Component Video Looks worse than S-Video!!!
 

Tried to improve video quality of my friends' home theater. He has a 55" Mitsu RP HDTV and a Panasonic DVD Player. 480i S-Video looks much better than 480i component (all other TV settings are identical, IRIS is on, etc.) Am I doing something wrong???

Tried the same on a second HT. Regular 27" Toshiba TV and a Sony DVD player. Component and S-Video look similar, no visible improvement whatsoever.

Both cables (S-Video and Component) are cheesy cheap no name brand (component is gold plated though). In both cases componenet cable is longer than S-Video (10' vs 6' in case1, 6' vs 4' in case2)

Any thoughts???

It shouldn't look worse but if you are not running a progressive scan DVD player then you are not going to see much improvment in picture quality with component over s-video.

Now if you say it looks worse maybe the cables your are using are not a very good quality or the input on the TV that has the component connection may need to be calibrated. I know when I used my HDTV connection it need to be calibrated by a technician because it looked terrible.

If your friend has an HDTV why wouldn't they be using a progressive scan DVD player...especially on a Mits?


edited mistake

Are the different inputs each able to be user calibrated on a Mits? Perhaps a session with A.E. or Avia is in order when you're using the progressive in.

Why would you not use a progressive scan DVD player on a Mits? I understand their doubler/deinterlacer leaves much to be desired.

Well on my model (55807) each input has its own settings and must calibrate each one(user settings that is). The reason I had to have a service guy come in for my HDTV input is because it was so off that it was beyond simple user adjustments.

I asked the same question on the progressive DVD because you are right X, the Mits line doubler is not very good.

Maybe I'm dense today, but shouldn't you have said, "If your friend has an HDTV why wouldn't they be using a progressive scan DVD player...especially on a Mits?"

No, you are right...I'm the dense one...corrected.

My Apex 600A component outputs are way worse than the s-video outputs. Of course Apex isn't exactly high quality either.

Really? I have mine going into a 27" Wega and it looks great. Is it worth trying the s-video? I can't imagine the Wega looking any better.

Its definitely something wrong with my player. I'd have returned it, but I didn't have access to a component TV till the time was up to return or exchange.

All the colors are way off. Completely unwatchable. I'm pretty sure it is just mine though.

You do know that you have to get into the setup and tell it you're using component, not s-video, right?

Yes, each video input on the Mitsu can be setup individually. There is a few (7-10) video options. It looks best with IRIS on (automatic color/brightness).

Now I'm gonna ask something really stupid about progressive DVD players. I don't think his DVD player is progressive (it's about $160, Panasonic 5 disk carousel), but I don't know for sure.

How does one tell if a DVD player is Progressive? Is it fair to say that component will be better than S-Video only if a DVD player is progressive? Would the difference be noticable on regular (NON HDTV) tube TV?

Well...as I said in a post a few up from this one, you are not going to notice much of a difference between s-video and component on a tube TV or on an RPTV if you are not using a progressive scan DVD player. It all depends on the cable quality, equipment quality and the setup of the component input, but for the most part you wont notice too much of a difference.

As far as the player being progressive there suold be either a switch on the player to go between interlaced/progressive, a setting in the DVD player menu, or seperate progressive component outputs.

Your friend really should be using a progressive scan DVD player...the difference is pretty great on a Mits. RPTV.

Thanks palebluedot,

I did not notice anything in regard to progressive on the DVD player menu options. There is definitely only one set of the component outputs. I did not think to look for a switch. I guess I should find out the exact model of the player.

I have a JVC XV-M555BK. I'm looking at the manual right now. There is no mention of either progressive or interlaced whatsoever. The component outputs (only one set, no switches) are labeled YPbPr. Is my player progressive? (my TV does not have component inputs, so I use S-Video). What is a sure way to tell if the player is progressive?

If a signal were progressive, would the Mitsu display 480p instead of 480i automatically?

I doubt the player is progressive. I'm not sure if the TV will display 480p if a progressive player is hooked up to it, I would have to look at my TV and see if it does.

The Y Pb Pr label is just a label for component video.
Y = Luma(brightness)
Pb = Blue minus Luma
Pr = Red minus Luma

The player itself would more than likely say progressive scan right on the front panel. Every progressive scan player I have seen has it clearly labeled.

Yep, did that. I don't really worry about it since my 27" TV that I have now diesn't even have S-video, let alone component and my next TV will be HDTV and I'll get a new progressive DVD player then anyway.