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JKT · May 13, 2004, 10:08 AM

Can anyone tell me which is the best way to do this?

S-Video/RCA or S-Video/SCART?

Also, what would I need hardware/software wise to copy e.g. some video footage from my VCR to my PB? Is it even possible?

TIA

mishap · May 13, 2004, 12:27 PM

S-Video to whatever input is on your TV (mine is RCA)

capturing whould require another device most likely hooked into your powerbook by firewire...converting analog to digital

s0litude · May 13, 2004, 03:14 PM

try formac's tvr solution:

http://www.formac.com/p_bin/

JKT · May 14, 2004, 05:48 AM

Thanks for the replies, but that's the point, my TV has both RCA input and SCART as does my VCR... which is the better of the two?

Looking at that Formac site, I guess there isn't a cheap and easy way to get video onto your Mac from your VCR then

SSharon · May 14, 2004, 07:15 AM

Your other option is to look at some of elgato's products. The old eyeTV (USB) is on sale for $130 with a keyspan remote and you can use that to import stuff from a vcr. I'm sure the newer eyeTV 200, 300, 400 can do this also and with a much better picture quality thanks to firewire instead of USB. They are all external options and I would recommend them just for their easy to use software.

just my .02

mhodos · May 15, 2004, 08:15 PM

S-Video is better than RCA (aka composite)
Component Video is better than S-Video.

HTH,

Mike

Freeflyer · May 15, 2004, 08:25 PM

Get a scart to s-video cable and run that to the svideo out on the computer. You will get better quality than using the composite input.

J.

James L · May 16, 2004, 07:15 PM

Excuse the question, but does S-Video also contain an audio out? On my old iBook I used a cable that went from the headphone/AV port to a 3 pronged RCA connector to connect the iBook to a tv to watch dvd's.

I am wondering exactly what cable I use to connect my 1.5 PB to do the same thing.

Cheers!

mhodos · May 16, 2004, 07:35 PM

S-Video does not contain any audio channels.

You would still need to go out from the headphone jack for audio (e.g. to an RCA splitter R + L into an amplifier/receiver/etc.).

Mike

James L · May 17, 2004, 01:21 AM

So, one cable sticking out of the right side of my machine for video, and a different one sticking out of the left side for audio... what a pain.

Is there a 1 cable solution to connecting the current PB's to a TV?

Freeflyer · May 17, 2004, 07:56 PM

If you're going from a scart cable, it will contain the audio out. Generally a scart to svideo cable with have a scart on one end and an svideo plug together with two rca adaptors on the other.

If you're going from a powerbook, then yes you'll have to have the svid plugged in one side and a headphone jack to two rca sockets coming out the other side which will connect to the rca jacks on the scart lead.

No, there's no other way to do this. I do it all the time when I want to watch a downloaded tv show on the tv. I just leave the cables plugged in and tucked at the side of the tv. I then place my powerbook on the amp at the side, plug the svideo from the tv into the back of my Tibook and the headphone jack from the amp into the headphone socket. Takes about 20 seconds.

J.

anticon · May 17, 2004, 09:41 PM

I am connecting my 15" albook to the tv with a cable going from my s-video connection to the scart on the back of my tv. I am only getting a black and white picture though . I have fiddled around with the display settings on the powerbook and tv and still no luck. Any help appreciated

JKT · May 18, 2004, 07:13 AM

Thanks for all the feedback folks, but in the end I just plonked for the Monster iTV link option from the Apple online store. (S-video out/headphone jack to S-video in/RCA audio) as it is the easiest for me to hook up to my TV (those ports are on the front, the SCART is tucked away at the back in an awkward to reach place) and the cabling is a very decent length (3m/10ft).

Freeflyer · May 18, 2004, 08:09 PM

Originally posted by anticon:
I am connecting my 15" albook to the tv with a cable going from my s-video connection to the scart on the back of my tv. I am only getting a black and white picture though . I have fiddled around with the display settings on the powerbook and tv and still no luck. Any help appreciated

Not all scart inputs on a tv are svideo compatible.

Check to see if your tv has two settings for the input you're using. Normally, one will be standard input (which would give you black and white picture when fed an s-video signal) and the other is a true s-video input which gives a colour picture.

On my tv, you press the appropriate input button on the remote to select that input. I press once for the regular input (which shows as AV3 on the screen and push it again to cycle through to AV3S which is the svideo input and gives a colour picture. You may need to read the manual for this.

If there isn't that option, then I'm not sure what's next. Let us know if this helps.

J.

anticon · May 19, 2004, 06:41 AM

Originally posted by Freeflyer:
Not all scart inputs on a tv are svideo compatible.

Check to see if your tv has two settings for the input you're using. Normally, one will be standard input (which would give you black and white picture when fed an s-video signal) and the other is a true s-video input which gives a colour picture.

On my tv, you press the appropriate input button on the remote to select that input. I press once for the regular input (which shows as AV3 on the screen and push it again to cycle through to AV3S which is the svideo input and gives a colour picture. You may need to read the manual for this.

If there isn't that option, then I'm not sure what's next. Let us know if this helps.

J.

Cheers for the reply. I guess the tv I am trying to connect it to is too old. I tried it on the newish tv downstairs and it worked perfect.

JKT · May 19, 2004, 07:51 AM

Another possibility is that you are using the wrong format for display (NTSC or PAL) - check the display preferences for the TV on your PowerBook to make sure you are using the correct one.

anticon · May 19, 2004, 08:19 AM

Originally posted by JKT:
Another possibility is that you are using the wrong format for display (NTSC or PAL) - check the display preferences for the TV on your PowerBook to make sure you are using the correct one.

Yeah I had tried that already. Cheers anyway.

rambo47 · May 19, 2004, 12:54 PM

Is there any way to connect wirelessly? Lots of folks are networking their TiVo, connecting it to their home system via a Linksys USB adapter. If you were to put your TiVo on your network could you then download programs into your PowerBook wirelessly?