[Frodo Baggins]

If I wanted to watch somethin on my TV from a S-vdeo on a vid card on my computer, but my TV didn't have S-Video...then I'm assuming I could use an S-Video to composite right?

Do you know where I could finda S-Video to composite cable? And am I looking for an S-video to ONE composite (or RCA) plug?

Oh yeah, willl there be aloss of detail if I use S-video to composite instead of S-video to S-video?

[james.miller]

doesnt the card also have composite (normal video) out?

[HotKoala]

What videocard are you using?

I don't think a mainstream videocard that has S-video out. Most likely it's some kind of adaptor that outputs RCA and S-video in a breakout box or adaptor wire.

It looks like an S-video plug, but it wouldn't actually fit.

[skid]

All the new ATI Radeons have S-Video out. Well not just the new one's...the 8500's as well.

[Coolio]

hmm, my 7500 has an s-video out but it came with a s-video to composite/component converter (not sure what its called) but its the kind with which you require 3 wires, red white and yellow, and yellow is for video signal.

[Supertrucker]

the ve 7000s had it as well, radeons come with a plug for svideo to composite unless they are refurb or open box, the geforces dont always though... yes you do lose some from svideo to composite but it only brings it down to composite levels mine looks fine. however circuit city told me no such adapter existed any i knew they could work because i have two of them with my radeons i decided to make one. i bought a multi plug from target for ps1 & 2 nintendo 64/gc dreamcast and so-on. took the cable home cut off all the connectors on both sides and saved the svideo and composite ends. then i stripped both ends of the remaining 5 feet of wire and connected the svideo to one side and composite to the other works great

[Rav]

I noticed an improvment going from composite to s-video ever since I got an s-video cable for me SNES

With the ATI cards you can even tweak the TV out settings. Raise the sharpness, reduce flicker, and set it for frozen (web, word) or standard (video, games) modes. The composite on those cards isn't bad either. I capture video out from my 9700 on my 7200, looks great.

-Rav

[DaddyB]

Yeah Svideo looks better then composite, I think it even looks better then component but it could just be that my DVD player (set top) has low quality component out. Composite (AKA RCA) uses just one cable/signal (plus the shielding), whereas Svideo has 2 (plus shielding, the 2 signals are chromanince and lumanince - basically brigthness and darkness) and Component has 3 (red, green, blue).

You could no doubt find an svideo to composite adapter at Radio Shack, that's where I get all of my cables 'cause they only cost half as much as futureshop and I don't buy into "monster cable".... That's the biggest waste of money concievable but I guess some people think if it's bigger it must be better.

You could also make one yourself but it probably wouldn't look as good as a store bought one (I mean picture quality, not the cable itself).

[james.miller]

guys your not healping him. don't your radenos have both composite and s-video? my gf4 440mx does

[Supertrucker]

mine dont james i have three cards with svideo out and 0 cards with composite out, i made 1 svideo to composite conector and i have two predone from radeon, i cant see a difference between the three picture quality wise and i dont much care what the cable itself looks like but i did heat shrink it so it looks ok. the three cards are a gf4mx420/radeonve7000/and 8500le. and the radeons do have great tweakability for picture quality. i would offer you a radeon adapter frodo but you would have to have a radeon card as the radeons have more pins than the gf4mx. let me know what card you have

[Monaco]

If I wanted to watch somethin on my TV from a S-vdeo on a vid card on my computer, but my TV didn't have S-Video...then I'm assuming I could use an S-Video to composite right?

Do you know where I could finda S-Video to composite cable? And am I looking for an S-video to ONE composite (or RCA) plug?

Oh yeah, willl there be aloss of detail if I use S-video to composite instead of S-video to S-video?

Yep. You can use an adaptor to convert S-video to RCA, and plug it into a normal TV. This is the standard way vid cards get TV-out to your TV- a vid card with an actual RCA-out on it is not particularly common. If this does NOT work, the problem is in your drivers or display settings- the adaptor doesn't really do anything except change the shape of the plug.

The adaptor will have an S-Video plug on one end, and a single yellow RCA on the other. Get it at Radio Shack or such place, for about five bucks.

There will be some loss of detail, but nor major- usually the TV-output of video cards isn't too great to begin with.

Hopefully some of that was helpful