Grey Video with your NTL Box? Help is here!

SouperComputer

Your problem is that the NTL (PACE) box does not send an SVideo signal through SCART. So a SCART to SVideo lead will gave a greycale picture, beacuse there is no SVideo signal there!

The NTL PACE box only supports RGB and Composite over SCART, so your options are:

1. Use a composite cable to connect the NTL box to your TV card. Cheap and cheerful, you most likely have the cables already!

2. Buy an RGB to SVideo converter to convert the RGB signal that is being transmitted over SCART to SVideo for your TV card. By converter I mean an electronic device that converts the signal, not just a cable.

Option 2 is the best quality, however the digital signal is compressed so much by NTL that composite is adequate.


It's important to remember that SCART is not a conection per se, but more of a bus that carries a multitude of signal types. SCART can carry:

Composite Video (in and out)
Stereo Analog Audio (in and out)
RGB Video (in and out)
Component (in an unsupported fashion)

However not all cables or devices support all of these or even have the pins connected! Also SCART cannot carry SVideo or RGB at the same time due to pin limitations.

For more in-depth info, have a gander at wikipedia article on SCART

johnro76

SouperComputer wrote: »

2. Buy an RGB to SVideo converter to convert the RGB signal that is being transmitted over SCART to SVideo for your TV card. By converter I mean an electronic device that converts the signal, not just a cable.

This is the option I want to go with for Sky Digibox to PC. Any improvement in video quality would be welcome. It's not bad at the moment but not quite as good as when I watch on my tv. Does anyone know where I can get one of these converters? I know, from searching here, that Maplin used to sell one, but they don't seem to any more. I'd rather not buy online if I can avoid it. Mainly because I want to buy it tomorrow!

So, anyone know where I can get an RGB -> SVideo converter?


Thank you,
J

stiofanD

You can get one here:

http://www.js-technology.com/product_info.php?products_id=34

or you can build one yourself:

http://www.nexusuk.org/projects/rgb2svid/

dmzguy

Wonderful, WONDERFUL post; answered a question I've had for 2 years now...

Does NTL have ANY STB's that support passing SVIDEO now?

-If not, does SKY?

The Composite image quality even vs. SCART is SOOO poor...


Adam

Wheeker

Can someone PLEASE advise me:

I've put up with a poor ntl/UPC picture in MC for far too long now. Some channels are better than others, but mostly the picture quality seems washed-out & dull compared to STB direct to TV.

I currently have an "Avermedia A16C Hybrid DVB-T/Analog" TV Tuner card with a "digital" UPC STB through Scart-> composite video + L Audio +R Audio. Is the quality of this TV Tuner card ok (I don't think it has hardware encoding)?

I read this sticky ages ago, but when I tested a composite signal direct from STB to TV it was absolutely fine. I concluded that any improvement from a SCART->S-Video converter would be minimal & not worth Stg£69 to find out. (though I did find this http://www.howtoconvert.co.uk/howrgb2svid.htm @ £39.99- would this be as good?).

So I've been updating/tweaking my TV Tuner card/Graphics card/drivers etc & then recently installed W7, but picture is STILL poor

Where next? Would the SCART->S-Video converter really make a big difference? Should I upgrade my TV Tuner card to one with hardware encoding? Are there any further W7 tweaks I could try out? Any help would be much appreciated.....:o

Wheeker

Here's an update, for what it's worth. I found a RGB->S-Video convertor on E-bay for €20, same as this one http://www.howtoconvert.co.uk/howrgb2svid.htm

Plugged it in between my UPC STB & my TV Tuner card. So on my TV Tuner card I'm now using my S-Video connection rather than my Composite connection and- FANTASTIC! The picture is great now: crisp, bright & sharp, just as good as direct from STB->TV. Just wish I had known about this earlier (about 3 years of sub-standard TV picture!).

So I would highly recommend this to anyone currently connecting an STB to a Composite connection, the S-Video gives a much better picture.

Many thanks to SouperComputer!