SCART connections

[chambsesf]

I hope this is the correct forum for my question.....

I presently have a Sky Digibox, A DVD recorder and a VCR connected to the TV as follows:

Sky - 2 scart outputs, one to the VCR in and one to the DVD in (so I can record from Sky)

DVD - input from Sky, output to TV

VCR - input from Sky, output to TV.

Is this the best way of connecting the various components together? I only ask because I'm not convinced the picture quality is always as good as the Terrestrial channels are which go straight to TV via the co-ax i.e. the signal doesn't have to pass via any other component.

I don't think the equipment is at fault because none of it is >12 months old.

Cheers all.

 

[AdamW]

Does your Sky box connect to your DVD recorder by RGB scart or composite scart? The reason I ask is that when I was looking at DVD recorders a year or so back, most of them did not have an RGB input.

If Sky-DVD is composite, then it is likely DVD-TV is also composite, to avoid complicated conversion circuitry in the DVD recorder.

Composite video would give an inferior picture especially on a big TV. I have also noticed that the picture quality using composite is inferior on my Sony Wega to my old Sony Trinitron, presumably because they expect people to use RGB.

 

[chambsesf]

I will consult the various manuals to establish which, if any, of the various SCART connections are composite and/or RGB. It may well be that I have RGB's feeding to/from Composites or vice versa.

The only RGB SCART that I am aware of is one of the three on the TV. but I have to confess to not looking that closely.

You know how it is - new toy has to be connected first, manual read at a later date........

Cheers Adam.

Steve.

 

[Damocles]

Digital picture either sky or freeview should be better than analog aerial.

(Though having said that, some digital channels are transmitted in rubbish quality so they can squash more in)

 

[chambsesf]

All sorted now - consulted manuals for both TV and VCR (Sony) and followed their recommended connections, works a treat.

Cheers all who have responded.

Steve.

 

[breezer]

its amazing what you can find out if you read the manual

 

[plugwash]

put of interest exactly how was it connected before and how is it connected now?

 

[ZenStalinist]

(Though having said that, some digital channels are transmitted in rubbish quality so they can squash more in)

Yes, it kinda annoys me. I have some suggestions that I bet the corporations won't listen to:

1. Get rid of those stupid subregions, like BBC One East (West), since they only ever have about one or two differing stories, and local news tends to be really dull, why don't they pick the best from each region (and then there are subregionalisations with quite a few differences, like the difference between Tyne Tees Northumbria and Tyne Tees Billingham, and here in an area where we can get either Tyne Tees Billingham and Yorkshire, guess what region we have on Sky... Tyne Tees Norhtumbria. Arrgh!)

2. Buy more capacity to give us all a break... Seriously, a few years ago was when digital quality seemed to have peaked, now it is getting worse.

3. Ban all shopping channels. The TV regulatory system isn't designed to deal with them either, see the case of auctionworld, they're conning people plain and simple, yet ofcom are powerless to stop it under a system designed to deal with offensive and sensitive TV programmes. It'll save gigabits per second of wasted bandwidth too.

4. Make more stuff in widescreen. Okay, I know, it uses MORE bandwidth, but I'm sick of watching stuff on UKTV in 14:9, when it was originally made in 16:9.

Okay rant over, irrelevant I know. I just seem to like ranting more than helping these days. Doesn't the SKy VCR out only do composite?
And why would conversion from DVD to RGB be hugely complicated? It wouldn't, conversion from DVD to PAL would be, however (okay, actually maybe only slightly more, but only a few connections, and this is only because SCART requires either a composite or Svideo signal be sent...)

 

[chambsesf]

its amazing what you can find out if you read the manual

Yes, but in all the excitement of getting a new toy, you want to get it working first and read the manual at a leter date (assuming you get it working.....)

 

[phhut]

I was thinking of posting something very similar to this myself - only never got round to it...

I have the same components by the look of it, but I don't really have problems as such - just want more.

I would like to be able to record DVD to VCR and VCR to DVD too. What Scart connections are necessary for this. Did have it kind of working once but it all went haywire - now just back to basics.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

its amazing what you can find out if you read the manual

Yes, but in all the excitement of getting a new toy, you want to get it working first and read the manual at a leter date (assuming you get it working.....)

Many years ago I read a review of a record deck which used some sort of sensor mechanism inside the rim of the platter to provide feedback on its speed.

The reviewer, a hardened professional, had no need to read manuals, so he didn't. Having missed completely the need to set the feedback sensors up, he watched in amazement as the deck span up to several hundred rpm...

 

[chambsesf]

All sorted now - consulted manuals for both TV and VCR (Sony) and followed their recommended connections, works a treat.

Cheers all who have responded.

Steve.

I may have spoke too soon - all went t1t5 up at the weekend, turns out the new vcr is faulty. New replacement has therefore been despatched to me, and the shop I bought it from (via the net) has told me to just keep the first one for either spares or repair. Can't say fairer than that.