COMPONENT VS. S-VIDEO -HOW MUCH OF A DIFFERENCE?

Hello everybody.

I have a component capable TV and would very much like to know is there a huge difference between the quality of s-video picture and component picture before I go out and buy component cables for PS2 and X-BOX. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Well there is an improvement, but if you're the type of person that really can't see much of a difference between composite and svid (like me) then you'd be hard pressed to see a difference between svid and component.

Now that being said, the upgrade from composite to component I can in fact detect. The problem though is that sometimes component clears up the picture to the point that it highlights graphical flaws that the slight blurriness of other video standards. Take Grand Theft Auto 3 on PS2 for example. Component video actually makes the graphics look more pixelly because it sharpens everything up. Conversely though, the cutscenes and dvd movies in general look nice and crisp via component.

It's a personal choice thing I guess...I like it, but I can see why others might not.

It also depends on the quality of the television. There are plenty of TVs out there with component video inputs that don't really offer that much of an improvement simply because the tube itself isn't up to the task.

If you're going to use the PS2 or Xbox as your primary DVD player and you have a really nice TV that's 32" or larger, then I'd say go for component video. If your TV is 27" or smaller, I doubt you'd notice that much of an improvement over S-video.

I ask about the quality because my set is a Panasonic 34" widescreen HDTV that has progressive scan line doubler and 800 lines of resolution without the HDTV decoder. Man I thought my last Panasonic set looked great. Finally I can play Saturn Nights widescreen. You should see the picture!

Okay, so you have a nice TV then <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0">

I say go component. The cost of the cable isn't that much more than a good S-video cable, so if you're going to be watching DVDs with either of those systems, it's worth it.

$69 buck for a monster component cable... my tv have only one component input.. anywhere i can purchase a switch or some sort. i'm thinking about a Y adapter. but i prefer not to cause it degraded the picture

I'm using component on my PS2 right now, and I love it. It's not as much of a leap, IMHO, as RCA is to S-video, but it is there. From my understanding, S-video seperates black and white much better than RCA, and component does that with colors. The result is a great picture, from what I can tell. I'm very happy with the way mine looks (and as many may now know, I'm a super nit picky jerk when it comes to picture quality).

If you can get it, I would... hell, I did! <IMG SRC="smilies/wink.gif" border="0">
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