i have the hughes e86 box and a pioneer elite pro-610 (58") tv. i only have component cables hooked up for the picture and an optical cable (for the sound i assume). would i see an improvement on any of the directv channels using the s-video connection?

Component cables provide a "better" (truer representation) signal than S-video. Of course this has a drawback...any noise in the signal comes through more clearly, since it can't be masked by crosstalk that would normally cover it up if all your video signals were together in a RF coax, composite, or S-video cable.

Try a S-video or even composite cable and see which picture you prefer. My wife prefers to watch network shows through the cable box, even though its a "better" signal straight in to the TV or even better off the digital broadcast STB. She is used to the noise and lack of line structure (ie, "softer" picture) provided by the cable setup.

This is why some people complain that their old TV picture was better than their new setup. The old TV + old cables masked a lot of the imperfection of the original signal, kind of mixing them all to a nice, even, white noise that you learned to not notice. Now the receiver technology is no longer the weak point- the signal itself finally is (as it should be in all proper communication channels), and that is hard for folks to adjust to, after 5 decades.

Use the setup that you prefer, and ignore everyone else.

I have the Hughes E-86 and the Pioneer Elite 520HD 53" RPTV.

The Hughes E-86 sends out a 1080i signal via the component cables and a 480i signal via the S-video cable. So if all you have is the component cables connected, all your 480i signals are being up converted to 1080i by the E-86 then sent to the TV - this of course only makes the picture look worse by only magnifying the imperfections of 480i.

I have found that by connecting BOTH component and S-video cables from the E-86 directly to the TV I get the best picture. 1080i sources (e.g. HDNet, OTA HD stations) can be sent by the E-86 via the component cables to the TV to display a glorious 1080i HD picture and 480i signals can be sent by the E-86 via the S-video cable to the TV. The Pioneer Elite does a great job of converting a 480i signal it is fed into 480p which looks MUCH better than what you are getting now: a 480i source up converted to 1080i.

By holding down the "Action" key on the E-86 remote then pressing the "input" key you can switch between 1080i and 480i formats. Press the “Display” key on the Pioneer remote to see which mode your in: 33K is 1080i and you’ll see “S-video” displayed when your getting the 480i input.

This has worked well for me and gives me the best picture.

Rick McKinstry
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Pioneer Elite Pro-520HD
Hughes Platinum HD E-86 Directv STB
Pioneer Elite 47Ai DVD
Monster 3 component and S-video cables

S-video cannot convey a high-def image. Your STB S-video output is probably disabled when you tell it the monitor is high-def.

Using DirecTv and OTA antenna as antenna A.
The only video connection is a 15pin RGB connector.
If I'm watching SD on DirecTv, would I get a better PQ turning off the HD button on the front of the DTC, and connecting a Svideo to the plasma.?
I can also go with composite video to the plasma.

Perfect color separation is impossible with composite video. S-video is always better.

Plasma George:

I would say your answer is maybe. Try it with the S-Video connection and see what you thing. The problem tends to nromally lie on whether the STB (your RCA DTC-100, in this case) or your display have a better line-double/scaler built into it. It could also be a function of the video errors that are smoothed out, as mentioned above (I hadn't thought of that as a possibility before.) And if that is the case then it is entirely possible that what a videophile might consider a "worse" picture by using composite over S-Video, may actually look better to your eye. It won't hurt to give it a try and play around with different channels to see which method and which connection you prefer.