SCART - Disadvantages

Disadvantages

• RGB connections are not bidirectional. Bidirectional S-Video was added in an extension, although few devices support this, so downstream connections are almost always composite.
• SCART is sometimes confusing for consumers. Some TV sets that have multiple SCART connectors have only one capable of receiving RGB and the other one capable of receiving S-video. Also, not all SCART cables make use of all the pins, often leaving out RGB signals. In many cases there is also no way to see which type of signal is currently displayed on the TV set. However, because of compatibility with set top boxes, at least one SCART socket must be full-featured, i.e. both issue and accept composite video, and accept RGB video. In recent years, non fully wired SCART cables have tended to disappear from the market, because modern devices systematically provide RGB signals, while composite-only, analogue VCRs and pay-TV decoders could not.
• SCART cannot officially carry non-RGB (e.g. YP_BP_R) component video signals, which are gaining ground as an improvement over S-Video in markets where SCART is not used. However, some manufacturers of set-top-boxes and DVD players are known to provide optional (menu-selectable), non-standard YP_BP_R output through the pins that are officially reserved for RGB colour components.
• SCART connectors provide only limited locking, using detents, and are prone to falling off or getting loose, especially since the thick 21-wire cable is relatively heavy and often leaves the connector at a sideways angle. Loss of audio or video connection due to a loose SCART connector is relatively common. Depending on which end of the plug is loose, either a loss of audio (rectangular end) or a loss of video (triangular end) is observed.
• The thickness and inflexibility of the cables, combined with the fact that they are connected to the plugs at an angle, can sometimes make it difficult to connect items of equipment, especially in confined spaces. Attempts at thinner cables are more susceptible to cross-talk, or are unable to support all communication modes. Ribbon cables may avoid mechanical tension of classic cables. Ribbon cables are perfectly suited to chain-connected stacked devices.
• The connector design requires the plug to be perfectly aligned over the socket before it can be inserted at all, whereas more recent connector designs are self-correcting if the plug is inserted at slightly the wrong angle.
• Cheap 10-pin SCART connectors can be very fragile and prone to breaking or losing pins, since they are big and hollow. 21-pin connectors are generally stronger.