Can a scart lead be shortened ?

m_stan · 26-09-2005 10:45pm #1

I have a scart lead. It sucks. It's too long but I'm pretty much stuck with it. Can it be shortened - ie: crimped ? Can it be crimped with high quality (gold) connectors at either end ?

Who can do it ?

I have a feeling it's length is resulting in the ****ty picture I'm seeing and I'm hoping that it can be shortened.

For reasons I won't go into right now I won't explain why I can't just buy a shorter cable. Cos I'm so p*'d off about the situation I find myself in.

ZENER · 26-09-2005 11:16pm

m_stan wrote:

the ****ty picture I'm seeing

What do you mean ? Define $#itty ? What length is your current lead ? What source are you using - VCR - DVD etc. What destination - CRT - LCD - Plasma - Projector ?

ZEN

m_stan · 27-09-2005 10:32am

****ty ? Quality from my DVD player is crap. All blocky on the screen. Compared with a shorter, fatter cable it's brutal. The latter quality is crisp and perfect.

Length - somewhere up to 10metres. Needs to be about 3 ie: there is lots of unwanted slack.

Source is DVD at the moment. Will soon be DVD, Sky, PS2, VCR.
Destination is LCD.

The reason for the problem is the crap cable is now in a wall, behind new plaster and paint etc. Changing the cable would be a nightmare.

Hence I need to know is there a chance I can rectify the situation with the current cable, by making it shorter and/or improving the quality of the connectors at either end.

Turlock · 27-09-2005 10:53am

Your lead isn't too long it's just F**ked

Sorry mate

m_stan · 27-09-2005 11:01am

Turlock wrote:

Your lead isn't too long it's just F**ked

Sorry mate

a guy behind the counter in a very reputable electronics shop I wont mention said that picture quality will degrade the longer the cable is. So was this BS or would it be worth trying.

Still don't have an answer. Is it possible to shorten the cable and who could do it ?

If there's a chance this could work I'll try it first before having to pull the wall apart to get a new cable in there.

thanks

Turlock · 27-09-2005 11:20am

You could of course shorten it, any qualified electrician should be able to charge you a fortune for it.

Yes the longer the lead goes the worse the signal gets but over a length of cable that was sold to you in the shop it would make absolutley no difference. Trust me unless the bit of cable you have is huge then your cables got problems

Guy:Incognito · 27-09-2005 1:52pm

Are you sure that the part of the cable that is buried didnt get a nick off a nail or somthing similar? If so shortening it wont help.

Not a persoal attack on you but more a general observation. I cant understand why people bury cables like that. Sure it looks a bit better (although a neat tacking job or nice trunking can look grand) but its asking for this kind of trouble. A/v cables can be very easily damaged an could easily result in 10- 15 feet of wall having to be dug out and replaced.

m_stan · 27-09-2005 5:03pm

no I'm not sure. thanks for the observation, but hindsight is 20/20

I'm only dealing with 4 feet of wall to be messed with so it aint the end of the world. just rather not have to deal with it

ZENER · 27-09-2005 5:59pm

m_stan wrote:

****ty ? Quality from my DVD player is crap. All blocky on the screen. Compared with a shorter, fatter cable it's brutal. The latter quality is crisp and perfect.

Do you know if it's a full SCART? I don't see how a poor cable could result in "blocky on the screen". This suggests break up of a digital signal but I don't see how. Another possibility is that the SCART is only wired for composite PAL which gives a blocky effect between contrasting colours and on high res LCDs it looks particularly bad. Have you any idea which input is selected on the LCD ?

Another possibility is that as suggested above the cable is compromised and the LCD has a wierd way of behaving when fed with such a signal.

ZEN

copacetic · 27-09-2005 10:13pm

ZENER wrote:

Do you know if it's a full SCART? I don't see how a poor cable could result in "blocky on the screen". This suggests break up of a digital signal but I don't see how. Another possibility is that the SCART is only wired for composite PAL which gives a blocky effect between contrasting colours and on high res LCDs it looks particularly bad. Have you any idea which input is selected on the LCD ?

Another possibility is that as suggested above the cable is compromised and the LCD has a wierd way of behaving when fed with such a signal.

ZEN

Have to agree with Zen here, sounds more like the cable buried in the wall isn't fully wired up (not an rgb scart lead) or is damaged in some way. The fat chunky one is likely a fully wired up lead, hence the better picture. As Zen says, check if the LCD is set to RGB in.

You can shorten a scart but it's not easy, they aren't really made for this to be done, but if you want to try take off the covers on one end, make notes or even better take a picture of the connections then cut them all, trim the cable back and redo the connections, depending on the cable you may need to solder them.

tbh I'd say it would be easier to run another cable..

Idleater · 28-09-2005 9:28am

To answer your original question, yes the lead can be shortened. By yourself if you feel up to the job.

Firstly, what I would suggest is trying the following two tests:
1) borrow a "normal" crt TV from a friend/neighbour and test the picture quality. This will tell you if it is the TV not decoding the signal.
2) Borrow a short scart cable and run it from the dvd to the LCD. This will tell you if your original cable is broken/too long.

After this if you still decide that you want to shorten the scart, and you want to do this yourself you will have to see if the scart cable ends are moulded or does the cable go into the adapter part?

If there is just an attached adapter you are in luck as you can undo this, remove the wires from the pins, cut the cable to the desired length and resolder the wires to the pins.

If it is a moulded plug, then you will probably have to buy some scart adapters that you can wire yourself after you have cut the cable to the desired length.

See here for a scart pin wiring diagram.

L.

Inquitus · 28-09-2005 11:22am

If the wall is hollow, you can tie a new lead to the end of the old one and then pull it through from the top.....causing minimum fuss

Inqui

m_stan · 28-09-2005 11:43am

thanks some good suggestions and info there folks.

unfortunatly the wall is plasterboard right on top of a styrofoam insulation which is right on top of breeze block. There's a very narrow channel cut out of the the styrofoam for the original cable and that original cable is tied to the wall with plastic brackets so my chances of getting a new cable down there is slim due to the lack of space since I cant get the old one out.

I'll have to try get some string on a weight down the whole and hope to pull a new cable down with the string.

Got a new Hitachi 2metre slim cable in Argos with gold connectors and this too shows a lovely picture on the LCD. The connectors are straight from the cable, not at an angle like most cables, plus it's thin so if it's gonna work it'll work with this cable.

If not, I'll be digging a channel out of the plasterboard and patching it up.

Of course this is all down to my stupidity of not checking the cable before I buried it, but this is a new room and was a construction zone at the test stage. Plus I had a lot happening so I just assumed it would be ok. Never again.

Thanks all for the help and suggestions. I'll sort it one way or another. I really want that clean look.

Can a scart lead be shortened ?

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