Connecting a DVD/Digibox to a plasma screen

One of our commonest queries goes something like this:

"I have just bought a new plasma screen that I would like to use with my DVD player. The plasma screen has 5 BNC sockets for video input and my DVD player has a SCART output. What cable do I need?"

The problem here is that many of the recent plasma screens that have appeared on the market at more affordable prices were really designed for attachment to a computer.

These screens can have various different types of inputs:

• Composite video: This is a single RCA plug and is not very good quality . Using this will not provide the quality picture that the plasma sceen is capable of delivering (which is probably why you bought it). However, we have heard of people who ended up having to use this input as it was the only way they succeeded in making their screen work.
• Computer VGA/XGA: This uses 15 pin mini D-Sub. It is of no use for your home cinema purposes
• S-Video: If you have one of these 4 pin mini DIN plugs then use this but many screens dont offer this option.
• Component RGB: This has 5 input sockets, either RCA or BNC (more usual). These 5 sockets are actually what is referred to as RGBHV (Red, green, blue with horizontal and vertical sync). Component video (YUV): This has 3 input sockets, either RCA or BNC. It is very different to RGB. Some TVs have a SCART socket that can accept YUV. This will only work if you have a source (e.g. DVD) that is able to generate YUV.

Given these alternatives there are a number of practical ways of making a connection.

Your best option is where your DVD and Plasma both offer Component video (YUV). This uses a cable with either 3 RCA or BNC at each end. However, you can only use this method if you are sure you have a YUV capable DVD and plasma. A YUV output on a DVD is still on newer DVDs and most older DVD do not have this. The sockets will RCA or BNCs. Many of our customers are misled by a component RGB input on their plasma with 5 RCA or BNC inputs and think they can use 3 of these for YUV. This is not possible. YUV is the highest quality option. It is also the only option that makes progressive scan possible with DVD and plasmas that offer this. You can buy a cable for component YUV connection by clicking here.

If you have a VGA/XGA input and your DVD has a RGB capable SCART socket then your best bet is to get a RGB SCART to VGA convertor. This a mains powered device that converts an RGB signal to a VGA, SVGA or XGA signal, upscaling it in the process. We have in the past sold simple less expensive units but they have rarely worked due to synchronisation rate problems. This unit does not have these problems. You can buy one from here.

If neither of these options are available to you, and your plasma has a s-video input then we recommend that you use this. Whilst all the magazines correctly say that component YUV and component RGB are higher quality than s-video, our own tests have proved that the differences are in practise very subtle and s-video produces a very acceptable quality provided the lead is no longer tha 3.0M. You can use this method even if your DVD only has a SCART output as we can supply a SCART to s-video cable. You can get an s-video to s-video cable from here. or a SCART to s-video from here.

The last option is to use the composite video input but this should be avoided if possible as the quality is not particularly good.