22
votes
Accepted
Limitations for Color Usage in NTSC
TL;DR
Any (*1) colour can be displayed. The signal is analogue and can be very fine tuned.
But tuning needs time, thus not every colour can be shown beside each other (without a transition thru others)...
- 213k
22
votes
Is the s-video output on the Commodore 64 different from "normal" s-video?
The 64 has separate outputs on the video port for luma and chroma which you can adapt to an S-Video output. There are a few caveats, however.
The chroma signal is a bit "hot" compared to the S-Video ...
- 4,517
21
votes
What video connections were common in Europe?
In the UK in the 1980s and the early 1990s, no video input at all was common. Early video recorders and set top boxes (for the new digital channels) would use RF out. You would disconnect the aerial ...
- 2,014
20
votes
What video connections were common in Europe?
Up until ~1980 the only connectors TV sets had were Belling-Lee type antenna in. So most VCR and next to all home computers did use RF modulated output toward the TV set (*1). This included even cable ...
- 213k
19
votes
Accepted
With a 15 kHz video signal (240p or 480i), does VGA have any real-world advantage over S-Video?
S-Video relies on colour transformation from RGB to YUV, and then takes the U and V and modulates them using a colour subcarrier. The TV has to undo all these steps in order to get the original RGB ...
- 18.6k
16
votes
Accepted
What video connections were common in Europe?
Before SCART, European TVs often had not video input at all or S-Video on 6-pin or 8-pin DIN sockets (not Mini-DIN). Cinch composite was uncommon until VCRs came out. After that the old S-Video ...
- 2,152
13
votes
Accepted
Could monochrome systems produce better output for monitors than TV sets?
RF encoding introduces significant noise to the video signal because it moves the signal up to an area of the spectrum that is much more susceptible to interference. A monochrome 240p video signal of ...
- 60.1k
11
votes
Accepted
How can I connect my Commodore 64 to an RGB+Sync signal via SCART?
The c0pperdragon C64 Component Video Mod outputs YPrPb (Component Video) via RCA jacks, then the Retrotink Comp2RGB adapter converts that to RGBS over SCART.
Because the mod grabs the digital signals ...
- 17.4k
10
votes
Accepted
Why have computers used so many different video connectors?
To stay on-topic for the RetroComputing SE, I'll only answer for the video connectors commonly seen on retro systems:
The first thing to keep in mind is that you cannot always rely on the connector ...
- 11.4k
9
votes
Could monochrome systems produce better output for monitors than TV sets?
Not answering answering your question, but "black and white" TVs did produce a "better" picture as they didn't have the wire mask behind the glass, which was often very coarse on early TVs and even ...
7
votes
Accepted
Which graphics adapters outputted S-Video over VGA?
Some Matrox cards output composite and S-Video using the HD15 port; for example, the G450 PCI (see the TV output chapter in its manual). The adapter cable was optional though and isn’t commonly ...
- 118k
7
votes
Accepted
Sony PVM Connections / Composite Signale
There are four groups of connectors (Line A, Line B, RGB/Component, and Ext Sync), and each group should be treated as a whole.
As it's a monitor, I assume you have an "out" for each "...
- 26k
6
votes
Can I rewire a compact Macintosh SE or other compact Mac to play RCA Video?
No. The Mac SE vertical and horizontal scan frequencies (designed into both the CRT yoke and the analog sweep generator circuits) are different from NTSC (and PAL) composite timing. And the Mac SE ...
- 8,125
6
votes
Can I rewire a compact Macintosh SE or other compact Mac to play RCA Video?
No, for many reasons.
The yellow connector that you are talking about is called composite video. It's called "composite" because it combines several signals: vertical synchronization, ...
- 15.8k
6
votes
How can I connect my Commodore 64 to an RGB+Sync signal via SCART?
As it turns out, it would require some kind of active converter/transcoder to do this since the RGB signal is not already separate.
As stated by snips-n-snails, one could mod the Commodore 64 to ...
- 655
6
votes
Why have computers used so many different video connectors?
Here are the practical differences in the context of retrocomputing:
At the lowest end is RF. The picture is pretty noisy and requires a TV with antenna screw terminals or coax, or a modulator to ...
- 17.4k
5
votes
What video connections were common in Europe?
TVs in Czechoslovakia (mainly TESLA brand)
Till approximately 1985 TVs had only the antenna input. See1, 2
later almost all the colour TVs had composite input
small devices had DIN-6 connectors with ...
5
votes
What video connections were common in Europe?
For the home market, TVs were often used because of their easy availability: most households already had one, and the image was often good enough for the low resolution of early machines. Professional ...
- 8,036
4
votes
Sony PVM Connections / Composite Signale
So when I have a Composite Cable with Video/L/R means, I put the cable
into Video IN (Line A) and Audio In (Line A+B)?
It looks to be mono audio only so you can either get an adapter that connects ...
- 951
3
votes
With a 15 kHz video signal (240p or 480i), does VGA have any real-world advantage over S-Video?
The answer will depend a lot on what application you have in mind. There is a clarity difference, but how much it will matter will depend on how large of a display the output is going to as to how ...
- 4,517
3
votes
Is the s-video output on the Commodore 64 different from "normal" s-video?
I'm not so sure about your question. The C64 signal is a pretty standard signal, but you got to use a Commodore specific cable anyway, as the C64 outlet isn't compatible to any standard. So buying a ...
- 213k
3
votes
Could monochrome systems produce better output for monitors than TV sets?
A colour CRT display, whether a television or computer monitor, in the end always sends separate R, G and B channels to the picture tube as well as using a sync signal to control the scan. With a ...
- 24.6k
3
votes
Is a S-VIDEO-to-RCA cable worse video signal quality than an S-VIDEO-to-SCART cable?
So let's sort out the way all those signals work.
RGB uses three lines, R for the "red" signal, G for the "green" signal, and B for the blue signal. Each signal's amplitude ...
- 26k
2
votes
Is a S-VIDEO-to-RCA cable worse video signal quality than an S-VIDEO-to-SCART cable?
If you can get a converter to render either S-video or SCART to component or HDMI, those should give the best possible quality. Converting S-video to composite would be a definite downgrade, though ...
- 34.7k
1
vote
Limitations for Color Usage in NTSC
Realistically, no analog color monitor can output a single color, except maybe it's black level. There is always some noise in the system (tv's don't work at absolute zero). And this electronic ...
- 8,125
1
vote
What video connections were common in Europe?
I still have a small CRT TV in my house (belongs to my landlord) which has a composite video input on the front (which can still be used with a Raspberry Pi), and a SCART socket on the back. The ...
- 16.7k
1
vote
What video connections were common in Europe?
Some background:
TVs of the area before video recorders, satellite receivers etc became common and worked best with a baseband video connection, did have little reason to offer such a connection.
...
- 5,660
1
vote
With a 15 kHz video signal (240p or 480i), does VGA have any real-world advantage over S-Video?
Component video would seem a better choice than SVGA. I don't have any circuit designs handy, but using four video op amps and some resistors it should be possible to convert most forms of "VGA" ...
- 34.7k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible