdtv? i live in europe so no hdtv, just prefer to watch dvds and i really cant see much of a difference in picture quality. for example, i watched the animatrix animated short (flight of the osiris) several times with both s video and component for comparison, and couldnt tell much difference.


i run a sony dav-s550 set to progressive scan, and a 10m component cable from profigold and have a panny ae300 projector, in a fully light controlled room.


your thoughts appreciated..


krlock

 

[akm3]

I can notice a difference. Anytime anyone says an incremental improvement is "night and day" is always suspect with me


e.g. I hate it when people say the $150 video cable was "NIGHT AND DAY!" better then the $15 video cable. Yes, I'll grant maybe there was an improvement, but for ME I reserve "NIGHT AND DAY" for something like, the BMW M3 is NIGHT AND DAY more fun to drive then the Geo Metro.


But hey, thats my opinion.


Component is an incremental improvement.

 

[bighifi]

You will notice several differences with component over S-vido. You will have better color saturation, more detail, and better blacks (and black detail). Is it night and day? Well this will depend on the set and the scaler on the display. One other thing to note is that you can not get a progressive signal through S-video. For the HiDef stuff (480p, 720p, 1080i) you will need component video. One thing to remember on this forum, is that most things are subjective. Your eyes and ears are always the final judge.

 

[krlock]

thanks akm3 and bighifi.....


would anyone care to say how many percent better a typical component cable is over a typical s-video cable.


my best guess is 5%, perhaps slightly higher. hardly night and day. what does anyone else think???


now up until yesterday i was running my playstation 2 through my pj with the normal composite cable that came with it. yesterday i bought a monster cable s-video.... now that DID make a big difference in picture quality. I mean, really really noticeably sharper and better (night and day man.... hehe). but the difference for DVD (remember i dont have HDTV) was pretty negligible.


krlock



krlock

 

[stansell]

Quote:

Originally posted by akm3 I can notice a difference. Anytime anyone says an incremental improvement is "night and day" is always suspect with me

Perhaps those folks live in Alaska or Antarctica

 

[Cyrano]

I would not say the difference between svideo and component progressive is like night and day. Especially because it is very much equipment combination dependent.


With my X1 and Panny RP62 combination the improvement is like the improvement going from composite to svideo. The image is cleaner and has a much reduced electronic look. I use the (computer) vesa input most of the time. I have encountered an occasional DVD of older TV broadcasts that require the overscan engaged which cannot be done while in progressive mode.

I would like to know if another plateau of improvement could be gained by going to an HTPC?

YMMV

 

[Jonmx]

No one can say what percentage the improvement will be because it is so dependent on the equipment and source material. If your projector has a really good de-interlacer on it, it may be just as well if not better to by-pass the de-interlacer of the DVD player. In some cases the difference in quality will be very marginal and may only be noticed by videophiles. In my case the difference is night and day since my projector bites at de-interlacing. I am always much better having a progressive signal sent to the projector via compent or even better RGB, than having an interlaced signal sent over s-video. If you don't notice the difference and are happy with s-video, don't sweat it.

 

[rkapur]

Expect better color saturation...overall, richer feel to the image. Yes, its dissernible...even by my wife

 

[bighifi]

A good rule of thumb is always go with component if you can. I can not give you a percentage value, but it will be better. If you can do it then do it. Most people will notice a difference in the picture, even the non expert. Anytime you can break up a signal and let you device do less interpitatio of the signal, you should go for it. Look at like mail, we have so many zip codes so the post office has to less guess work. Same thing with video, you monitor will have to do less work to deliver a true picture.

 

[c722]

well I'm another one that will say "night and day" diff. For connecting my RP82 to a plasma, the difference is huge. Component prog has much more saturated colors and clean image. every one in my family agreed on this. Connecting to the projector, in my case the difference is also very obvious, but not as much as to the plasma.

and yes it has nothing to do with the $$$ of the cable. For my projector a 30' run of expensive svideo cable has a very poor image; the cheap component cable looks much better.


If u r talking about X1, I've seen it once. The difference on component prog (through the RGB port) over the svideo is quite obvious.

 

[coolhand]

I'd say its night and day too. There is only 1 Component input on the PT300 but I would rather switch my component cable every time I change sources (DVD and HDTV) than watch either in S-Video.

 

[krlock]

so far those are some interesting replies.


thanks for getting involved chris, i know it was your original comment and im certainly not criticising.


perhaps its my equipment or something, but i only see maybe 5% if that. i think its interesting when people talk about component cables being so much better, i tend to think of a big improvement, but really it isnt always.


krlock.


i agree with the above post.... incremental.

 

[remorales]

I have my DVD player hooked up to my Z1 through the S-video input and the compoenent input. Using an A/B test, the difference is substantial. On the Z1, I would describe the S-video image to look like a "video" image. Its kind of hazy without very well defined borders around bodies, buildings, etc. The component output simply looks like film. It is a remarkeable difference. If I were to give it a percentage value, I would say the improvement is 30%, but that really doesn't mean anything.

 

[Vidmaven]

Component is significantly better than S-Video. I have switched back and forth on a number of DVDs and satellite channels and I would say that there is a 33 to 50 % increase in picture quality i.e. improved resolution, improved clarity, improved color saturation. There really is no comparison. One is good the other is great.

 

[krlock]

maybe i just dont have a very good component cable or something???


krlock

 

[mulveling]

These differences people are citing - saturation, black level, sharpness - are all dependant on the equipment used like another poster said. Many times a piece of equipment will have substantially different default calibration settings for different inputs/outputs (especially displays) and these are often mistaken for inherent quality differences between s-video/composite/component. For me a good, clean, well implemented s-video output and input is indistinguishable from a component connection. I also used to think there was a night and day difference until I tried it with decent equipment. I've done the comparisions on my rp-91 into Holo3D I and flyvideo2000 capture cards, displayed via Dscaler on a hi-res computer display (the s-video only flyvideo2000 wins for me, btw - no green tint). Sure component is vastly superior in theory, but in practice the differences are minor *for 480i* sources. Obviously component can handle higher res material and it's also much better if you don't have a decent deinterlacer downstream. So in summary, yeah if you like what you're seeing with *your* s-video setup, don't bother with component, you may be disappointed with the upgrade.

 

[krlock]

thanks mulveling..... sounds like you really know what you are talking about.


i actually have both the component and the s-video cables, both fairly good quality. in any case, im very happy as a film fan rather than a videophile, with the picture that the panny produces, though maybe i might turn a bit green if the ae-500 turns out to be a lot better! still, at least when its time to upgrade, i will have all the cables i need!!!


thanks to everyone again for their input on this thread! this is a really nice forum with a lot of nice ppl.


krlock