Scart-Scart cable for sky box?

Question

I have just bought a new lcd tv and have found the pictures not as sharp as it can be when viewing via my sky box.

I wanted to know, which is better, a flat scart cable or round scart cable?

Also, do i need a fully wired cable or an rgb one?

Answer 1

YOUR PICTURE

Be aware that modern LCD screens do not have a 'native resolution' that is directly compatible with standard 625 line rasters. They generally go a pretty good job of displaying pictures and are great at HD; but the cheaper ones are less good and "artifacts" manifest themselves. Unfortunatley, for standard def tv pictures they are nothing like as good as a decent cathode ray tube. You may always be a little bit disappointed until you get HD.

It seems possible that your Sky box is outputting to a different picture standard to what the tv SCART input is expecting. This is easy to check and also easy to sort out.

Make sure that the output of the Sky box is configured to RGB. You do this by:

pressing the blue "services" button,

then selecting number 4 "system set up",

then selecting number 1 "picture settings",

scroll down to "Video Output" and use the left < and right > arrow buttons to select either RGB or PAL and see which gives you the sharpest picture.

While you are doing this the menus will remain visible on the screen and you will see the quality of the picture change as you toggle between RGB and PAL.

Three settings on your tv set to look at (from the tv set-up menu):

If your television SCART input socket is configured to RGB then you'll get the best image when Sky is set to RGB.

If the tv SCART socket is configured to "Composite" or PAL then you'll get the bet picture when Sky is set to PAL.

If your tv SCART is configured to S-Video then you'll be lucky to get any picture at all from a Sky box.

YOUR CABLE

Don't think about "fully wired" or "RGB" cables. That way lies madness. Just buy a fully wired cable then you will not be caught out by having it "the wrong way round" or anything else.

There is no practical reason why a round or flat cable should give you any difference in performance just because of their shape (whetever salesmen may tell you).



However, if you want to be sure that your cable doesn't cause any deterioration to your signals you should buy a good one.

SCART is an analogue system so a poor cable can adversly affect the picture. Things to look out for in your new cable:

Gold plated pins and connector shroud. This is because gold will ensure a good electrical contact between pins and socket. Also, the gold will resist corrosion and (mostly) is an indication that the connectors are well made.

Look for Plugs which are moulded on to the lead. The common black things where there is a "nut" clamping the lead into the plug often suffer from pin-coming-loose-itis and solder-joint-coming-apart-syndrome.

Don't buy a longer one than you need.

The thickness of the cable is a clue to how it's made. Cables about 10mm or more diameter mostly have indiviually screened conductors. This is a very good thing as it reduces cross-talk and other interference.

Answer 2

if ur tv and sky are both hi def, you be best buying a monster cable any good electrical store will have them they not cheap but are the best

Answer 3

You don't need a monster cable. You need an hdmi cable (even a cheap one will be fine). If your sky box doesn't have an hdmi connector, you need to get a hi def sky box.

Answer 4

If you have just a normal Sky box, then the best picture you can get is RGB via scart unfortunately, which is analogue. You need to make sure that you have plugged it into the RGB compatible scart of both devices. This way you are splitting the various colour components rather than sending it all down one cable, thereby getting a better picture. HDMI is the best connection you can get but is only available on Sky HD. After that its DVI (digital), then YUV component (Analogue).

Also another tip don't get an unnecessarily long cable as this will degrade the picture the longer it is.

Hope that helps!