strange component video/WEGA problem? (1 Viewer)

[Sean Patrick]

I've had my 27" Sony Wega for almost 2 years ago and have finally diagnosed a weird problem with black level in dark scenes when i'm watching dvd's, especially with the 16x9 squeeze).

I bought some relatively cheap component cables when i bought the tv, since this was the first tv i've ever had that had component inputs (i'd always heard that component was better than s-video, even if on a 27" screen i wouldn't get much more out of it).

well, last night when it was pitch black inside, i got up close to my tv and changed the inputs on my TV while the different inputs were OFF. My s-video input (switched from my receiver from dreamcast/svhs/dish) was pure black, my composite inputs (playstation and vcr) were pure black, and when i got to my component input (with the DVD player off), the screen was sort of black/blue and there seemed to be alot of low-range interference.

what gives?

I have never really been that close the tv in the dark before but i don't understand why there seems to be signal interference with the dvd player OFF in the component input. Did i just buy a cheap cable? is the Wega's component input not a very good one? Should i be using s-video?

thanks for any info. if i had any more s-video inputs in either the tv (only have one) or my receiver (all out of switched inputs), i'd use my s-video cord but this direct-to-the-tv component hookup shouldn't be looking like this.

 

[Sean Patrick]

i'd like to add - i have purchased s-video cords from $7 - $70, and the $5 radio shack ones seemed to my eyes to be the best ones, so i will not be persuaded easily that it's just my cords (one of those $7 s-video cords is attached to the TV and is not outputting junk to the tv).

could it be that it's my DVD player outputting some "junk" when it's off? even with the dvd player PLAYING, now that i look close at the screen more "junk" is being shown in the blacks, that up close seem more blue than my other inputs (even composite). BTW, i have a pioneer 434 (i know, not a great player).

you'll have to forgive these questions, but i think it will help me when i upgrade to a 16x9 hdtv in march. I need to know if investing in a $200 component cord is much more worth it than a $10 cord, whether the WEGAS have weird component issues, whether it's my Pioneer (which will be a moot point soon when i hopefully buy a Panny RP91 for my new tv this summer)

thanks

thanks!

 

[Allan Jayne]

Yes, cables especially mediocre ones can pick up interference. See if there is any improvement if the cord in question does not pass close to other components or cords or power cords.
If your "component" video cord has red, yellow, and white plugs, you will get a picture but the quality is unpredictable. Red-yellow-white cables are for composite video and audio, not for component video. If you must use one temporarily, use the yellow plug for Y, the red plug for Pr, and the white plug for Pb.
If you are lucky, the manufacturer used the same spool of wire for all three lines inside the cord and it was video grade in which case the red-yellow-white cord will work OK.
Three individual yellow plug video cables will suffice for component video.
Video hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/video.htm

 

[Sean Patrick]

?? My component cables are standard red/green/blue cables. I'm not using composite cables for my dvd player.

i'm not saying they're GOOD cables, but they certainly aren't composite.

are you saying composite cables can actually work in component inputs?

 

[Ergin Guney]

Sean,

are you saying composite cables can actually work in component inputs?

Not to put words in Allan's mouth but, yes, that's what he is implying.

There is no hard and fast distinction between a "component cable" and a "composite cable" really. As long as you have a two-conductor cable with RCA jacks on either end, you can use it as a single composite video cable, one of a triplet of component video cables, or one channel of an analog audio cable, etc. (You might lose some high-frequency content if you're passing high-def component video over it. But I'm not so sure of even that...) There's nothing more to it. Component video cables don't have any "exotic innards". They're just the same old cables as any that have RCA jacks on either end, just overpriced as heck, and with the sole possible distinction that they might have better conductors for higher signal bandwidth as I just mentioned in parentheses (and that only if they are true high-definition component video cables, that is).

The only thing that might change could be that the better such cables might be coaxial (and therefore better protected against external interference) while the cheap ones enclosed by manufacturers are often not. Which is probably why Allan mentions that the "quality is unpredictable" with those red-while-yellow cables...