SCART cables - are they all the same?

[WhoAmI]

My new home cinema system (see other thread) is great and all is well in my world - or it would be, except that I'm getting a 'ghost image' on the screen when watching a DVD. It can only be a SCART cable issue, so it's off to the SCART cable shop with me, but before I go, here's my question...

Are all SCART cables the same, or are you really getting a better quality if you spend more? I've seen some cables advertised as having gold-plated pins. Does this make a difference?

(For those of you who can't find my other thread or who couldn't be bothered looking , I'm connecting a Sony DZ630 system to a Sony widescreen TV, not LCD or plasma, just good old CRT technology. There is no HDMI interface on the TV, or I wouldn't be posting this!)

 

[ClubMan]

SCARTs are not all the same. Some use individually shielded wires for each pin, some don't so there can be crosstalk, some wire all pins, some do not, some have high quality connectors, some do not. I was recently reading some very detailed and useful stuff on some boards.ie forum about this which you might be able to find by searching. They also linked to Wikipedia which contained some useful info.

Update: Wikipedia link - 5 Practical advice

 

[gebbel]

My new home cinema system (see other thread) is great and all is well in my world - or it would be, except that I'm getting a 'ghost image' on the screen when watching a DVD. It can only be a SCART cable issue

How can you be sure it's the SCART that's causing the ghosting? Perhaps it's the CRT TV itself. It may not be able to process the upscaled DVD images from the player. These home cinema systems are optimised to work better in LCD and plasma TVs.

 

[RMCF]

Clubman is bang on here.

All SCARTs are not the same. If you spend a little bit of money you will notice a good difference, but if you spend loads the improvements will decrease with price.

For example, when I got my 36" TV a few years ago I was using a freebie SCART for about a week. The sort you get in Argos for £2.99. Rubbish.

I then bought an Ixos off ebay for £12 - very solid cable fully shielded. The improvement in picture was really noticeable, especially when RGB was selected on the menu and any menu's etc were on screen.

Now I have never seen a £60 or £100 SCART, but read many many reports that the improvements gets harder to notice the more you spend.

So go out and buy an IXOS or QED brand or something and enjoy.

 

[WhoAmI]

How can you be sure it's the SCART that's causing the ghosting? Perhaps it's the CRT TV itself. It may not be able to process the upscaled DVD images from the player. These home cinema systems are optimised to work better in LCD and plasma TVs.

Point taken gebbel, I can't be certain, but it's more than more than likely! It is a cheapy cable I'm currently running. There has never been a hint of a problem before now from any source, so logic dictates that I replace the cheapest and most easily replaceable part.

Thanks ClubMan and RMCF - I'll pop out today and open my wallet.

I'll keep ye all informed.

 

[WhoAmI]

I bought a Philips SCART cable in Argos this evening for €30. It seemed to be the best one they had. Picture quality has improved markedly in my initial tests. Looks like a result.

 

[Luckycharm]

Very interesting yep noticed the same in my folks tv that there was a ghost of the Analog stations behind the Digital pictures so this is probally down to the scart lead!

 

[ClubMan]

Could pin 19 removal on a cheapo SCART as per the Wikipedia link help?

Although using higher-quality cables might help in reducing a 'ghosting' effect, a more permanent method is to remove pin 19 from the SCART plug that is put into the TV. Pin 19 is Video Out, and removing it prevents a signal from being broadcast by the TV into the cable in the first place, so it cannot cross-talk with the incoming signal. Cheaper SCART plugs can sometimes have the pins pushed inside the connector housing so as to remove it in a non-destructive manner (and thus allowing for its replacement in the future should the need arise by simply unscrewing the housing and pushing the pin back through its hole), though sometimes the pins are fixed in place on the inside by glue or rubber and can only be removed by forcefully twisting them off entirely. Generally though, for a standalone TV there is no need for video output on the TV end of the SCART plug, so in the majority of cases removing it completely should not be a problem. Whichever way it is done, however, once it is the SCART is rendered incapable of transmitting a video signal from that end of the cable, so it would be wise to mark it as such for future reference.