Scart Leads

Scart leads come in various brands and qualities, this page will help you to identify high a quality cable and shows our range of high quality leads.

Choosing a Scart Lead

The Signs of a poor lead

When choosing scart leads for home cinema, home theatre or television there are some important things to consider. If you have a large screen television such as a plasma tv, rear projection tv or a standard CRT type television with a large screen, you are really going to notice the problems caused by poor quality leads. The most common problem with low end leads is picture ghosting, this is caused by poor shielding of the video conductors within the cable, poor shielding will also result in crosstalk between the audio channels. Shielding is key to getting the best audio visual performance from your home cinema or home theatre system.

The OEM supplied Scart Lead

Most consumer DVD players, DVD recorders, VCRs, Digiboxes, Freeview boxes, Sky+ (Sky Plus) boxes etc are supplied with an OEM scart lead. The fierce price competition with these types audio visual devices often means the manufacturers are trying to save every penny, in so doing it is items like the lead which tend to suffer. The typical OEM lead is a far from a glamorous looking item, usually identified by nickel plated connectors with plastic connector shells and a thin cable joining them. The majority of these leads perform as they look, very poorly.

Identifying a Quality Scart lead

There some key points to follow when looking for a high quality lead, firstly look at the connectors. The best scart leads have metal body connectors and high quality gold plating but is this important? If you are looking for the ultimate in shielding then the metal plug is a must, metal body plugs mean the lead is fully shielded from end to end, plastic plugs do not provide this level of shielding, metalised plastic plugs go someway to helping with screening but if you want the best audio and video performance from your lead then choose the leads with cast metal plugs. Gold plated plug contacts have two benefits over nickel, they provide a lower contact resistance and are less prone to tarnishing, ultimately providing a more reliable connection over time.

Identifying the screening level of a cable is more difficult, for round cable leads the diameter of the cable will give a clue but be careful, some of the cheaper scart leads use a thicker plastic jacket to fool the unsuspecting buyer. Flat cable leads tend to have better isolation by design because the audio and video carrying conductors are spaced further apart, even so you should still make sure they are individually screened. If a retailer is unwilling to provide a statement on a leads screening, it probably isn't very well screened. Quality scart leads tend to have oxygen free copper conductors, oxygen free copper has better conduction properties ultimately reducing signal loss within the cable conductors.

Branded Vs Unbranded Scart Leads

When you buy a branded lead from a manufacturer like Profigold or Ixos you are getting a high quality product that they have spent a long time developing. Beyond the fancy retail packing you will find a well bred lead made using state of the art materials. But don't discount the cheaper leads, the cheaper range we sell provide excellent performance at a true bargain price and many customers have provided feedback stating they noticed an immediate picture quality increase. The choice of scart lead comes down to personal taste and the quality of your system, if you've just spent £4000 on a plasma tv or lcd tv then you really should be looking at the branded range of leads such as the Profigold, Profigold Oxypure or IXOS.

Scart Leads Summary

To summarise when choosing your scart lead:-

1. Choose a lead with individually screened audio and video conductors.

2. Cable diameter can be used an indication of screening but be careful, thick PVC jackets can hide what’s really underneath.

3. Scart leads with cast metal connector bodies provide much better screening in the connector area than plastic body plugs.

4. Gold plated contacts provide a lower contact resistance and higher long term reliability.

5. Flat cable leads tend to offer higher levels of screening as the conductors are spaced further apart, reducing crosstalk.

6. Choose a lead that suits your system.