DIY S-video to Composite Video Adapter

Have you been in a situation when your video output device has only S-video output but your TV monitor’s input accepts only composite video input? Then this simple adapter can be very handy. This circuit works with both PAL and NTSC standards.

Short pins 1 and 2 (Y ground and C ground) of the S-video connector and then connect to composite video ground in the RCA connector. Also short pin 3 (luminance) of the S-video connector to the hot pin of the RCA connector. Insert a 470pF capacitor between pin 4 (chrominance) and RCA hot pin. The voltage rating of capacitor can be 10V or more.

The circuit operation is not ideal because impedances are not matched exactly right. But the picture quality you will get may be good enough for emergency situations.