interconnects for satellite system

[Billiardicus]

Well I got my satellite dish set up.

Here's my question: Right now the interconnects are the cheap cables the satellite receiver came with. The best interconnect hookup it's got is s-video. Should I get some s-video cables?

The reason I'm asking...well the signal is transfered from the dish to the receiver in that black coaxial cord...supposed to be the worst interconnect. So will using s-video from the satellite receiver to my AV receiver really help anything?

Also:

I noticed that even though the video and audio is "digital," it's not DVD quality. The picture isn't nearly as good (depending upon the broadcast), and the sound isn't as good either. Is this due to compression?

[scriven]

Kurt,

I am not sure exactly what you are asking but I will take a shot at it and see if I manage to answer any of your questions.

The signal from the dish to the receiver is a high frequency signal. If it did not use that black coaxial cord...supposed to be the worst interconnect you would not get squat out of the receiver. That is an antenna lead. The satellite antenna signal is VERY different from an audio signal and requires the coax.

The s-video carries the video only. If your satellite receiver has component video out that is what you would want to use, followed by s-video, followed by composite video.

The receiver probably also has a digital out, ether coax or optical. That carries the audio and is the highest quality coming out of the satellite receiver. If your A/V pre/proc has digital input that would be the best way to go for the audio.

As far as the signal quality, it is not so much compression as limited bandwidth. The satellite company only has so much of the spectrum they can use. They have to make a trade off between signal quality and number of channels. What you see is the result of this tradeoff.

I hope this helps you.

[charlieboy]

Go with the best ! If its s-video then so be it. It is better than regular. I use a DVI cable on my box to TV. Not sure wich dish you have but its a crappy till you go Hi-Def. I have DTV and just got a hi-def receiver and package and the package is only around 6 channels but I cant watch any others anymore after watching hi-def. Its all digital and better than cable IMHO but unless its Hi-Def its just TV.

[Billiardicus]

Thanks for the help.

I believe the satellite box has 3 different outputs. The coaxial type (can't hook that to my AV receiver), s-video, and composite video (red, yellow, and white right?).

I'm using the composite video interconnects that came with it right now. I was wondering if I'll notice a difference if I used the s-video hookup.

I'm asking because I noticed the sound and picture quality was not as good as DVD, but I suppose it won't be anyway. But I don't want to go buy more interconnects if they won't really make a difference.

One more question...I could use s-video from the satellite box to my receiver, and then component from my receiver to my TV...but won't be any better than s-video all the way right?

Maybe I should draw pictures

[scriven]

The composite video is the yellow part of the red, yellow and white. (Red is the right and white is the left channel of the audio signal.)

Will S-video improve the picture? Depends a lot on the quality of the signal they are sending and how good your monitor is. It may, but not necessarily.

While the satellite signal is digital, digital does not equal high definition! As charlieboy stated, the satellite companies are starting to put some HiDef stuff out but most of it is a standard quality television signal.

Using s-video form the satellite box to the A/V receiver and component from the receiver to the TV will only work if the A/V receiver performs the conversion between the two formats. You will have to check you manual. Most do not do up conversions because the additional information required is not present. Some will do down conversions since that is throwing information out. (In other words, you are right, it wont be any better than the s-video coming in.)

[Billiardicus]

Okay this is helping...

So S-video and composite video only carry VIDEO signals? Same for component video right?

So even if I used the S-video connection, my audio won't improve right? My only option for audio is the left and right (white and red) connections.

I don't think there's a digital audio out, but I'll check again when I get home.

[kenratboy]

ABSOLUTLY use the S-video out. We did on our old 27" Toshiba back in the day (the TV was made in 1992, and has a S-video in!), about 1997 when we got DSS, and the quality difference was HUGE.

[scriven]

Yes, you are catching on! There are two (relatively) independent things coming out of the satellite receiver, the video signal and the audio signal. Component, S and composite are all ways of carrying the video portion of the signal. Component can carry a higher resolution picture than S and S can carry a higher resolution picture than composite. (Note: I said can, not will! The lower resolution signals can be sent on the higher resolution connections, that is the conversion stuff I was referring to earlier.)

Yes again, the audio you hear is independent of which version of the video signal you watch. (And vice versa!)

If the satellite receiver is relatively new it should have digital audio out. This is a much better option than the red and white analog audio outputs. The digital feed will include all the audio tracks for surround sound audio. While the video quality on many of the satellite channels may be disappointing, they do usually carry multi-channel audio. However, that will not do you any good if your A/V receiver is not set up to accept digital inputs.

Now that you understand that there are two independent tracks what you need to do is look into how to get the highest quality signal for each one to the proper destination. On the video side, start with your video monitor and see what video inputs it accepts. Then work you way back through the A/V receiver then back to the satellite receiver. You will end up having to deal with the lowest common denominator, that is, the best quality that all of them understand. Then do the same with the audio side.

[Billiardicus]

The satellite box I have came free with my satellite package. unfortunately, the best it has for video is S-video, and it doesn't have any digital audio outputs.

I guess I'll buy an S-video cable and run that directly to my TV (Sony 46" HDTV) from the satellite box (no point in running the signal through my AV receiver, just have to buy more cables).

I was mostly hoping for better sound though. But I guess I'll have to buy a different satellite box for that...and then it would have to be programmed to work with dish network.

I'll call dishnetwork and see if it's possible to get a satellite box with a digital audio out.

[scriven]

I also have Dish and am using a PVR 508 receiver. It has digital audio out. I also like the PVR. I know that they will charge you for it but it is a nice receiver. The only complaint I have with it is that I cannot record one show while watching another. That would require 2 satellite tuners and it only has one.

[scriven]

Kurt - You have a PM.