DVI or S-Video

[VforVelveta]

Right now I am planning on hooking my computer up to my TV, but the problem is I'll need a cord about 15-20 feet long, which obviously runs the risk of distorting the signal.

It seems like I have two options: 1. Get a long DVI-DVI cable and connect the DVI to S-Video converter to the end of that, or 2. Connect the DVI to S-Video converter to the computer then run a long S-Video cable to the TV.

The reason I'm considering these two options is that the long S-Video solution would be cheaper, but since its an analog signal, it would be more prone to distortion, whereas the digital signal in the long DVI cable would be less so.

Has anyone had any experience with this? Would it be worth the extra money to go for the long DVI cable, or is the distortion not really going to be a problem? Thanks for any help!

 

[Mydriasis]

The two aspects of s-video that get degraded are luminance and chroma, this starts to be significant at about 10 meters (30ft). I have never tried both parallel so I can't say if its a big difference, sorry.

You could just wait for iTV to come out though.

 

[~Shard~]

Obviously DVI is preferable since it is digital and not analog. And yes, it costs more, but as with many things, you get what you pay for. If you go the DVI route just make sure you know whether your computer and TV have DVI-D or DVI-I connections to determine if an adaptor will also be required. Also you'd want to look into whether or not it is single link DVI or dual link DVI.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Hmpf. If you are talking about a DVI-I cable and a simple cable adaptor, all you'll be doing is running analog signals through the "DVI" cable wires - not digital- and there is no advantage to that at all.

If you are talking about an actual digital to analog convertor at the screen end, that may theoretically give some advantage, but it completely down to the quality of the convertor, which you're going to have to spend some money on.

I assume your TV does not have a DVI connection directly on it, otherwise you wouldn't be talking about a convertor.

 

[evil_santa]

use a good quality s-video cable. Unless you have a really sharp broadcast quality monitor at the other end you are not going to notice the degradation. At the tv studios we run composite analog video & RGB video down quite long runs with out any noticeable problems.

 

[~Shard~]

Hmpf. If you are talking about a DVI-I cable and a simple cable adaptor, all you'll be doing is running analog signals through the "DVI" cable wires - not digital- and there is no advantage to that at all.

If you are talking about an actual digital to analog convertor at the screen end, that may theoretically give some advantage, but it completely down to the quality of the convertor, which you're going to have to spend some money on.

I assume your TV does not have a DVI connection directly on it, otherwise you wouldn't be talking about a convertor.

Good points CanadaRAM, you are correct - I was probably presuming too much with my initial post. These are all things the OP needs to consider as well.

(Good to see you back on the Forums a little more frequently as well. )

 

[solvs]

I use a long s-video cable for my Mac and an RCA cable in the bedroom off of my PC. Both are fine. Just have a good TV, but even then it won't be as good as your monitor.