by nickfil Thu Nov 04, 2021 2:59 pm
I just wanted to chime in for a second. I've been using YPbPr and Scart for years now and here is what I've come to realize. They are more or less the same? I know that if you get real close and pixel peep you might see some differences, but they are so small when you are playing it won't make a difference. I'm still using both. Here is what I'm doing-
I'm still using Scart and YPbPr, but for two different things. If I was going to rebuild a gameroom from scratch, I don't think I'd mess with scart. I'm still using it because it is very easy to use with a PVM. This is literally the only thing I think scart should be used for. It connects easily. Everything is built for it, and you'll get the best picture out of any system putting out 480i or lower. However, you are going to pay to play. This is the Scart money pit. Look.... the pvm is expensive. The scart cables are expensive. The switcher is expensive. The mods to get the consoles scartted up if they can't put out that signal is expensive. Its tough to justifiy if you don't already have a few pieces of it. Plus if you have a regular consumer CRT- scart is difficult to plug into it. A lot more hoops, and you might be better off just using s-video for the CRT, as the jump in quality won't be huge between s-video and scart. **ALL THAT SAID** the pvm/scart build is very nice and kinda the high end of retro gaming- so I guess it depends what you want to buy into. One last thing: quality control on scart cables can be hit and miss. I've seen a few people online with junked cables that are only putting out red or something like that.
The alternative is just the hdretrovision cables, which all work right out the box. You never find a dud or a broken one. Component switchers are cheap. Even the high end ones are cheaper than their scart brothers. They look just as good. If you are putting them into a scaler, you won't notice a difference between scart and component. If you are building something with a lot of consoles into a scaler, you are going to want to stick to one type of input for simplicity's sake. And, you are going to kind of be locked into component if you are also running consoles like the ps3, original xbox, wii, gamecube etc. What I'm saying is, those consoles are going to be component anyway. Might as well build around what you already need for those. Not only that- but if you don't have a scaler yet like an ossc or retrotink.... the retrovision cables still look good! You can get a pretty good picture just plugging the ypbpr cable right into your set. No need to mess with anything else.
I'm picking up a PVM this weekend. I basically have to. I got into scart without really realizing what it was for, and the PVM is the last piece. It took me a solid 2 years to find a large PVM in my area for a decent price. I dont' trust shipping a large 20 inch pvm, and thats what I was looking for.... so it took time. Idk. I'd be interested to hear what other people think, but if I was to do it all over again..... I'd just go s-video crt. and YPbPr.
*TLDR edit* this is all an extremely longwinded thing to be like "Scart is great when it works with the tech in the time it was popular, otherwise use ypbpr"