Do I need special component video cables or will RCA cables work? (1 Viewer)

[DanielKellmii]

I just bought my new RPTV. I have many cable left over from a variety of project. So, I thought I would use some trusty old RCA cables to for my component video input connections. Is this OK? Some of the cables have gold plating and some don't. I will just label the ends so I don't cross colors.
I just don't want to fall victim to cable voodoo.
Thanks.

 

[SimiA]

Go out and buy a set of component cables @ Amazon.
They're under $20. You will notice a difference in PQ!
Vb

 

[Jeremy Little]

Short answer, no. There is a lot more information that travels through a component cable, especially in the case of HDTV signals. Like SimiA said, just go out and buy a set of cables.

 

[ScottCHI]

it's ok if your rca cables are 75ohm

 

[Dave Schofield]

To expound upon Scott's answer, the 75 ohm cables are usually video cables (or "yellow"). So, if you have three matching RCA sets with three video cables it will work. As with anytime you try to save money, it could be better.

 

[Allan Jayne]

Use of audio (red/gray or red/white) cables for video gives unpredictable results. Audio-only cables are likely to cause blurring, ghosting, or in some cases jitter, while audio/video cable sets (red/white/yellow) might have video quality on all three lines for manufacturing simplicity. Marginal quality cables may work with ordinary (interlaced) video but not with progressive scan or HDTV. If you must use an audio/video cable set for component video, use the yellow cable (the best of the three) for the Y.

Unfortunately you cannot tell the quality of a cable just by looking at it.

Video hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/bandwid.htm