I use lots of TV-outs, mostly while I'm VJ'ing.. Believe me, you don't want to spend more then an hour trying to read texts on a TV screen... Resolution and, more importantly, the refresh rates are just to low..

SVideo uses a monochrome signal and a seperate color signal..

Things that can go wrong are

*) Bad cable.. Color signal not coming through.. B/W screen..
*) SVideo->Scart.. Not all scart connectors on TVs support an YC signal.. B/W screen..
*) PAL / NTSC set to the wrong standard


A lot of the newer LCD TVs also have an VGA connector...