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In Reply to: Digital Cable Question Concerning S-video Out From Digital Cable Box posted by Icom 756 on November 17, 2003 at 18:39:52:
...when trying to tweak friends and kinfolk's systems.Yes, if your TV has an S-Video input you should definitely use it. You should be able to see a much better picture. And you can run the L/R audio cables to your TV or better still, use pigtails and run the sound to your stereo receiver too.
Be aware that when you are using the S-Video output it may automatically disable the other video (the yellow composite one) - so you wouldn't be able to use both at the same time for instance.
Follow Ups:
Thanks for your response Hepcat. All this can get a tad confusing, especially since the cable company tells me I have 'digital' cable! One would think that digital cable (see above new post) would have a connection to a phone line, rather than a typical 75 ohm coax cable coming into the supposed 'digital cable box'.
Actually, if you have digital cable, you can use the box in most systems to order PPV programs -- no phone line connection necessary. There's 2-way communication between the box and the cable company via their fiber optic network.
what you guys are saying. When you say that you have digital cable , do you mean that you subscribe to the cable company's digital channels or do you mean that the cable company has upgraded its distribution network to fiber optic transmission?If you're talking about the fiber optic network, you should see an improvement in the picture quality for all channels. The actual signal is only analog a very short distance (a few hundred feet to as little as 25 feet, compared to the miles and miles that it used to be). This benefits everyone -- including the cable company.
If you really are talking about digital cable , you will have a digital cable box. The cable company may offer several outputs from the box: coax, composite, S-video, component or even DVI. Just use the highest quality output that your display accepts. The box is converting the digital signal into an analog signal (except in the case of the DVI output -- it's a digital output).
Thanks. I was more concerned with getting all the digital picture quality actually delivered to your TV set, when using 'digital cable'. I noticed that when the cable company comes to your home to hook up digital cable, they still use a typical 'ancient' 75 ohm coaxial cable run to your TV set! This coax carries BOTH the audio AND video signal, so it is probably not as good as taking advantage of the 'S-video' out on your digital cable box. I'm sure a slight recognizable improvement can be realized especially if you are using a 'better' TV like a digital RPTV or plasma set. Anyway, based on advice I got here on these boards, I upgraded to 'S-video' and audio cables, and my digital cable picture looks a bit clearer on my RPTV! This upgrade, in my opinion, is well worth it. Am wondering if anyone else has done this, and noticed any difference?
After reading your post yesterday I checked my set-top box and, sure 'nuff, there's an S-video out back there. But I can't help but wonder, since the incoming signal "off the street" is carried on a standard coax cable, can this really make much of a difference?
I have a SONY KV-34XBR910 and Cablevision's Scientific Atlanta digital box. I switched from using the coax out to using the S-Video & audio out. There is an improvement in the picture that is worthwhile.
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