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S-Video or component cable?

#1
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4/9/05 at 11:00am
  • Joined: January 2000
  • Post Count: 177
Just wondering if I can get a little advice. A friend of mine has just purchased a 42" plasma set which is inexpensive by plasma standards. It's really an EDTV rather than a true HDTV set which is made by a company called Prima. Anyway, his DVD player (which he does not plan to replace in the foreseeable future) has 3 types of video out: Composite, S-Video and Component. Now I know composite is to be avoided. That leaves S-Video & component. In your opinion would there be any discernable difference between these two in final picture quality? In either case, is it safe to go with a "middle of the road" cable (price wise) rather than those more expensive Monster (or equivalent) cables? Any advice would be most appreciated. Thanks.

-Mike
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#2
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4/9/05 at 11:40am
  • Joined: May 1999
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If he has a component output and a component input, then by all means, use it!

Now, I'm not going to advocate any particular cable: as long as the cable is not adding any serious artifacts (reflections, noise, et cetera,) then I tend to advocate the 'whatever's lying around' school. Three composite cables that are the same length should be fine - if you've got them. There's nothing magical about component cables; they're just three pieces of same-length 75ohm coax.

At least, that's what they should be.

Leo
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#3
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4/9/05 at 12:00pm
  • Joined: January 2000
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Thanks, Leo. Just to be clear, his DVD player has outputs for BOTH s-video and component. His new TV has inputs for both as well. It sounds from your answer that you feel Component is the better route to take rather than S-Video under these circumstances to get better picture quality. I just want to make sure of this before he purchases the cable. Thanks again.

-Mike
My Home Theater
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#4
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4/9/05 at 12:33pm
  • Joined: November 2003
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yes.. Component video is a way step up, and how the video is encoded natively on the DVD itself.

John

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#5
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4/9/05 at 12:47pm
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Thanks, John and Leo. Component video it is!

-Mike
My Home Theater
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#6
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4/9/05 at 3:01pm
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By all means go component.

An ordinary TV will take a Composite signal and:

- Run it through a comb filter to create SVideo
- Run that through another filter to create Component

By using component cables, you are by-passing 2 filter steps in the television. Less filtering => less artifacts.
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#7
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4/9/05 at 7:19pm
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Thanks, Bob. I've got a much better understanding now, why to go the component route. Thanks, everyone for your advice.

-Mike
My Home Theater
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#8
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4/10/05 at 10:17am
  • Joined: August 2002
  • Location: Seattle
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Any decent radio shack or AR cable will be fine. If you want the very best, get a canare/belden type professional cable at a place like blue-jeans. You don't need to get anything better than this, and it's not that expensive really if you have a demanding system and need that level of pure performance.

Please see my: Advanced Guide to Source Options

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