Ok...first things first.

You are correct..they are monitors only. This is why those are the only connectors on there. They're assuming some other device is doing the "tuning" and providing the picture.

Are you sure your cable company doesn't have any cable boxes that have S-Video connectors? These have been the norm for years now, and most even have component (red/green/blue) connectors, so I'd be surprised if they didn't have a model that has SVideo. You'd then just split (or thave the cable company do it for you legally) the cable itself, running cable to each location. then mount your cable box in near each monitor and you're good to go.

The advantage to this system: you get the full system at each location. Each can be tuned to whatever channel you want. Might be nice if you had a get together and wanted to say...park the kids by one monitor watching something, while the adults were near the other watching the game.

A second option is to do as you describe and distribute the actual sound/video signal. You'd need both long SVideo cables and long RCA cables to carry the audio to each monitor. You'd then need a video distribution device to have the signal go in from behind your cable box/receiver, then distribute the signal to all your locations.

Advantage/Disadvantage: Pretty simple to do, but since you're going through the trouble to physically get cables pulled to each location, why not just go with option#1 and have the full deal. Also, all locations must watch the same thing at the same time.

Option #3: Try a wireless video distribution system. Here's one here: http://www.smarthome.com/76540.html Pretty cheap, so you can buy one, then hook it up to a single monitor and try it out. See if it works well enough for your purposes. If it doesn't, box it up and ship it back for refund. Smarthome is a great company, so return and help will be no trouble.

Disadvantage: All monitors on the wireless system must watch the same show. Quality will not be as good. Very easy to install, especially for testing as a dry run.

A final note: #3 depends that you have a composite connector on the back. It will look just like a normal RCA jack that is on the back of your receiver, except it will have a yellow ring in it. It will probably be right near the red and white RCA jacks for audio.

Look around Smarthome.com..they have the other stuff too...the video distribution stuff, tools, etc. Also, there presales tech guys will happily answer all your questions...they are actually "in" to the stuff.

aiki

Thanks for the response.
I've been scratching my head over this dilemma for the better part of a month now and as I'm nearing completion I'm doing my prewiring.
I've semi-decided that my best bet will be to buy a TV tuner (preferably with built in DVD player) to place in the gazebo's summer kitchen cabinet. I'll then run the shorter S-video/audio cable from it. I guess our cable provider is living in the past because they say that none of their boxes have S-video so I'll use a cable splitter outside the house and run some direct burial coax to the tuner in the cabinet.
Here's my question.
On Ebay I've found quite a few tuners that would meet my application. Do you feel that paying quite a bit more for a name brand unit (all seem to be refurb or scratch and dent) or a heck of a lot less for a new off name brand tuner is better? (I've heard that many name brands are actually off name brands with name brand stickers, is this true) Many of these sellers have multiple thousand sales with 99+percent positive feedback. Or should I go to a local electronic superstore and purchase new? And finally, are there any tuners that are really superior to others or are they just about the same.

Thanks in advance for any insight insight you may offer.

See Ya,
Kelly

Tuner quality varies quit a bit, especially external tuners in VCR's or old cable boxes. If it were me I would probably take an old computer and put a TV tuner card(And maybe a HDTV Tuner), DVD Drive, and a video card with dual monitor outputs (D-sub) and use that. As long as you have a dry place to put it you can run VGA for pretty good distances without suffering too much video quality loss. If you live in a area close to a HDTV broadcast (check www.antennaweb.com for what type of antenna you would need) you could get a free over the air HDTV signal and not even worry about running cable out to the pool. The HDTV signal would be a much better picture on those plasma screens if you can get it in your area and best of all its free as long as you have a tuner.

On another note they also sell S-video to RCA converters for less than $5. They will NOT improve the video signal of the RCA connection but would allow you flexibility in using a non S-video device with these screens.