I just bought a SCART splitter just like this one. I bought it because my TV only has one RGB SCART in, and I assumed that plumbing in my Toppy 5800, DVD REcorder and XBOX would result in three selectable RGB inputs on AV1. Instead now none of them are RGB. Was I wrong to assume that the SCART splitter would automatically carry the RGB through if the input was RGB?

Only the more expensive switches in the £60 and above price range do RGB and many have had trouble switching aspect ratios on Sky boxes last time I checked.

The £10 switchable ones in Argos and Maplin's supports RGB.

That's not true, I would say most for sale at Argos and other high street electrical are RGB-capable. And look at this one - http://www.satcure.co.uk/accs/page4.htm (the one with the rotary switch), it's the one I use.

The switches that have a record-loop and a button for selecting RGB/composite are usually the ones that can cause trouble. Also some of the automatic/electronic ones that don't switch all pins.

Thanks for your replies. I had thought that the RGB capability lied in the devices at both ends to handle, I assumed that the signal would simply be carried through the splitter intact.

Yes, both devices need to be able to support it but so does the cable between them! There's nothing technical in it - it's just that sometimes the cables/switchboxes are not fully wired and do not contain the pins that the RGB signals are carried on.

In the "early days", it was sometimes difficult to find a fully-wired SCART lead, nowadays most are fully wired. But switchboxes still vary.

Well, I went and bought the Argos one instead, and it does RGB, but it also lead me to discover that the Xbox (not 360) doesn't do RGB. Do I need a new cable for that as well?

Absolutely no idea I'm afraid. What connections are there on the back of the XBox and what does the manual say about it? I suspect it'll have composite and s-video. And what sort of cable have you got at the moment - is it SCART? If so, you can plug it into the switch box but if the Xbox doesn't generate RGB then it won't be in RGB. Does your switch box have a button to select between RGB and s-video? While in RGB mode, composite is probably the best you'll get from the XBox and to get it to use s-video then you'll need to press the button, assuming your TV can accept s-video.

The Xbox is an American product essentially. The US doesn't do RGB, it does Composite Video (yuk), S-Video (not quite so yuk) and component video (better even than RGB). The cables that I received with my Xbox are multi AV to composite with a composite to scart adapter, and a multiAV to component.

This isn't going to help you becuae I doubt your TV will have component inputs, so unless you have you.re stuck with composite video through the scart adapter.