TABLE OF CONTENTS For years, the primary video signal used by the consumer market has been composite NTSC or PAL video (Figures 8.2 and 8.13). Attempts have been made to support S-Video, but, until recently, it has been largely limited to S-VHS VCRs and high-end televisions.
With the introduction of DVD players, digital set-top boxes, and DTV, there has been renewed interest in providing high-quality video to the consumer market This equipment not only supports very high quality composite and S-Video signals, but many devices also allow the option of using analog R'G'B' or YPbPr video.
Using analog R'G'B' or YPbPr video eliminates NTSC/PAL encoding and decoding artifacts. As a result, the picture is sharper and has less noise. More color bandwidth is also available, increasing the horizontal detail.
The RCA phono connector (consumer market) or BNC connector (pro-video market) transfers a composite NTSC or PAL video signal, made by adding the intensity (Y) and color (C) video signals together. The television then has to separate these Y and C video signals in order to display the picture. The problem is that the Y/C separation process is never perfect, as discussed in Chapter 9.
Many video components now support a 4-pin "S1" S-Video connector, illustrated in Figure 5.1 (the female connector viewpoint). This connector keeps the intensity (Y) and color (C) video signals separate, eliminating the Y/C separation process in the TV. As a result, the picture is sharper and has less noise. Figures 9.2 and 9.3 illustrate the Y...
