1) All connectors are female, You can use standard (male to male) RCA cables for audio but , you will need a (male to female) svideo to rca converter/adapter to use a standard rca (male to male) cable from the tvout adapter to the tv
TVout adapter(F)--------->(M)Svideo to RCA adapter(F)---->(M)RCA Video cable(M)----->(F)TV RCA JACK
TVout adapter RCA L+R(F)--------->(M)RCA CABLE(M)-------->(F) TV RCA Audio Jack
-or - a svideo extension cable (male to male)
TVout adapter(F)--------->(M) Svideo extension cable(M)----->(F)TV Svideo Jack
TVout adapter RCA L+R(F)--------->(M)RCA CABLE(M)-------->(F) TV RCA Audio Jack
2)yes, there is significant signal degradation and color bleeding using a step down (svideo to RCA) adapter or cable-svideo if possible is preferable.
3) see #2
4) you do not need an adapter, but TV out is extreemly battery intensive with the recaling chip taking more juice than the whole unit usually draws. Expect less than 1/2 of the battery life, even with quality 2500-2700 MAH nihm rechargables.
Hope this is helpful, I know that I had problems with ordering the wrong adapters.
My Story:
Apparently I got one of the first 200 TVout adapters produced that had a male Svideo out from the Adapter (I bought an Svideo to RCA Adapter, and when it came I got a (M-F) and was pissed off because it didnt fit, I reordered and finally got a (F-F) I could use.
Then I got a new TV with an Svideo Jack and ran out and bought an 12' Svideo cord (M-M) only to realize when I got home that what was needed was an svideo (F-F) adapter to connect it to the TVout cables supplied by Gamepark. I said screw this waiting for an adapter for another week and bought a 12' (F-M) Svideo extension cable on ebay for $6.57 US and havent looked back. It was the most cost effective solution and gave the best picture quality.
Needless to say, all this running around lessend my enjoyment of the TVout capabilities.
I thought, somewhat loudly to myself "All this could have been solved if Gamepark had made a standard svideo (F) on the TVout adapter so it could connect to standard cables without investing in adapters.......Did they really think anyone was going to use the TVout to play games on the screen on the front of the set while connected to back of the set with a 4" cable???? :rolleyes: Either make the cable long enough, or put the right connector on to use standard cables to reach the set."
That said now that Ive got it set up properly I love TVout! Its so much fun to sit in the living room and play emus on a big screen like they were meant to be enjoyed. I love this little unit!
[edit] since writing this I found out from craigx that all new TVout adapters have a female svideo out and are compatable with standard (M-M) Svideo Cables. Thats great news!
Cheers! B)
Note:[edited] due to bone headed mistake with Svideo connections. Appparently, the first 200 or so TVout Adapters had a male Svideo line out (mine did), they have since been changed and are all female. This post has been edited to reflect connections for the new adapters!