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A scart connector is found in many European televisions and players. It is a multi-pin connector that carries video and audio signals as well as some control signals. The video signal can be composite, S-video, RGB or component and is decided by the output or input device. The control signals allow a television to detect when a player or receiver is active and can switch to the right input automatically. In later equipment, infra red signals can also be carried from one device to another using the control cables. Some connectors also allow signals to be carried in both directions.
AV connectors carry the same signals but normally with a single connector per signal. For example, three connectors are needed for composite video, left audio and right audio. Although the signals are identical to those used in a scart connector, wiring is more complex. Automatic input switching is not a feature of separate AV connections.
The scart connector made equipment connections very easy but the quality of connection tends to be poor compared to individual connectors. They are known for pulling out of sockets due to the weight of cable attached to the connector. Scarts are now becoming rare as HDMI interfaces are becoming the standard for player to television links.
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You were thinking of buying a new tv but the one you want doesnt have a scart plug input so you were wondering if using a scart to usb converter and plugging that into the tv would work?
Scart connectors are a European video and audio standard for analog video signals. They have been commonly used as links between video recorders and televisions as they provide a single wire interface between the two. The signals used in a scart connector vary but they can include composite, S-video, RGB and component video. All of them are analog signals. Most new televisions do not offer scart connectors but the signals are almost always available on alternative inputs. Composite will usually have a single yellow phono socket (RCA socket), component will have three phono sockets S-video will have a 4 pin mini-din socket for example. There are a range of scart adaptor cables that have a scart plug at one end and separate video and audio connectors at the other. Select the type that is needed and it should all work fine. To answer the question specifically, a scart to USB adaptor sounds like a video capture device for use in a computer and is not the right thing to use in a television, even if the television has USB sockets.
How do you hook up a separate VCR player and a separate DVD player to a tv so you can watch tv and record at the same time?
Your TV will need to have two scart sockets, your recording equipment will need to connect, one scart each. The television should be able to switch between each connection, one called say external 1 and the other external 2. If your TV is capable of doing this then you can switch between connections as to which piece of equipment you wish to record to. Normally, you will be able to switch between connections using an on screen menu. If your TV is capable, the operating instructions should give you connection details and menu instructions. After setting up the programme you wish to record, the TV will have a third on screen connection, probably called TV, or in any case different from Ext.1 or Ext.2. You should swith to this Ext. if you wish to watch TV at the same time as recording. Hope this helps.
Does a TV need a scart connection to use a Freeview set top box?
A Freeview set top box is a digital television receiver for use in the UK and delivers analogue signals at the output, for use with analogue televisions. All Freview receivers have video and audio outputs and normally these are found on a scart connector, the European multi-pin AV interface. If a television has no scart connector, it may be possible to use separate video and audio connectors, normally phono or RCA sockets. If the television doesn't have any kind of video input, then the only option is to use the RF connection. Not all Freview units have an RF output. If the Freeview signal must be taken into the television, then the receiver must have the output signal encoded to RF. Note that some Freeview receivers have an RF output but only to loop through the antenna signal and do not deliver the digital programme to the RF output. To be sure that it will work, you must ask the question "does the output of this receiver feed the RF output?" Remember that many salesmen will not know the answer to this, may say yes to get the sale and you get a unit that doesn't work. If that happens, you are fully entitled to return the unit and get a FULL refund as long as you asked the question before you bought it. (The Sale of Good Acts make complete provision for this). This isn't meant to be an attack on salesmen by the way but I have a big problem with poorly trained sales staff gicing out incorrect information!
Do you need a HDMI cable to get a high definition signal for a playstation 3 or can you get a high definition signal using just a scart lead?
for a high definition signal on a playstation 3 you need a hdmi cable using a simple scart lead will only give you standard deffinition if you are looking to buy a hdmi cable the cheapest ones are on eBay
Can you play video tape on a digital tv?
Most HDTV's have the capability to play VHS, but depending on your TV capabilities it may or might not fill the screen. Also, the bigger the HDTV the worse the picture will look. You can only stretch 480i so far before it starts to look horrible. On Most standard resolution TV's VHS looks ok because you are viewing the VHS source at such a low resolution, that you can't see all of its defects. When you go to an HDTV you are actually getting a view of that VHS source that is either 2x or 3x higher in resolution, which basically means you are getting a much better look at all of the defects of the 480i VHS source. As a result, 480i VHS source on an HDTV looks worse than it does on a standard television. There ARE some newer DVD/VCR combination units that "upconvert" the VHS signal, but 480i upconverted to 720p or 1080i/1080p will not look as good as a signal that is natively those higher resolutions. As a plus, some TV's also do some signal processing which further cleans up the signal from incoming devices.. So betwen a device upconverting and a TV processing, the signal might not look half as bad is if it were untouched... But it still will not be as clean as a straight nativie 720p/1080i/1080p signal.
