S Video Cable

S video cable is the short name for separate video cable, a specially designed cable that creates very sharp, clear images on a television screen. A computer monitor is designed differently than a television so it requires a different technology to present the best quality picture.

S video cable is also known as Y/C video cable. In television lingo, the Y stands for luminance and the C is for chrominance. Luminance becomes apparent on your television screen as the brightness of the picture. Chrominance is the color.

Because the S video cable transmits the luminance and chrominance as two separate components, the resulting picture is much brighter and clearer than it would be if the two components were sent as just one signal.

The use of an S video cable eliminates electronic interference between the luminance and chrominance frequencies, known as crosstalk.

Devices that support S video cable technology relay signals using connectors that have either 4 or 7 pins in the connector heads. While there is a degree of interchangeability with these connectors (i.e., the connectors with 4 pins will fit a device made for 7 pins and vice versa), quality is lost and the fragile pins are easily broken when forced connections are made.

Many consumer electronics in the United States use S video cable for televisions, DVD and DVR players, game consoles, Digital TV receivers, and upper-end video cassette recorders (VCRs). These same devices sold in Japan, Australia, and Canada use the S video cable technology, too.

The S video cable can also be used to link a computer to a TV with the addition of a filter capacitor. The simpler, less expensive VCRs don't emit a resolution high enough to work with S video cable but higher grade VCRs do. High definition video devices do not readily support the use of S video cable technology.

S video cable is sometimes referred to as Super Video cable but this translation is considered inappropriate by many electronics technicians.