videocable-age, s-video-out to earphone-style rca-in? help at DVinfo.net

Reese Leysen · February 18th, 2007, 06:50 AM

We're working on a no-budget movie and we need some sort of bigger screen to attach to our camera to be able to do accurate focus pulling and composition (not only because of the small/slightly low-res screen of the PDX 10P but also because we need to rotate the screen because of the adapter).

So what we're doing is we're going to look for something like a portable dvd player with a video input to hook up to it, but...

These things usually have this earphone-style RCA video input and the camera has a standard s-video output, I did some digging on conversion cables etc but couldn't seem to find a straight-forward solution easily.

So, you video-geeks, can anyone tell me if this is going to be a problem or is there a simple solution involving just a few simple cables I have to get?

Boyd Ostroff · February 18th, 2007, 08:13 AM

I think your terminology is a little confused. Earphones don't use RCA plugs. RCA plugs are the type you would find on your typical red-white-yellow set of triple composite video cables.

Most of the portable DVD players I've seen use 1/8" plugs, which is what earphones use also. If you have a player like that, it probably doesn't make any sense to use the s-video out from your PDX-10. It's likely that the DVD player has a composite video input and not s-video. The PDX-10 also uses 1/8" plug for composite video output which is combined with both audio channels, so a couple ideas come to mind.

For starters, I'll bet the DVD player will include an A/V cable with the accessories when you purchase it. This will probably have the 1/8" plug on one end and red/white/yellow male RCA plugs on the other end. If so then just get some female to female RCA adaptors ("sex changers") and plug them into the PDX-10's cable which has the same kind of RCA plugs.

As an alternative, you could get a cable with stereo 1/8" plugs on both ends and connect the DVD player to the PDX-10 and see what happens. It will depend on how each device is wired inside, but there's a good chance it will work.

Finally, if you really want to use s-video (which I don't think will offer any advantage), you can get an inexpensive s-video to RCA adaptor at any electronics store. Plug that into the yellow RCA plug from the DVD player cable.

Now if the DVD player doesn't come with an A/V cable you will need to find one somewhere. The cable from your PDX-10 will probably work when plugged into the DVD player's 1/8" jack. You can also get a 1/8" to stereo (red/white) RCA adaptor cable. It will probably also work, but you will only get one of the audio channels.

Reese Leysen · February 18th, 2007, 08:51 AM

Thanks a lot for your quick reply :)

February 18th, 2007, 06:50 AM	#1
Reese Leysen Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 114	videocable-age, s-video-out to earphone-style rca-in? help We're working on a no-budget movie and we need some sort of bigger screen to attach to our camera to be able to do accurate focus pulling and composition (not only because of the small/slightly low-res screen of the PDX 10P but also because we need to rotate the screen because of the adapter). So what we're doing is we're going to look for something like a portable dvd player with a video input to hook up to it, but... These things usually have this earphone-style RCA video input and the camera has a standard s-video output, I did some digging on conversion cables etc but couldn't seem to find a straight-forward solution easily. So, you video-geeks, can anyone tell me if this is going to be a problem or is there a simple solution involving just a few simple cables I have to get?

February 18th, 2007, 08:13 AM	#2
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,787	I think your terminology is a little confused. Earphones don't use RCA plugs. RCA plugs are the type you would find on your typical red-white-yellow set of triple composite video cables. Most of the portable DVD players I've seen use 1/8" plugs, which is what earphones use also. If you have a player like that, it probably doesn't make any sense to use the s-video out from your PDX-10. It's likely that the DVD player has a composite video input and not s-video. The PDX-10 also uses 1/8" plug for composite video output which is combined with both audio channels, so a couple ideas come to mind. For starters, I'll bet the DVD player will include an A/V cable with the accessories when you purchase it. This will probably have the 1/8" plug on one end and red/white/yellow male RCA plugs on the other end. If so then just get some female to female RCA adaptors ("sex changers") and plug them into the PDX-10's cable which has the same kind of RCA plugs. As an alternative, you could get a cable with stereo 1/8" plugs on both ends and connect the DVD player to the PDX-10 and see what happens. It will depend on how each device is wired inside, but there's a good chance it will work. Finally, if you really want to use s-video (which I don't think will offer any advantage), you can get an inexpensive s-video to RCA adaptor at any electronics store. Plug that into the yellow RCA plug from the DVD player cable. Now if the DVD player doesn't come with an A/V cable you will need to find one somewhere. The cable from your PDX-10 will probably work when plugged into the DVD player's 1/8" jack. You can also get a 1/8" to stereo (red/white) RCA adaptor cable. It will probably also work, but you will only get one of the audio channels.

February 18th, 2007, 08:51 AM	#3
Reese Leysen Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 114	Thanks a lot for your quick reply :)