Scart to svideo possible?

[Frikkie]

i want to capture some old vhs to my leadtek xp expert in mpeg2
i know im getting signal as i can see the rf in but the vcr 's scart out gives me no signal - scart out to composite rca 4 jacks r, w, black? and yellow i i connect r, w, y to female composite rca which end in a svideo jack that i stick in the capture card.
1. is scart to svideo even possible?
2.should i look for a newer vcr with svideo out?
3.what is the black scart rca cable for anyway?

[smok3]

and your capture card doesn't have composite input?

[burfadel]

http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/46bfa60009ee02b0273fc0a87f9c06bb/Product/View/P6675

That link says it all :) first place I looked! Yes you can convert scart to s-video/SVHS

[mitsubishi]

It doesn't always work. I'm not sure exactly how scart works, but it includes a multitude of signals. Older devices do not output svideo down the scart at all, others may need manually switching. Those simple adapters won't work with non-supporting devices, others attempt to make the correct signal, but doesn't give good quality.

BTW burfadel, 15 AUS$ is expensive, they go for 99p each usually. I have a box full of those things and cables, but now nothing in analogue :(

[burfadel]

yeah it is pretty expensive, that was just the first place I looked as an example as I knew they had them in stock! They're probably more expensive than they need to be because scart not that common in Aus. Who needs gold plated connectors anyway?! Even if the device doesn't output to svhs, you can always convert from composite to svhs etc. I know if you went from scart-->composite-->svhs you'll lose a bit of quality on the composite part, but if there's no way to avoid it...!

[Frikkie]

thanks guys, i think because this machine is quite old it wont do svideo from scart, that was my original thought. just wanted to know that it was possible at all. aslo vcr has no knobs etc everything is on the remote which is missing so i cant even switch that fucxntionality on if it had it. and no my captore card has rf and svideo in. maybe i can find the original hi8 tapes and copy them via the camera.
thanks anyway

one more thing what is the 4th composite cable (black) for that scart converts to?

[burfadel]

As I said, you can go from scart to composite, then composite to svideo. However you do it, you must remember the original is analogue!

[JohnnyMalaria]

SCART is nothing but an electrical connector - there's no conversion to/from anything. It has the ability to carry a large number of signals but only if the connected equipment generates/accepts the signals. Some SCART cables only use the composite video + L/R audio (these are cheap). Others carry the full set as defined by the specification. However, if a VHS VCR only provides the composite video + L/R audio, the other connections aren't used (such as R, G, B and S-video).

(It's like a serial port cable - you can buy a cable with all nine pins connected but only two may actually be used).

It is very unlikely that any VHS recorder will output S-video. If you can get one, an S-VHS recorder may serve you better. The price has dropped to a fraction of the cost a few years ago. Often VHS recordings do reveal more detail on an S-VHS deck.