Sorry for the confusion. The OP is an edited version of a post I wrote for a Yahoo forum dedicated to this particular cable box (there are forums for everything!), and details I didn’t need to specify there should have been made explicit here.
Whack-a-Mole is right. The only output of the box is component. Its predecessor in my system had all three: component, s-video, and composite, and I used all three.
It’s not just for playing back DVR recordings to other TVs. Since the box is both cable converter and DVR, I want to be able to record programs from the digital channels on my VRC and/or DVD recorder, both in real time and with their timers. (I’ve split the incoming cable so I can record the analog channels at the low end of the “dial.”)
The component output of the cable box goes into my A-V receiver, and thence to the TV. Each input on the receiver can take component and composite and s-video signals, and there are corresponding outputs of each signal type. But the receiver doesn’t convert between the signal tyoes, i.e. change component to s-video. If there’s no s-video in, there’s no s-video out.
Previously, I used the s-video output of the (old) cable box to feed the s-video inputs of the VCR and DVD recorder.
If I had a separate converter that took in the component signal and output (at least) one of each of the three types, I could re-create my old set up, and life would be perfect.
(Unnecessary detail department: the box does offer a work-around of sorts to part of the problem. It has a set of “Record to VCR” outputs–composite and audio–that allow you to playback a DVR recording and copy it to VCR. But in normal use, these jacks are dead. This is obviously a cumbersome solution: record a program and when it’s all done, find the time to play it back and record it. And it’s no help for the remote TV situation.)
Fat Bald Guy: I’ve asked the other forum if there is such a box. If there is, I may try to pester the cable company for it. But I didn’t think it practical to try and explain to Comcast customer service what I want.