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Forum: General Discussion

Topic: Video VGA VS S Video

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Hey every one,

I recently got some promo only DVD videos. My laptop has 2 outpouts, VGA and S Video.

I tried the VGA first going to an external monitor, and the picture is flawless.

Should i use S Video though? Will it be that much better quality?

As a 100 foot VGA cable is 50$, S video 120 or so.

Thanks.
 
Posted Mon 16 Mar 09 @ 2:30 pm
VGA is better than S-Video by far...
 
VGA is going to be better, more pins to pass more data at a faster rate. But S-video can do a fine job as well, depends on your video card. It's nice to have both as an option.
 
and a lot of bars only run s-video/composite, so take that into consideration if you do more than one bar.
 
I just recently switched from S-Video to VGA cables, (With some great help here in the forum) not only is the quality better but the cables themselves are far sturdier compared to the flimsy S-video cables. I had to buy two 150 foot cables, and two 50 foot cables so I did a LOT of on-line shopping in attempt to get the best price available. A 100 foot VGA Cable from this company (below) will cost you $21.24.

I would also suggest having both type cables on hand, I've ran into far more clubs who only had S-video connections.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10201&cs_id=1020101&p_id=3574&seq=1&format=2

They also have great prices on VGA splitters if you want to run multiple displays. I'm currently running (3) external VGA displays and they are working nicely.


~R~
 
I find VGA cables a nightmare their so stiff and usually coil up on you, you end up having to have the entire cable taped down as opposed to a strip ever other meter. Better than S video still though

What about HDMI that must be better seen as it's the latest connection?
 
A 100 foot HDMI cable would cost more than $100 dollars as compared to $21.24 for the VGA cable, I don't think it would be worth it for the difference in price.
 
I run four Tv's through an RF adapter at one club, with S-video & the quality is awesome.
 
thanks for the reply guys.

now in regards to videos. Not that i dont own all of them, as i have bought some, but the ones i didnt buy and downloaded instead, is that a problem? Like are they more strict on video copy rights then mp3?
 
I would use hdmi or dvi cable if possible but my laptop has only svideo and vga. I have 100 foot length vga cable and it causes sometimes nasty ground loop to the sound.
 
I've been running VGA, DVI, and S-video.
and here's what I have learned.. :)

1.) most videos are max 720 X 480 ... S-video has no problem putting out this resolution and (depending on the video card and screen) can actually go higher..
IE: picking your connection for a higher resolution only makes sense if your projecting something like a wndows desktop or high resolution powerpoint video.

VGA cables have different ratings QVGA, SVGA, etc etc each rating notes the max resolution of the cable.

With VGA & DVI higher the resolution you run, the more bandwidth that is needed and the more susceptible (more likely to have problems with) to noise.

2.) under long runs NOISE becomes the biggest issue.
Both VGA and S-video are analog, you can actually see the noise as "artifacts" or blurry, or squiqqles, or color change..
DVI is digital.. you will never see the noise, it will simply stop working (blue screen)

Simply put....
If your playing a game on your computer at home.. A DVI connection is best.. Long cord runs playing music videos it is the worse choice.

VGA VS S-video VS price
at 25 feet a VGA cable is still pretty cost effective.. (IE its worth it to pay the few bucks more so you have the option of running higher resolutions),
at 75 feet or more a super sheilded coax s-video cable is way cheaper then a super sheilded VGA, either way you get what you pay for.
BUT oddly enough, there are way more VGA splitters/amplifiers on the market then S-video splitters/amplifiers.
 


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