I expect they use Scart as opposed to D type for the same reason they
use phono and not 75 Ohm BNC and XLR.
Its cheaper in mass produced consumer electronics.
Rod Smallwood
-----Original Message-----
From: cctech-bounces at
classiccmp.org
[mailto:cctech-bounces at
classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Jules Richardson
Sent: 03 January 2007 23:08
To: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
Subject: Re: D-shell connector age?
Adrian Graham wrote:
On 3/1/07 21:33, "Jules Richardson"
<julesrichardsonuk at yahoo.co.uk>
wrote:
Anyone know where D-shell connectors first
appeared on equipment?
Interesting thread going on in a local group at the moment about why
SCART [1] sockets are so horrible and nasty (prone to breaking pins,
difficult to line up, prone to falling out etc.) and why something
better, like a D-shell connector, wasn't chosen instead.
SCART was originally known as PERITEL and originated in France.
Make of that what you will :)
To be honest, it's a great idea - and much better than non-European
countries where the typical connectivity is via RF only.
Going source->modulator->tuner->display never did seem like a good idea
when you could just go source->display via separate shielded RGB
signals. (The picture quality I've seen on the typical US setup is
piss-poor compared to the UK, jokes about NTSC aside)
It's just a shame that the connector they picked for the standard is so
lousy.
Having looked at some old pricelists, SCART connectors weren't much
cheaper than D-shells - and given that they were typically used on
expensive equipment which only contained a couple of them, the
difference couldn't have been significant at all.
The only thing I can think of (other than it being some odd political
decision) is that you know SCART is SCART; if using D-shells there would
have been a few idiots trying to plug any old computer cable into their
equipment.
That hardly seems justification to enforce a nasty connector choice,
though.
Assuming that D-shell connectors were around, of course - but if Chuck's
right then they should have been readily available in the mid-70's. Pin
spacing is wider on SCART, so presumably they suffer less from
interference - but we all know that D-shells are perfectly good for
video (particularly at TV rates).
cheers
Jules