S-video vs. Component

[natronforever]

Hey, I have a quick question. I have an analog 27 inch philips flat screen CRT. It's not high definition, but it's still a decent enough TV I guess. I can't use both the s-video and the component imputs on the TV at the same time, for some stupid reason. My AV receiver (HK AVR325) has several s-video imputs and outputs, but it won't convert component signals to s-video signals or visa versa.

My question is the following: on my kind of TV, is component video better than s-video? If it's not, then I'll just send everything via s-video to the receiver, and then a single s-video out to the TV. It'd really simplify things, I think. Any guidance would be most appreciated.

[BRANDONH]

Hey, I have a quick question. I have an analog 27 inch philips flat screen CRT. It's not high definition, but it's still a decent enough TV I guess. I can't use both the s-video and the component imputs on the TV at the same time, for some stupid reason. My AV receiver (HK AVR325) has several s-video imputs and outputs, but it won't convert component signals to s-video signals or visa versa.

My question is the following: on my kind of TV, is component video better than s-video? If it's not, then I'll just send everything via s-video to the receiver, and then a single s-video out to the TV. It'd really simplify things, I think. Any guidance would be most appreciated.

The Component Red, Green, Blue will give the best picture quality over S-Video.

[ToddL]

Here is my scientific explanation(2 years of college should be get some sort of use)
Component video carries the picture in the green wire(black and white), then the colours red and blue in their matching wires, your t.v. tuner naturally creates green based on the red and blue input. Whereas S-video both the picture and colours are carried through the pins of the one cable. The bottom line is that component sends the three required signals directly to the proper sections of your t,v,'s circuitry meaning that it does not have to break any signal apart resulting in less distortion and a purer overall picture.

[natronforever]

Thank you both thus far. Perhaps I should elaborate a bit more regarding my question, however. I understand that component video is superior to s-video. Of that fact I have no doubt. For a guy like me with a regular 27" TV that is not HD, would the difference between the two be discernable? Has anybody with an analog TV switched from s-video to component video and said "Dang, I'm so glad I did that!" Currently I use the component inputs to hook up my DVD player, but in so doing I use the ability to hook anything up to my s-video input. My laptop and iPod dock both have s-video outputs, which I can send to my AV receiver, but my TV's auxillary video input is only composite, so I have to downgrade the signal from s-video to composite just to send it to the TV, which isn't awful, but I'm just thinking about options. S-video would allow me to connect everything to my AV receiver, then send but one cable to my TV, simplifying the whole shibang nicely. So, with my non HD 27" analog TV, will changing from component to s-video be discernable? Does anybody have experience with that? If it is, then I'll put up with this whole nonsense in intererst of DVD picture quality. I'll await further feedback.

[hermanv]

I have, using a DVD player as a source the component was clearly better than "S" video.

Most receivers don't have component to S video converters. What's worse is that mine and others use the S video outputs for their set-up screen(s). I routed both to my TV, I select the S video input when I want to configure my system or watch VHS tapes. Component for all other viewing.

Since my main sources were satellite and DVD I didn't have to switch all that often.

[BRANDONH]

Thank you both thus far. Perhaps I should elaborate a bit more regarding my question, however. I understand that component video is superior to s-video. Of that fact I have no doubt. For a guy like me with a regular 27" TV that is not HD, would the difference between the two be discernable? Has anybody with an analog TV switched from s-video to component video and said "Dang, I'm so glad I did that!" Currently I use the component inputs to hook up my DVD player, but in so doing I use the ability to hook anything up to my s-video input. My laptop and iPod dock both have s-video outputs, which I can send to my AV receiver, but my TV's auxillary video input is only composite, so I have to downgrade the signal from s-video to composite just to send it to the TV, which isn't awful, but I'm just thinking about options. S-video would allow me to connect everything to my AV receiver, then send but one cable to my TV, simplifying the whole shibang nicely. So, with my non HD 27" analog TV, will changing from component to s-video be discernable? Does anybody have experience with that? If it is, then I'll put up with this whole nonsense in intererst of DVD picture quality. I'll await further feedback.
Yes the difference will be very noticeable.
Try hooking it up with the S-Video first watch the TV for a little while then hook up the Component video you should see better color, sharper image, better contrast, and deeper black level over the S-Video.

[natronforever]

Thanks to everybody for contributing. I have not tried switching the component cables for an s-video cable to compare them both (mostly on account of the awkwardness of reaching behind the entertainment center). Now that I have word here that the difference is indeed noticeable, I will keep my component video connected and just run everything else through the composite video auxilliary input I have available. I do use the DVD player more often than anything else, so I'll be OK. Thanks again to everybody for their comments.

[Greekguy]

natron, to add to everyone's comments, I can confirm that the picture will be much better using the component input than the S-video. I have a 36 inch analog Toshiba television with both S-video and component inputs, and the component input produces a much smoother picture with better overall color depth and saturation than the S-video. As long as you have a half decent component cable to go with it, component wins hands down.

[hermanv]

If memory serves The "S" video signal consists of a luminance pair and a chrominance pair, I think the chrominance signal is phase modulated using the 3.58MHz color sub carrier. This technique limits the color bandwidth. Component video does not have that 3.58 MHz intrinsic limit.

Not all sources will have better than S video resolution but if a source is better, the S video signal will limit the maximum signal information content and the resulting sharpness.