[MPlayer-users] Is S-Video and external monitor limited by laptop's graphics card's max resolution.

[Reshat Sabiq]

Reshat Sabiq wrote:

> Reshat Sabiq wrote:
>
>> Reshat Sabiq wrote:
>>
>>> Looks like it's all covered at:
>>> http://www.michaeldvd.com.au/Articles/PALvsNTSC/PALvsNTSC.asp
>>>
>>> So then i'm making the following conclusions (please correct me if 
>>> i'm wrong):
>>> 1. both 1024x768 max resolution laptop and 1280x768 one will have 
>>> the same quality of playback via S-Video, and in fact resolutions 
>>> are irrelevant, as Reimar said, and all modern resolutions would 
>>> have the same playback.
>>> 2. a (DVD) stream played back on a computer monitor (VGA or LCD) 
>>> from a computer will be higher quality than the same stream played 
>>> back via S-Video, because more pixels will be used for rendering
>>> 3. a laptop with max resolution of 1024x768 would be able to play a 
>>> wide screen DVD on a "16:9" VGA (e.g., at 1280x768)
>>>
>>> Thanks.
>>
>>
>> I think answer to 1 is Yes.
>> On 2., there probably won't be any different between a comparable TV 
>> + S-Video, or a monitor, since the TV will have larger pixels, and a 
>> monitor would scale a pixel to more than 1. Though i don't exactly 
>> understand what happens if, say, horizontal resolution is not a 
>> multiple of 720. I guess some pixels get rendered more than once and 
>> some don't.
>
> I read up a little:
> Actually, a comparable LCD or VGA  monitor would probably be more 
> accurate than S-Video on a TV, because S-Video would merge B-Y and R-Y 
> signals into one signal C. Plus, the green signal which was implied in 
> Y, B-Y, R-Y, will no longer be imliable in C. I don't know how exactly 
> green is implied in Y, B-Y, R-Y, but that's what it says at:
> http://www.projectorcentral.com/component.htm
> So it's not about number of pixels, but the signal conversions 
> involved in S-Video.
> Does this mean, that it's not worth spending money on ensuring S-Video 
> port in a laptop or PC (i've noticed a difference of up to several 
> $100 if one wants to ensure S-Video port in a laptop)? E.g., i don't 
> have any TV right now, and will be buying an HDTV eventually. Many 
> HDTVs (monitors at least) have PC in, so a laptop or PC that has a VGA 
> connector would ensure better playback than when S-Video is used with 
> the same HDTVs, correct?

A couple arguments for S-Video that i think are there are the following:
1. not all (HD)TVs have PC Video Input. E.g., out of 6 models on Sony 
website in the size i might be interested in, only 1 had PC Video Input. 
Another one wasn't worded well (the item said: Monitor), and may or not 
support PC Video Input. So $100, or $200 saved but not having S-Video on 
a laptop, could mean less choice when buying an (HD)TV, if one wants to 
stream video from it, which would probably mean more expense, or less 
quality TVs. The one that clearly supported PC Video Input required a 
tuner, so was really more of an LCD HDTV monitor.
2. i suspect that w/ S-Video, sound would be played back thru the 
(HD)TV, whereas when using VGA it apparently would be played on the 
computer. One could assume that an (HD)TV would have better sound 
quality than a laptop, for instance. The same model as in 1., mentioned 
PC Audio Input. Not sure what that is, but other than earphones 
connector, my current laptop doesn't have anything for it. If it does 
refer to earphones connector, then i guess this might be less of a 
disadvantage, although still S-Video would probably have better audio 
quality.
As a result, while PC Video Input might be a little higher quality than 
S-Video, given that not having S-Video limits future Multimedia-based 
usage, i conclude it's worth spending some more and ensuring S-Video is 
available in, say, laptop.

P.S. And i hope this thread hasn't become off-topic. :)

>
> P.S. There are also cables that convert from VGA to component video:
> http://www.smarthome.com/777060.html
> Would these converters (from VGA to component video) make the playback 
> any better in comparison to using a regular VGA cable to directly hook 
> up the regular VGA connector from a computer to, say, HDTV (monitor or 
> TV)? My guess is they would not. They'd only be useful for hardware 
> that doesn't have compatible ports.
> P.P.S. Sorry, for all the questions. But i already learned a lot. And 
> looks like knowing such things can save quite a bit when buying 
> computers or (HD)TVs.
>
>> On 3., i made a typo, 1280x768 is not 16:9, i meant to say 1280x720. 
>> I'm pretty sure the answer is yes, although not all of external VGA 
>> or LCD resolutions might be supported. So i guess the answer is 75% 
>> chance yes, 25% No, or something like that.
>
>

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