Keene Electronics Hints & Tips Library
Miscellaneous
What is component video?
Component video is a high resolution video standard, also referred to as YUV. It is similar to, but nonetheless differnt from RGB.
Component video consists of 3 signals, Y, U and V:
Y carries luminance and sync (0.3R + 0.6G + 0.1B, effectively black and white picture information)
U carries colour difference - red minus Y
V carries colour difference - blue minus Y
Since the four elements of a TV signal (Y, R, G and B) are related mathematically it is unnecessary to transmit all four - green minus Y is derived within the receiver by matrixingComponent video is sometimes available as an output on imported DVD players. Although (confusingly) such players sometimes refer to these connections as RGB, the signal is in fact very different to RGB and so can not be connected to the scart on the back of a conventional TV.
YUV output can only be used on professional monitors and devices which specifically support YUV input.
Filming wildlife
When filming wildlife try to be as unobtrusive as possible. If the animal appears disturbed by your presence, back off and rethink your strategy. In particular be very careful when filming any animals with their young as they will quite rightly be at their most alert and protective.
Composition is as important in video as it is in still photography. Try to remember the "rule of thirds" and keep your subject slightly off-centre. Try also to look for new angles and perspectives to keep your footage interesting. Crouching down or climbing a tree will provide new vantage points.
Even if your camcorder has a "steady shot" or image stabiliser you will still find a tripod invaluable. A lot of patience is needed to film wildlife and a tripod enables you to set up the shot and wait for the animal to appear. If your camcorder has an infra red remote you can also set up the shot on a tripod, back off a little and trigger the recording from a distance.
If you have the option, always use manual focus. With wildlife filming you are invariably at the telephoto end of your zoom range which means the depth of field is very small and the autofocus will 'hunt' a lot - the chances are you will have more footage of the branch than of the bird that was on the branch!
Finally, pick an easy subject to start with, perhaps insects or garden birds. The practice gained will stand you in good stead for any future video projects and as you get more proficient you can tackle more exotic wildlife.
Home cinema speakers
1) The RF modulator This is the device which usually comes with
your camcorder and converts the signal into a radio signal, the same as that which
comes from your TV aerial. To use it you simply plug the cable end into the place
where the TV aerial normally goes, and then tune it in on a spare TV channel.
The adaptor is actually a transformer which takes the separate video and audio signals
from the camcorder and 'scrambles' them together so that they can be sent down one
single cable. At the other end of the lead (TV or video) the signal then has to be
unscrambled again. There is inevitably some loss in this process, and so this method
of transfer is best avoided if possible.
The tiny jack plug on some units which goes into a socket in between the video and
audio connections is actually there to provide power to the adaptor. It does not
need to be used for any other method of connection.
(nb Even if your camcorder and TV/video are both stereo, the RF adaptor will only
ever work in mono as it doesn't contain a NICAM encoder!)
2) Composite video and audio This is the most common method of
connection, but also the one which seems to cause a lot of confusion.
The key to this is to clearly identify a) what connections are available on the camcorder,
and b) what connections are available on the destination equipment, be it TV or VCR.
Lets do a worked example: Take for instance a Sony TR105 camcorder and a Panasonic
NVF-75 VCR. The Sony is a stereo machine, and so there are three phono sockets available;
one yellow for video, one white for left channel audio, and one red for right channel
audio. We now know that we need three phono plugs at one end of our cable. Next we
look at the back of the Panasonic VCR and find that it has a Scart socket. We now
know that we need a Scart plug to 3 phono plugs to connect the two and enable transfer.
The last thing to consider is the signal direction; the lead can be wired as either
signal into scart (ie coming in from the phono plugs), or signal out of scart (going
out from the Scart plug to the phono plugs). Fortunately, our example is straightforward,
we want to go from the camcorder (phono) to the VCR (scart) and so we want KLD3R,
signal into Scart. nb in all our scart lead codes 'R' stands for record which denotes
the most common 'into scart' application.
3) S-VHS-C, Hi-8mm transfer This is easy to get wrong. If you own
a high band camcorder, either Hi-8mm, S-VHS or S-VHS-C then you need to think very
carefully about what you are connecting it to. If you have an S-VHS VCR or a TV which
has a scart socket which is specifically marked as 'S-Video', then straightforward
transfer is no problem. It can be done as either 4 pin mini S plug to S plug for
the video and separate stereo audio cables, or with KLD15R, a 4 pin mini plug plus
two phono plugs wired to a scart plug.
If however your destination machine is a conventional VHS VCR or non S-video TV,
then you CAN NOT use the 4 pin S plug to send the video signal. Quite simply, the
destination machine will not be able to receive the signal you are sending. If you
do attempt it, the end result will actually be a black and white picture because
the chrominance (colour) part of the signal cannot be received. The solution is to
use the yellow phono socket and send the signal as composite video.
But, I hear you cry "I bought a high band camcorder for better picture quality.
Have I wasted my money?". Most definitely not. If you look at the following
list, you will see that the resolution drops marginally, but still shows a significant
improvement over low band formats.
| Format | Resolution |
| Conventional VHS, VHS-C, 8mm | 250 lines |
| S-Video (S-VHS, S-VHS-C, Hi8mm) | 400 lines |
| S-Video sent as a composite signal | 360 lines |