I connected a DVD player to my home theatre amp via a s-video cable, does that mean that I will be unable to get a composite video-out signal on the RCA jack if I want to do some dubbing on a VCR connected to the system? The DVD also has a composite video out, but the s-video signal will over-ride the composite one inside the amp, so I doubt this will any help even if I were to connect it. I temporarily solved this by hooking up the video-out from the TV, but wonder if the resolution loss will be higher this way (the TV is connected via s-video cable) than from the amp internal circuitry.

Thanks for any advice.

 

The home cinema amp will not have the circuitry to output composite video if it is given S-video in; it will contain nothing more than a high speed analogue switch on a chip.

Technically, you will have lost more resolution running out of the TV. However, the bandwidth of a composite video signal is limited compared to s-video, so I doubt you will notice a lot of difference. Unless you can get a second output from the DVD player, I'd stick with the temporary fix.

Hope that helps.

This isn't all fitted inside a scoob, I assume?

Phil

 

Phil, thanks for the reply. I can run the composite output from the DVD straight to the VCR, but then, I will lose the switching flexibility offered by the amp, as I got other equipment connected to it, e.g. a LD player and another VCR for dubbing purpose. I got a VCR with s-video capability, but then it is a PAL unit and most of my DVDs and LDs are NTSC (US and Jap standards) and the multi- system VCR I am referring to has no s-video input.
Fitting the whole system into a Scoob would be a better idea than my present system rack, had to crawl behind to check all the connections when I couldn't get a video signal even though it has worked previously with VCR to VCR dubbing. No where is this problem mentioned in the owner's manual, took me one whole day to figure out the possible cause.