s-video better then RGB?
 

Hello,
So I have this setup for capturing VHS (I'm just starting to do this)

Panasonic NV-HS860 -> DMR-ES15 -> BMD Intensity usb.

My issue here is what are the best conn. between the devices, and the docs for the dmr-es15 are
somewhat unclear to me, cause it seems I get better quality with s-vid then with RGB:

1. I've connected the VCR to DMR with scart21 so I can get RGB transfer
2. I've connected DMR to Intensity with component.

Here is my problem:
-The scart for the VCR outputs RGB or s-vid (it has a switch for this in the back)
-DMR scart input (AV2) has option to select 'Video' or 's-video' not explicitly RGB so I'm not sure if I'm getting RGB or composite??
(thou the manual says 'Video' receives the signal the way is sent-so RGB I guess cause it says so in the VCR docs)

Now, I captured to test with both settings and it seems that s-vid option gives me slightly better results?

Am I doing this right?
I'd greatly appreciate any input.
Thanks

Very bad choice.
VHS is captured via s-video to YUY2 with lossless compression such as huffyuv or Lagarith. Never capture analog to RGB. Input signal level management required. This has been discussed to death in hundreds of threads in several forums.

How do so many noobs get suckered into unmanaged capture with BM cards designed for digital sources?

The switch is between composite and S-Video, pretty much no VCR other than maybe some PAL DVD recorder combo units output RGB. So use the S-Video setting.

What most PAL VCRs can do however is pass a RGB signal from scart input to scart output, e.g if the VCR was hooked up to a sattelite decoder. That's what the manual mentions.

The composite and RGB are on different pins on the SCART connection, so a TV can automatically switch to RGB if it's available, or fall back to composite if not. S-Video over scart is sort of non-standard, and use the same pin as composite for the brgithness signal, so the device has to be configured to use it or not.

Thank You hodgey,

One final question then: In my case is it better to output from the DMR to BMD with s-video,
or with component?

I would say S-Video just because you are not gaining anything from the DMR being converting a Y/C signal to Y/Cb/Cr, You can't make extra quality from nothing, Besides you don't know how good or bad the DMR process those signals. But I guess you can always try it and see for yourself.

In theory component can be slightly better since you avoid the output from the DVR being encoding to PAL color and then decoded by the caputre device, which isn't an entirely lossless process due to how PAL color works. In practice though the difference may be so small that it may as well come down to how well the capture card decodes Y/C video vs Component.

When I last tested a BM intensity USB with analog input I got some diagonal noise when using the S-Video in which didn't happen on component so I used the latter, nowadays I only use it to grab HDMI.

I would do a quick test and see if there's any noticeable difference but it's probably going to be very similar.

The Y/C signal is most likely encoded to component form by the digitizer in the DVR in any case. I can't say for 150% sure since there are no public datasheets for the panasonic ICs but that's how video decoders typically work, see e.g the datasheet for the SAA7114 chip used in the AVT8710 TBC.

I tested with both, and the difference is that with Component I can chose when capturing between progressive or interlaced, while with s-video only interlaced. So I chose to go with component since progressive gives me better capture.

You have to be careful what you wish for, De-interlacing while capturing may lead to some serious damage to the video that you will never recover later after you throw your tapes away.

You're just screwing up your video.
You may think it's "fine" now, but you'll notice the damage later.

I see, I'll go with s-vid interlaced then.
By later do you mean when editing, cause I plan to edit it later and I was under the impression progressive is better for editing.

Thanks.