Confused About Rgb/component

[Drewman21]

Hi all,
    I have some questions about RGB/Component system mods.  To start with everything i'm doing is with NTSC systems in the US.  I have read through the video primer that has been posted on the gamesx site a few times and it doesn't say yes or no that a RGB signal can be used as a Component out put to TV's or video projectors.
     On the systems that seem to be able to do it i would want to wire the RGB signals to RCA connectors colored red, green, and blue.  Then just take the ground from the common ground on the boards or chips if need be and hook it up.  
     I have read in the N64 RGB mod that "Ryu" said that the signal is low but does work.  Does that mean it needs a signal boost or something to that effect?  Also what was he hooking it up to?  A monitor or a TV?
     I don't want this to sound like complaining about your mod write ups.  I think they are great and have helped me so far in the mods that i felt i can do.  I know you do have people from around the world looking at your site and you may keep everything general for all to look at. But there are differences in regions for video setups so please keep that in mind if you could.   Sometimes I read a mod page or even posts in these forums and i have no clue about some things that are basic for some I may not have any clue about. (more often than not)      
     But I hope you can help me with this.  Thanks all for looking this over!

[NFG]

RGB is nothing like component.  Totally different.  The fact that the connectors are the same colour speaks only of the evil minds that put the standard together.

[atom]

But were glad you asked so we can clear it up, because this is a common argument with people. Although the plugs are Red Green and Blue, the signals sent across the wires are not RGB. Sure, RGB is in the signals somewhere, but there is also sync and some other stuff.

Component is considered to be close enough to RGB to not be able to tell any difference. The reason it has been adopted here in the US is probably because it does not have a big bulky connector like SCART. If you want to get the best picture out of your consoles for your American TV, use Component on your newer systems and S-Video on your older ones. Otherwise you can get an XRGB upscan converter that will take your consoles RGB and convert it to VGA.

BTW lawrence, interesting new Avatar. I think I liked the RPG Mutron better.

[phreak97]

can someone explain how the component format actually works? i originally thought it was rgb with the sync integrated into one of the colours.. i worked out that wasnt quite right when i plugged in only one cable and found it was a mix of two colours.. so what are each of the cables for?

and yes, lawrence i reckon i liked the mutron better.. what is the new one actually? i cant make sense of it:/

[NFG]

Bah, you guys never read what I write.  =(

Component video isn't a new format, but it's quite new in consumer electronics, becoming popular with the first DVD players. It's generated with a mathematically complex formula that takes a video signal and divides it into three parts: A black + white Luminance (brightness, Y) signal and two Chroma (colour Y-r + Y-B) channels. The television receiving these signals recombines the three signals into a coherent whole for display, subtracting the blue and red from the brightness signal. Whatever's left over is green, the end result is a high-resolution green channel and a low res red + blue channel. There's a certain amount of quality loss with this method, especially when the signal comes from a DVD source where the red + blue signals are typically 75% lower resolution than the green.

This is all covered on this page

[phreak97]

lol now i know why the menus in ddr extreme are so freaking nice.. the whole game is green xD

[Aidan]

RGB splits equal bandwidth to all the channels. Component does something slightly different. It's all very much grounded in broadcast standards!

Originally, broadcast signals were black and white. It was a fairly high resolution signal. Then came colour. The broadcasters had the problem of how to fit a colour signal in, and remain compatible with black and white. Their answer was to add the colour in as a 'subcarrier' on a different frequency. That way the colour signal doesn't interfere with the black and white signal. It was also discovered that the colour information does not need to be at as high a resolution as the black and white image, as the human brain can do plenty of processing, saving the TV from doing it!

Component is, as pointed out, a dedicated channel for black and white, combined with two channels for red and blue. It so happens that effectively the green colour is transmitted across all three signals. Oddly enough, the human eye is most sensitive to green.

One reason this is popular with DVD players is that the native format is MPEG2. MPEG2 operates on the YUV level, not on RGB. The player has to do the conversion to convert the signal to RGB. It's all a little odd in it's own way, given that the displays use RGB natively!

[Endymion]

Lawrence's new icon is the fighter craft from the PC Engine game Override.

[NFG]

Lawrence's new icon is the fighter craft from the PC Engine game Override

Endymion gets it!  Almost:  

http://nfg.2y.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=1206

[phreak97]

lawrence your avatar is squashed horizontally.. and imo it'd look better if you kept the black background..

[NFG]

The forum enforces a picture max size.  =(  

I could fix it, but I'll tire of it soon anyway.  =)