svideo or composite capturing, big quality diffrence?

[mick.ca]

I was wondering if there is a big picture quality difference capturing non-hd satellite using a svideo cable or an rca cable using mpeg ?


I'm getting a capture card this week. Svideo does seem crisper on my tv then composite. but the problems is i would have to split svideo to run it to both the tv and the capture card. I heard there is a significant loss of quality when splitting svideo. even a web page that sells the splitters say so*

my computer is 12 feet from the computer so i don't want the hassle of switching the svideo cable back and forth.my primary use for is for recording shows i missed. but i would like to do some capturing of movies on satellite and keep them.

so will a good composite video cable be good enough for video capture ?


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* http://www.videocapturecard.com/svideosplitter.html When we used this adapter to send one S-Video signal to two different TVs at the same time one of the TVs got darker - we compensated this by adjusting the brightness.

We have used this "Y" adapter to send an S-Video signal from a DVD player to 2 computers with Winnov video capture cards installed on each computer; there was no noticeable signal loss. However, when we sent one of the signals to the capture card and the other to a television, the television sometimes would not recognize the signal.

The moral of the story is that if you use this "Y" adapter as a "signal splitter" you may or may not get satisfactory results - so you're own your own when used as a splitter.

[redwudz]

Svideo is better than composite. I would go with a Svideo switch, assuming you don't need both outputs at the same time.

The next alternative would be a active splitter, something more complex than just a 'Y' cable adapter. Maybe something similar to this:

http://www.vpi.us/vsplt-sv.html

[mick.ca]

thanks for the info , i would prefer to use them both at the same time But if the switch has less signal loss and is alot less expensive, i would go for that, do you have link for an svideo switch you would recommend ?

thanks

[redwudz]

I use this one for component switching, but it has S-video jacks also. I assume you want to switch the audio also, then one like this or similar should work.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?parentPage=family&cp=2032057.2032187.20321...&tab=techSpecs

There are others that switch just the S-video.

http://www.vpi.us/vidsw-sv.html

http://www.pccables.com/30060.htm

As you are in Canada, there may be better sources for these kinds of switches. Check the audio stores on-line.

[mick.ca]

thanks, in Canada The Source by Circuit City has taken over Radio Shack and they never knew what the heck i was talking about, there is one store that i contacted, but they have to see if they can order it.

[edDV]

The "active spliter" should do the job. These are usually called a "distribution amplifier" in the trade.



http://www.futurehomesystems.com/v600.shtml