RGB or PAL on Sky Digibox

I'd get a new scart lead the redness is definitly caused by a bad connection when RGB is used.

RGB is above S-Video, but not enough to have made most of the world realise it is, unfortunately.

However the MPEG2 is NOT 4.4.4

The signal is a full bandwidth Y or Luminance (Black and White image)
And limited bandwidth less samples of U and V (Chroma or colour information without the B&W part).

S-Video is the U/V signals combined on one wire and the Y signal on a separate wire

PAL or composite combines the Y and U/V signals on a single wire, the Y part and the Chroma (Colour information) overlap, so you get false coloured fringes on fine detail and false crawling detail on coloured edges or detailed strong colours.

The RGB is created by adding and subtracting the Y U and V signals to get RGB. This is not a perfect process.

Component Video is more popular in USA where SCART (a French idea, with Composite and/or RGB signals) never took hold. It is a separate wire for Y, U and V.

Conclusion:
From DVD or regular DTH DVB the S-Video should not degrade the signal. There should be little difference between RGB, Component or S-Video as the exact same matrix (add & subtract of Y U V) must occur in the TV set. All displays are essentially R G B internally anyway.

Using S-Video or Component is just moving the "RGB matrix" from the DVD player or satellite box to the TV display.

Since the DVB or DVD is not a true RGB source anyway, using RGB won't result in any significant quality improvement over S-Video or Component, unless the S-Video or Component video circuit in your TV is unusually poor.

However only a few Digiboxes ever had S-Video and none have Component, so choice is between RGB and Composite. RGB, Component or S-Video easily beat Composite for quality.

Some S-VHS units use SCART pins for S-Video rather than the 4 pin S-Video mini DIN.

All Analog Video recorders (VHS, S-VHS, Betamax, U-Matic, Video 2000, 8mm, Hi 8) internally record the U/V and Y separately. It whoud be nice it all had always had Component or S-Video connections.

You can buy S-Video --> RGB and RGB --> S-Video adaptors. They are handy to get better quality on recording Digbox or DVD to PC via TV Tuner card (many do S-Video) or on S-VHS tape.

Some DVD/HD PVRS don't have RGB in either, so the RGB to S-Video adaptor will greatly improve recording.

If the TV has only RGB / Composite SCART (almost all TVs), then a S-Video to RGB adaptor is a must also for connecting VHS or PC video out to TV.

Great posts Watty, i can now see how you got the title of ICDG mod

Hellrazer wrote:

So am I correct in saying that I should change my Sky box output to RGB,use a fully wired scart cable to the TV??And this will give the best picture??

Yes, by quite a margin over PAL output or RF modulation.

On a separate issue if I want to record from Sky to vhs (quality not an issue as its only for the odd program here and there)what is the best way to connect everything up.

TV has 2 scart sockets and a s-video,vcr has 2 also and dvd player has 1 and obviously my Sky box .Just wondering what the best way to do this is.

Thanks
Richie

Second SCART from Sky box to VCR's input socket, for definate... if it outputs S-video over its SCART, use a breaker and put it into the TV that way - I connect mine by composite as it doesn't do S-video out, but if you don't have it in thats not much use...

No since the digibox is already connected to the tv. If you connect the video to the digibox and press play the video should override the digibox so you can watch your tapes

Hellrazer wrote:

And does the VCR OUT have to be connected to the TV aswell and if so how since the two scarts on the tv are taken up by the Skybox and the Dvd player?Sorry for the stupid question but Im a total noob to this.
Richie

Phen wrote:

When I set my digibox to RGB, the whole picture shifts to the left a bit . Any ideas why this might be happening?

When the RGB standard was being researched it was part funded by the then communist government of Russia so this might explain this.

glineli wrote:

And what if you only have one scart output on the digibox?
i think thats all i have anyway. its a pace digibox

look again, all sky digiboxes have 2 scarts

Phen wrote:

When I set my digibox to RGB, the whole picture shifts to the left a bit . Any ideas why this might be happening?

Yes, I've seen this. There is a complicated technical reason, but I'm afriad I can't explain it. Most TVs should compensate for it, but cheaper ones may not. I had a black diamond that did this... rather annoying. Then I had a Sony with a correction setting in the menus... Now I have a Philips that seems to correct automatically.

Have a look in your menus.... if you don't find anything, sometimes there are secret installer menus where advanced settings can be changed, but you'll have to research your TV type, and people have been know to mess their TVs up by meddling like this!

Ix.

glineli wrote:

I connected the digibox to the video and then to the tv via co-axial but i lost tv3 and tg4 in the process. Any idea what to do?

hmmm... I'd like to help, but this is a bit vague. Obviously we are missing something here.

Normally - digibox VCR scart - goes to a scart socket on the VCR - and the TV scart on the VCR goes to the TV.

Tony was suggesting a common arrangement (if people are short of TV scarts) where the digibox VCR scart - goes to the TV out scart on the VCR. Then your VCR can "see" the digibox signal on probably L1 for recording, and when it plays it "passes through" the digibox and shows on the TV.

If you have to use the aerial, then if the TV is looking at the VCR channel, one of the "L" channels should show the digibox, and other channels should be as they were already tuned. So I don't understand what you mean about losing TV3 and TG4. How did you view them before and what's happening now?

Ix.