I have two samsung ssc-12c cameras.

Green wire : 12v dc

clear wire : video ( + )

wire around clear wire : video and 12 vlt ground ( - )

you don't used the rest of wires . rest are audio .

The attached pic should be from page 14 of the SSC17 pdf format owner's manual.

If it doesn't show try this link and look at page 14:

http://www.deals2all.com/product_manuals/Samsung-GVI/SSC17WEB.pdf

Anybody have any clue as to why these companies try to keep all of this so secret ? Forcing me to buy their cables, monitors, etc instead of being able to incorporate what I have is more likely to turn me away from their products altogether.

The color of the wires will depend on the manufacture of the cable you bought and should not be considered standard. Most of the time yes, it will be the same but there are times the colors are not standard.

Also just an fyi, if you have the 4 channel monitor/modulator that is typically sold with this cameras, you can open up the case and slide out the board a little to get access to the jacks. Looking at it from the bottom with the screen laying flat on the table from left to right Pin 2 is signal, Pin 3 is ground. You can solder an extension onto these pins and solder it to a bulkhead solder type male BNC jack. (signal to the center, and gnd to the outer) Drill a hole in the case and tighten down the BNC. You now have BNC outputs for each camera instead of being forced to use the RCA and the 4 channel modulator that is constantly rotating. I did this at work for our system that uses 6 of these 4 channel monitors/modulators. We wanted to use a PC based DVR to record all the cameras but needed BNC connections for each camera as we did not want to record the 4 channel rotation but each camera individually. Also this retains the use of the 2 way audio and the monitors are easier on the eyes and quicker to spot security issues. You will have to do this for each of the 4 channels. Ebay is a great source for the solder type bulkhead bnc's and then pick up some right angle female bnc to female bnc cables to hook it up to your DVR. Obviously skills with soldering and electronics is required for this, as is safety due to the high voltage of the electron gun inside the monitor.

You would need to send the video and audio output signals through a video modulator, in order to connect it up to a standard TV or VCR. You can get them at The Source or other video shops for around $25