Chapter 1

82 Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About DVD
• Component progressive analog video that keeps all three video signals
separate. It comes in Y'PbPr format with 3 RCA connectors, or
RGB (or RGBS or RGBHV) formats with 3, 4, or 5 RCA or BNC connectors.
• Radio-frequency (RF) video for connecting to the TV antenna input,
usually on channel 3 or 4 using a screw-on, 75-ohm, F-type connector.
It may require an adapter for TVs that have 300-ohm, two-screw,
antenna wire connectors.
• High-definition multimedia interface (HDMI), which is digital video in
the Digital Visual Interface (DVI) format, plus digital audio.
Most DVD players with component video outputs use YUV (Y'PbPr),
which is incompatible with RGB equipment. European players with component
video outputs usually provide RGBS signals on the SCART connector.
YUV-to-RGB transcoders are rumored to be available for $200 to
$300, but seem hard to track down. A $700 converter is available from
avscience, and a $900 converter, the CVC 100, is available from Extron.
Converters are also available from Altinex, Kramer, Monster Cable, and others.
For progressive scan, you need a converter that can handle 31.5 kHz
signals. Converters from s-video are also an option (available from Markertek
and others).
NOTE: The correct term for analog color-difference output is
Y'Pb'Pr', not Y'Cb'Cr' (which is digital, not analog). To simplify things,
this book sometimes uses the term YUV in the generic sense to refer
to analog color difference signals.
Specialty players from companies such as Function Communications,
Theta Digital, and Vigatec are available with serial digital interface (SDI) output,
but they connect only to high-end or production equipment.
Audio Outputs
Most DVD players have the following audio output connections:
• Analog stereo audio, which may be in Dolby Surround, depending on
the disc.
• Two RCA connectors, red and white.
• European players transmit analog stereo audio on the SCART
connector.