This morning I have dragged myself into the 21st century and purchased a DVD player. Trouble is, my telly only has 2 scart sockets and I already have a video and satt receiver stuck in those. I could use the red/yellow/white thingies but they would have to go in the front of the telly. Can I via the DVD through summat else so they share a socket? Or an I use one of those scart splitter thingies for this? Am I making sense? And before you say anything - I know I'm bloody stupid.

-- Anonymous, May 04, 2002

Answers

Absolutely Pathetic technician.

-- Anonymous, May 04, 2002

Jacko - I'm pretty much a virgin at this sortof thing as well but if I understand the magazines, the red/yellow/white thingies (component video??) apparently gives you the best quality pictures. I'm lucky in that my telly has a set of red/yellow/white thingies on the back. Those on the front are 2 for audio and one for (composite??) video. Aparently that isn't very good quality.

I think you can get a "SCART splitter". Check out the mags or specialist shops.

As another thought, why not connect your Sat via the VCR? If so, one of the SCARTs may well be RGB and the other "non RGB". For best DVD quality, (assuming you can't use component video) connect the DVD to the one which is RGB capable.

Eee, it's not easy, is it?

-- Anonymous, May 04, 2002

Jacko - have a blimp at the Sony site there's some examples of different ways to connect various combinations of stuff together.

My mate at work had the same problem and their idea worked.

-- Anonymous, May 04, 2002

Found it Josh. That's great - thanks a lot. Will see if it all works after I've slept through the Cup Final!

-- Anonymous, May 04, 2002

Check if u have S-Video(yellow) on the DVD+TV- not quite as good as RGB but still very good. And start saving about £600 for a reciever+surround speakers so that DVD can really blow u away with DD 5.1 :-) Even better take the DVD back and get a home cinema kit for 2 or 3 hundred more. Its a good job money grows on trees!

-- Anonymous, May 04, 2002

The yellow/white/red cables are composite, whether on the front or the back.

You can put your Sky and video together I think, as most Sky boxes have three scart sockets on the back.

Then this frees up your other socket on the telly for your DVD. Make sure you set it to either RGB or S-Video on the DVD player's on- screen menus for the best picture (if you telly is compatible)

-- Anonymous, May 04, 2002

This morning I have dragged myself into the 21st century

The remainder of your post convinces me otherwise Jacko!

-- Anonymous, May 04, 2002

Well thanks to your kind assistance (and no thanks whatsoever to Jonno's totally uncalled for abuse!) I am now up and running. I had to resort to a scart splitter but my telly already had surround sound with speakers all over the bloody place so it sounds really good and looks lovely.

-- Anonymous, May 04, 2002

Just to really confuse you(maybe)....dolby digital is one of THE things that makes DVDs so fantastic- when u say surround speakers on your TV im wondering if you mean dolby pro-logic - for dolb digital 5.1 you need a multichannel reciever, 2 front speakers, a central one,a subwoofer and 2 rears- stick on The Matrix DVD and youll be blown away! DVDs picture and ease of navigation is fantastic but DD5.1 sound is amazing. Home cinema is a horrendously expensive interest which i wish id never got into :-) If anyone is ever thinking of getting a DVD player, splash out a bit more if u can and get a full home cinema package instead.

-- Anonymous, May 04, 2002

I've got pro-logic - three speakers in the telly and two behind me chair. The Sony DVD player I've just bought cost me 129 quid in a clearance sale. I'm saving up for me holidays so that's it I'm afraid!

-- Anonymous, May 04, 2002

I'd have to agree with Spud here, Dolby Digital (and DTS) is one of the best things about DVD.

Saying that, the best thing overall is the ability to play Canadian and US discs that are either cheaper or out much earlier or both.

For example, you can get Ocean's Eleven, Spy Game and Training Day on DVD from across the Atlantic. You can even get K-Pax, which is only out on the cinema here now.

-- Anonymous, May 05, 2002