DVR 942 no S Video out

[outaspace]

I am new to this site.

I am currently shopping for a DVR as my VHS recorder bit the dust.

So now I might as well go digital. I am looking at the DVR 942 but have read that it does not have a S Video output.
Has any one noticed any video quality difference without connecting via S Video ?
Also can the 942 record one program while watching another channel at the same time ?

Thanks

 

[robert393]

No, the 942 does NOT have an S-video out. S-Video is NOT a digital transfer (HD). What it does ahve is
1) Component
2) DVI
both of which are FAR superior to S-Vid.
Yes, while in Single-Mode you can watch one program while recording 2 other programs.

I am new to this site.

I am currently shopping for a DVR as my VHS recorder bit the dust.

So now I might as well go digital. I am looking at the DVR 942 but have read that it does not have a S Video output.
Has any one noticed any video quality difference without connecting via S Video ?
Also can the 942 record one program while watching another channel at the same time ?

Thanks

 

[outaspace]

DVR 942 no S Video out

Thanks for the Info.

I plan to also upgrade my television soon, so I guess the S Video should not be a major issue in my decision.

 

[nsafreak]

Uh correction to what robert said, the 942 does not have DVI out it has HDMI output. Granted it can be adapted to DVI with a cable but I figured you should probably know.

 

[robert393]

Yes, it has HDMI out. I stand corrected....ty. The HDMI to DVI adaptor is included in the box with the receiver.....that is what I used to convert to DVI out.

Uh correction to what robert said, the 942 does not have DVI out it has HDMI output. Granted it can be adapted to DVI with a cable but I figured you should probably know.

 

[waltinvt]

No, the 942 does NOT have an S-video out. S-Video is NOT a digital transfer (HD). What it does ahve is
1) Component
2) DVI
both of which are FAR superior to S-Vid.
Yes, while in Single-Mode you can watch one program while recording 2 other programs.

But the 942 does have composite outs (red, yellow, white rca type) and many are finding that these somehow provide as good a picture as S-Vid. Of course there's no way to compare since the 942 doesn't have S-Vid but I can say that on mine, the composite outputs are every bit as good as the S-Vid was on either my 508 or 811.

 

[jergenf]

S-video is significantly better than ordinary composite. It eliminates dot crawl and produces richer colors. Don't know why it wasn't included it's the first ever time for any receiver.

 

[M Sparks]

Yes, I almost didn't go for the 942 just because of the no S-Vid issue. I have a Super-VHS VCR, and will have nothing to feed into the S-Vid jack once I switch out my 508 for the 942.

I realize this probably has to do with the separation of TV1/TV2- so ONLY HD comes out the TV1 output. And there aren't really any systems that can transmit S-Video to a distant TV. But I wanted to connect the VCR to the TV2 output anyway.

I actually use the S-VHS to act as a switcher for my bedroom TV. I plug the DVD into one input, and DISH in the other. Then I feed the output through the phone lines to the bedroom. BANG- independant viewing of any video source. With the 942, the bedroom will actually get it's own tuner.

 

[waltinvt]

S-video is significantly better than ordinary composite. It eliminates dot crawl and produces richer colors. Don't know why it wasn't included it's the first ever time for any receiver.

I'm technically aware of the differences between composite and S-Vid and I'm still (and others) saying that the composite out on the 942 look every bit as good as S-Vid does on my 811 and 508 and that's to the same monitor.

Granted, the composite out on either the 508 or 811 is nowhere near as good as S-Vid but somehow Dish has got the composite out on the 942 to look as good.

I don't know what they did but I don't think Dish is so stupid they would leave the S-Vid off a $800 receiver without a reason.

 

[jergenf]

Since I don't have any of these receivers I can't testify on the actual picture quality, however I have tested composite versus s-video from my 921 and the differences are quite noticable.

It may also depend whether or not you're using a CRT versus a fixed pixel display like a plasma or LCD as they up convert to 480p. Also the quality of your comb filter plays a major role as that's what separates the chroma and luminance.

I'm sure if the 942 had s-video you would notice the improvement. Things to look for is bleedover from the color red and pixel shifting on bright objects over low contrast backround.

 

[waltinvt]

Since I don't have any of these receivers I can't testify on the actual picture quality, however I have tested composite versus s-video from my 921 and the differences are quite noticable.

It may also depend whether or not you're using a CRT versus a fixed pixel display like a plasma or LCD as they up convert to 480p. Also the quality of your comb filter plays a major role as that's what separates the chroma and luminance.

I'm sure if the 942 had s-video you would notice the improvement. Things to look for is bleedover from the color red and pixel shifting on bright objects over low contrast backround.

I know..I know...
I too have compared S-Vid to composite on just about every Dish receiver I've ever had (3000, 4000, 7200, 501, 508, 811) and for every one, the S-Vid beat composite - hands down. I used to preach it to my inlaws who insist on continuing to use the RF output and finally gave up!

In fact, the one thing that was making me hesitate getting a 942 was that it had no S-Vid and I wanted to record onto my dvd recorder. Then I read a few threads where people were saying that the composite outs looked real good. I was still doubtful but finally gave in and got one and was pleasantly surprised that what they were saying was true.

I not saying that if the 942 Did have S-Vid that the PQ wouldn't be even better - we'll never know but I tell you if it got much better, some channels would be close to dvd quality. Of course some channels will look like crap no matter what connection they're viewed on.

 

[Drone35]

Maybe just maybe the 962, if thats what the replacment is for the 942 for the mpeg4 conversion will have a s-video. The 411 has now a HDMI that the 811 didn't have, just a thought! Better keep our fingers cross I guess!

 

[Carl B]

Lack of an s-video out is really only an issue if you want to take the signal to an S-VHS VCR or a DVDR, which don't include any electronics to enhance the input signal. In this case, you will see a difference in recorded quality. If you are taking the signal to most modern, up scale, TVs, the TV will "clean-up" the composite input signal so it will generally display as good as s-video.

So the lack of an s-video out is mostly a matter of what you plan to do w/ the output signal. However, the lack of s-video out on the 942 is just one dumb oversight or one horrendous cost control decision, as it certainly affects the users flexibility of use.

 

[HokieEngineer]

If you guys require an svideo output (due to other electronics hooked to your satellite receiver, you could buy one of these converters.. Cheap too..

http://www.hometech.com/video/svconv.html

Composite (yellow plug) --> svideo plug.

I know you'll get the same video quality as the composite input, but at least you'll be able to interface with existing equipment.

 

[rowemance]

The only reason they put the RCA jacks was to hook up your vcr or PIP on your main TV and since your recording on SVHS or VHS its no big deal. You need to get a DVD recorder instead of a VCR there dirt cheap now a days.

 

[DarrellP]

I bought a 6 input video switcher from Rat Shack for about $149 about 2 years ago and it does composite to S-Video conversion as well as PCM audio to Digital audio and it works quite well. I use it to route signals between my different recording devices and to output a signal to a monitor that I use as a PIP device since my PJ does not support PIP.