HDTV Tuner 2

The signals carried by Scart are -

Composite Signals - which is the lowest quality, signal carried by Scart where luminance and chrominance signals are mixed. Due to the interference that is caused by this mix of signals, it is considered to be of low quality and such a mix of signals would be produced by VHS VCR equipment.

S-Video - This is a high quality video. S-Video has the luminance and chrominance signals in the same way as the composite, but these are two separate signals, without any possibility of any interference between them.

RGB - RGB stands for Red, Green and Blue. This is similar to S-Video, and is a high quality video interface. These are

the colours representing the picture in a TV. In a domestic source, a synchronisation signal is also required, which is present on the composite line.

Scart has become the common connector for audio visual equipment in Europe and has become the standard connector for such applications. Different Pin configurations exist in Scart, depending upon the configuration available in your video device. Sometimes the configuration could be chosen, such as, composite or S-video, by simply changing a software setting.

Scart is a bi-directional connector as far as standard composite video and analog audio signals are concerned. The feature of a Scart being bi-directional is used for a Pay TV, and in the past, used for decoding a tele-text. But now it

is being applied to set-top boxes. A set-top box is a device, which is connected between a TV set and an external device and is used to decode the signal and send it to the TV for display. A TV sends its antenna video and audio signals to Scart sockets all the time and receives back these signals and displays them reproducing the audio and video. This process allows the concept of transparent set-top boxes having no tuner. It just hooks on the TV and pre-process the television signals.

A VCR has typically two Scart sockets. One is connected to the TV and the other one goes to the set-top box. When the power is off or when it

is in an idling state, the VCR will forward the signals received, to the set-top box decoder for processing and then the signals would go to the TV. In recording a scrambled show, the set-top box will be driven by the VCR from its own tuner and send the unscrambled signals to the TV set for viewing or simple recording control purposes. As mentioned earlier, Scart can also power on and off a TV, more precisely bring it alive from a stand-by mode in a way a remote control would. Many TV sets have two Scart sockets, where one is used for switching from a composite input to RGB input, while the other switches a composite input to S-Video input.

Before Scart, there were no standard connectors or sockets for signal inputs for a consumer TV. It was only the RF antenna that plugged into the TV and even this socket differed between countries in its design. Incompatible standards of plug-ins existed in TVs manufactured by different companies, such as, a VHS VCR equipment would have composite video signal through a German-originated DIN-style connector, a RCA connector, which is of American origin, or a BNC connector.

Scart sockets have now become the standard in connecting audio video devices together and have provided a much simpler solution, with one socket/plug containing all necessary signals. With Scart being a standard all over the world, it has provided a real solution to connectivity,

with even one cable connecting two Scart compatible devices. There is, what is termed as ‘polarisation’ in the connector, which will not to let you insert it in the wrong way. Multiple Scarts can be daisy chained in handling multiple signal sources into a single TV socket. Scart connectors can pass the signals unchanged when not active. The voltage levels of the signals are generally around 1 volt, which provides good noise immunity.

A Scart enables a device to command a TV set to switch between signals, in order that overlays in the TV picture image could be created. A VCR would have its power coming on as soon as the cassette is inserted and the TV set would change

into video mode and then start playing immediately if the cassette’s write protection tab is absent. When switched off, the VCR will send a signal to the TV set to power off, if the set has been powered on by the VCR and is still in the video mode all along.

It is always preferable to buy a commercial cable because of the detailed pin-crossovers and close pin connections, though it is possible to build your own connecting cable. Different cables have different applications. A cable for connecting a VCR or a TV set to a high-fidelity audio system needs to use only three of the 21 pins. Connecting a VCR to a computer monitor is a difficult proposition with

a Scart connector. This is for the reason why it is difficult to synchronise composite video signal, consisting of red, green and blue, from the VCR with the RGB signals required by a computer monitor.

In order to achieve the connectivity, you will need a digital SCART adapter, along with the reverse one, turning your DVD or Video player into a serial digital interface (SDI). A professional SDI monitor costs more that $2,000 and the above solution is cheaper, and brings to you the same solution of a separate SDI.

Where to get SCART or PERITEL cables, adapters, a/v cables,scart to RCA, SCART to S-VIDEO,SCART a/v,REGION FREE DVD players/recorders and High Definition, HD DVD players, Blu-ray,. A multi region

(aka codefree) DVD player or recorder is capable of playing DVD discs from anywhere in the world, that is all 8 regions and both PAL and NTSC standards. http://www.planetomni.com has many. Many not only play them but convert from one standard to the other for showing movies on any TV on earth. There are also PAL-NTSC 110-220 volts DVD/VCR Combos for use worldwide. CODEFREE DVD / PAL-NTSC VCR combos and MULTISTANDARD VCRs will play 100% all known DVD discs including FRENCH DVDs. You can buy region free and region free converting DVD players and region free DVD recorders from http://www.mindlogic.com in California. They give you a LIFETIME Warranty and ship worldwide. They also carry PAL-SECAM-NTSC TVs, PAL plasma, PAL LCD and PAL DLP multisystem TVs and multisystem converting and non-converting VCRs, voltage transformers, video standards converters and much more. Tel.800-514-2984 or tel. 925-686-994