I've got miles of unused high-quality cables laying around my house. With my HDTV on the way, I'm wondering, is there anything special about component cables other than the nifty red, blue, and green connectors? If I use a high-quality cable with old-fashioned yellow, red, and white connectors in place of a true component cable, will my picture suffer any noticeable loss?

Dale

Dale -- The R,G and B connectors are crucial for maximum picture quality!! NOT!!!!

You existing cables should do fine -- the component video signals are analog, and you ahould have enough bandwidth even for progressive scan and/or HD.

Craig

In other words: No, there is no electrical difference.

You must realize that the cable maufacturers would have nothing to do if they couldn't convince people that you must have a "digital" interconnect for digital signals, "component" cables for component signals, even "subwoofer" cables for subs.

Larry
www.fineelectricco.com

The only reason I thought it might matter is bandwidth. Though I couldn't imagine that a decent cable would lack the necessary bandwidth, I didn't want to spend a week fussing and tinkering only to find that I'd effectively used phone cord when what I really needed was jumper cables, so to speak.

What we need in this world are some more really fancy connectors. I say make 'em like current keyboard and mouse connectors, with little bitty pins that have to be lined up perfectly, housed in a round connector that's nearly always on the back of a component that already has 80 connectors jammed into a 2x5 inch rectangle. I just haven't spent enough of my life with my hand twisted around backwards, turning and turning a connector as I search for that sweet spot, desperately trying to manipulate the thing among a horizontal cityscape of connectors I fought in previous battles. And while we're at it, let's add in some of those nifty thumbscrew things from D-style connectors that never quite line up with the holes, and when they do, they spin the "screw hole in a screw" until it rolls right out of the board I'm supposed to be connecting to.

Yep. That's what we need. More connectors.

:)

Dale

How about some 32 pin multi-core camera cables for ya? Only 110 bucks a pair, and they cross thread like a son-of-a... Or some 80+ pin audio snake connectors?
Just make sure you're using the same type of cables for each signal on the component connection. Three of the yellow cables would be the best. Sometimes, the red and white cables are a different type and might not offer the same electrical characteristics of the yellow one. I build all of my own cables except my optical ones. I've only used 3 types of cables so far, 75 ohm stranded coax, S-Video, and unbalanced audio cable. I use the coax for everything from composite to component, to coax-dig. Everything in my system works perfectly, and I saved a bundle, compared to the monster.

Hey there Gopherman!! You are correct that there a few RS cable sets with a nice yellow banded cable for the video and thinner r and w ones for the audio. Don't use these for component video - you want matched reasonable quality cables.

Did anyone notice that Monster Cable now has a specis "subwoofer cable"? Give me a break!!

Craig

yeah, and it's £250 or summin like that!

Anyway, I say that cables should have no colours at all. That way we could sit behind the system for days connecting everything wrongly...

I actually put little labels on all my cables using medical tape. That way I don't have to even think about which connector a loose cable goes to. It's right there.

I code all mine with numbers, little 3M roll dispenser and a master set of diagrams. Never change a label, just a number in a book.

Too bad Shifty isn't still around...he could've pointed you right to the "Bettercables" website. I'm sure they have some very special component cables..."Only $499 a meter!"

You cable hating folks are really an interesting read.

FWIW, every cable-making company I am aware of makes special cables for subwoofers. They occasionally have more shielding and are typically available in more than 2m, unlike other ICs. Both valid reasons for different packaging. Did I mention they only have one wire? Would you really want to waste money on a stereo pair for no reason?

Bettercables' 1m Silver Serpent component cable is $99.95, far less than most companies' cables with comparable electrical specs. Unfortunately, they switched from using standard pro cables and now have their own drawn for them. This upped the price, I think their Ultra series cost $80 or something like that. I wouldn't say the new version is $20 better when it comes to your video signal.

Personally, I make my own cables using professional bulk cable and connectors. A 2m component cable (couldn't find a RS 3 foot for comparison so I used 2m/6') would cost me about 15 minutes of work and $20.00 or so. Specs on these are far better than Rat Shack's Gold A/V cables which retail for $14.99 and will try to rip your machines apart if you ever try to unplug them. RS's component cables are $39.99 @ 6'.

My cables are all so short I don't even need to code them with labels. Nice and neat back there.

Uh, who is Shifty??

This message was edited by Spiky on 08/14/02 13:34.22.

Oh, uh, this doesn't seem to be answered concisely in one post, so...

What Larry and others mentioned above is correct about there being no difference in cable spec requirements, IF you are comparing component cables with composite video cables. Don't use audio cables, these are often 50 ohm, not 75 ohm, and not shielded as well as video cables may need. They can even be twisted pair instead of coax. You can often see artifacts onscreen if you use poorly shielded or non-coax cables for video.

Electrical spec differences in 75 ohm coax cables do exist, but this won't really matter unless you have a LONG cable run. And even then they might not show onscreen.

This message was edited by Spiky on 08/14/02 13:47.55.

So now, I've got three different component sources and not enough inputs on my receiver. So I need a switch for component cables. From Spiky's post, it sounds like I'd lose significant quality if I used an off-the-shelf video switch.

So, are there any remote-controllable component video switches, just for switching between cables, not for scaling or any of that jazz?

Thanks,
Dale

Check out the thread in the Custom installers lounge, on component switchers.

Component switchers is a big request item these days and mfgrs are way behind. It seems they totally missed the boat on this necessary item. Up until a few months ago the only available component video switchers were pro models, generally starting at $300 and skyrocketing from there. There are finally some consumer level switchers coming out from the usual suspects, but it's slower than you might expect.

An A/V switch could work, it really depends on how long your run is and the quality of the switch. For $20 or less (and a decent return policy), it would be worth it to at least try out to see if you get noticeable video degradation. Perhaps could be a short-term solution until component-capable switchers are actually in supply in the world.