Whilst fiddling around in the setup menu on my Evesham T816 I noticed some odd behaviour from the setting for TV out. This works fine for RGB and CV, but I thought that there was a signal for S-Video also?

When selectting outputs with the L and R arrows the screen blanks in both directions after passing through RGB and CV. After 2 further presses it recovers back to CV from where RGB can again be selected. As I cannot see the (blanked) menu during these 2 presses of the button I can not work our what it claims is being output. Has anybody got any idea what is going on?

Yes, you have selected S-Video when the screen is blank. Usually with scart, both CVBS and RGB signals are always transmitted down the cable simultaneously, since they use separate pins. Switching between RGB and CVBS just involves altering the voltage on another pin to indicate if RGB is to be used instead of CVBS. S-Video on the other hand takes over some of the pins normally used for CVBS and RGB, so if your TV is not capable of dealing with S-Video input on the scart, then there will be display problems such as you experience.

Thanks - I have several bits of equipment daisy-chained to the TV. Other S-video signals (after the T816) pass to the TV successfully. I did wonder if one of the pins critical to s-video in the extremely feeble socket had snapped. The design is very poor as the inside part of the socket consists of extremely thin and weak vertical strips secured onto the circuit board with a dot of solder. There is no supporting attachment to the case.

Anyway, thanks for confirming that the missing signal is s-video. It may be being rejected somewhere else in the daisy-chain and thus failing to reach the TV scart, unless there is a fault in the T816 socket. I have tried a different cable with the same result and also tried bypassing other bits of equipment.

Have you tried the VCR(Aux) scart for s-video out?

It's strange that you don't get any picture at all. Usually you just get b&w, with or without faint random colouring.

Yes - I have tried this with (almost) the same result: a signal is only transmitted when CVBS is showing in setup.

Out of curiosity rather than real need - I have done some further testing on this problem.

I have replaced the T816 in the chain with other S-video outputting equipment. The result is that the s-video signal returns and a picture is output.

I have also taken the T816 out of the chain and connected it directly to the TV. The screen blanks unless RGB or CVBS is selected on the T816.

The blanking occurs on both output scart sockets on the T816.

This suggests to me that there is something non-standard about the s-video output on the T816 that the TV does not like, as it successfully takes in and displays a signal from all other s-video devices. Maybe it is a voltage thing that is too near or just outside critical value.

Are you sure s-video is supposed to be available? My Daewoo says on the box it has s-video, but there is no selection for it in setup, and neither scart has it on by default. I think you might be in the same situation with the Vestels, except they forgot to remove the option to select it in the software.

There isn't any scart signalling for s-video. The destination just senses the chroma part of the signal to switch automatically.

If you've got a scart to composite adapter handy you should be able to get at least the luminance half to display in any circumstances. If you can't there isn't a signal.

The specification in the manual for my Hitachi T816 specifies RGB and CVBS for the TV Scart Output and CVBS only for the VCR Scart. No mention of SVideo anywhere in the spec. However, in the Setup menu the TV and VCR Scarts both have SVideo options. Selecting SVideo on the TV Scart output does not give a blank screen on my Panasonic CRT TV but it does give the black and white image with the faint random colouring you describe.

Colin

That is interesting as my Evesham T816 specifies S-video as being available on both outputs. I cannot see if this is so in the menu as the screen instantly blanks when I try to change the output. I do not get the b&w image even that one would expect as a minimum. Maybe there are some differences after all between the different versions of the T816, and the software handles these crudely in an attempt to fit all. I have checked back with the sales spec given by Evesham and see that (contrary to the manual) they specify only RGB and CVBS.

Seems silly as the software appears to allow you to reach a blank screen as a result of an apparently unavailable output mode - with the potential to leave many people completely lost and unrecoverable if they pressed the wrong key at that point.

Paul

I got one of these Hitachis from Argos after all last week. I was in the shop on the last day of sale when they had 2 left. I succumbed. I haven't had chance to hook it up yet, so I'm pleased to hear it seems to have the s-video options, nice bonus.

I recall you also had some problems with colour cycling a short while ago which you resolved, but these could both be symptoms of an intermittent fault.

We need to get someone else with an Evesham to try out the s-video selection just to see if there is a signal or not. Probably best placed in the previous Evesham thread actually.