Hey psy, thought of getting a s-vhs? That's what I'm trying, since you can get 'em for under 100 bux. Let you know how it goes. When I ran my dvd via s-video it was fine thru the 990. But like you, I find the 990 to be quite awful via composite. I suspect it has to do with priorities. Perhaps no real effort was put into that portion of the switching circuit. My 2 pennies...