The effect of different S-Video cables

These are some images I captured using two different S-Video cables. The card used is a BT848 based PCI card that sells for about $100. The OS was Linux, the device driver was written by Ralph Metzler, hacked/enhanced be me. The TV viewing/capture software was written by me, but I haven't released it yet. Maybe someday soon. More information about BT848 cards under Linux can be found on the Linux BTTV page. The source of these images is the CAV version of John Woo's Hard-Boiled, played back on a Pioneer CLD-D701. I freeze framed the images on the LD player, then captured them.

I've actually received email from some people who where having the same problem with their home theater systems. By looking at this web page, they figured out it was their S-Video cable causing it. I never though this page would actually be useful to anyone!

This is a 1/2 size version of the frame I captured. I've cropped off a section and blown it up so the effects are easier to see. This scene has lots of blues, which is where the effects seem to show up the most.
Unscaled lossless PNG file (392k)

This is a 2x blow up of a section of the captured image. This one was taken while using a 10 ft. S-Video cable I bought for $7.85. Check out the artifacts at the edge of the car and the diamond interference pattern. What causes this? If you know, tell me. If you only have an 8-bit display, you probably won't be able to see the interference.


Lossless PNG version (240k)

This is the same section of the same frame, this time using a 6ft cable that came with my JVC Super-VHS VCR. The interference is gone, and the picture is much better.


Lossless PNG version (240k)

Here's a comparison side by side of the two images. The only thing different was the S-Video cable used.


Trent Piepho
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