Monster or Sony brand? (1 Viewer)

[NickSchmidt]

I'm getting an S-Video cable soon for my PS2 and I was debating between the Monster S-Video ($34.95) or the Sony brand s-video ($29.95). Which one should I get? I'd rather pay less, but are Monster cables that much better than Sony brand s-video?

 

[Kelley_B]

for $5 I'd get the mosters, my neighbor has them and his PS2 looks damn good, and we have the same TV.

 

[MikeM]

Since you're getting a new cable anyway, have you thought about getting a component cable, instead of an s-video cable? They're virtually the same price, and usually component is always your best option.

 

[Larry Seno Jr.]

If you have the ability to buy Component, my Component cables for my PS2 are INCREDIBLE. They rival the 480p on my X-Box. (HDTV though so...) REGARDLESS, that is the biggest difference I've EVER seen in a visual upgrade.

 

[NickSchmidt]

I'm saving my component slot for my GameCube

 

[MikeM]

Why save it? Get a A/V video switcher from Radio Shack. They work fine with components, and they you'll have multiple component input possibilities.

 

[NickSchmidt]

That would be nice, but aren't they expensive?

 

[Scott L]

At non-HD resolutions like 480i you can get a cheapy Rat Shack one without seeing any quality loss. However if you up your video bandwidth with 720p sources it is recommended to buy the more expensive switchers with HD switching compatibility. OR just by a Denon receiver which does this, but I think those cost a little more.

 

[MikeM]

Actually, even at 1080i, the cheap Radio Shack switchers are supposed to work just fine.
Check out Robert "Crawdaddy" Crawford's post about halfway down the page on this thread:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...threadid=13940
Thank god this thread is archived, because it has some really good stuff. Happy motorin'.

 

[Cory R. B.]

I don't understand how a composite switcher can be used to switch component. First, component has 5 cables, while composite has 3. Even if you were using fiber optic audio so component only had 3 cables, the 3 component ones don't match up to the three composite ones. Does the AV switcher not actually specify what the signal is and just transfer it? Can you then connect a standard AV double ended cable to connect the switcher to the TV?

I'm sorry, I just don't get this concept.

 

[MikeM]

I don't understand how a composite switcher can be used to switch component. First, component has 5 cables, while composite has 3. Even if you were using fiber optic audio so component only had 3 cables, the 3 component ones don't match up to the three composite ones. Does the AV switcher not actually specify what the signal is and just transfer it? Can you then connect a standard AV double ended cable to connect the switcher to the TV?

No problem, but please remember that we're talking about the VIDEO. Thus, a component connection also has 3 cables, not 5. For console audio, you get the best results running a Toslink (optical) audio cable to your receiver.

Therefore, you have three inputs, and three outputs. The cables must be in sync on both ends.

Please read the complete thread link from Crawdaddy that I posted in the eariler post. He goes into detail about how he synched up the connections to get it to work just fine.

 

[Cory R. B.]

I tested this with my AV switcher, and it worked good. Even with the XBox on progressive scan, the picture still came out right? I know the progressive wasn't lost because my TV has to be manually switched between progressive and not.

I don't have a sound system at all, I just use the TV speakers. I'm going to get a second AV switcher to hold the two audio cables. I'll just have to push two buttons when I want to switch, not a big deal at all.

 

[Dave Bennett]

So what is everyone's opinion on upgrading from S-video to component for PS2? I've got a 27" Samsung Dynaflat non HD set and I've got my DVD on the component in and my PS2 on S-video(when I bought my PS2 I didn't have a TV with component ins). Will I notice a difference or will it be negligible at best?

 

[Josh Matthews]

When I went from a s-video to a component connection, I did not notice any difference in the clarity of the picture. Sometimes, I imagine the color is a little better but I've never actually done a side by side comparison. I have a regular old 27" Panasonic, so maybe it's not noticeable?

One other comment, I've always used the Sony cables and I never had a gripe about them until yesterday. I put my PS2 on top of my VCR (who can guess why I might bother to set my VCR back up yesterday?) and it seems that the co-axial cable going into the VCR was interfering with the signal. I thought I was going nuts because the coaxial input into the tv is very close to the component input as well, and I've never had any problems. That said, it had to be the coaxial cable because the PS2 picture wouldn't come in correctly until I removed the co-axial cable from the VCR. I guess what I'm saying is that this seems to indicate (in my extremely rookie opinion) that the the Sony cable is not very well shielded. I don't know if the Monster cable would make a difference or not.