Component Video Quality

[Eagles]

I need a 12' set of component video cables to reach my TV. Is the cost of the higher end cables (Monster $100. plus) Vs. (GE Ultra Prograde $19.99)
relative to the PQ each provides, or is the cost mostly for the name?
I've heard both arguments. Any suggestions? :us:

[spanishannouncetable]

Monster cable are way over-rated. Go with the GE cables and use the money you save to get some good DVDs.

[boma]

I have use home-made with no problem.
Copper core RG6
Good F connectors
F Connector to RCA plugs

I used RatShack 1-male to 2-female connectors to split the signals.
My 6000 now runs 2 HDTVs (at the same time)
2nd TV is 30 feet away in bedroom.

NEVER had a problem with break-up or degraded picture.

Take that - MONSTER CABLE !!!!

Cost me less than $20 ( $15 of that for the 3 RCA 1-to-2 connectors).

Make your own !!!!!!!!!!!

[sorahl]

Monster cable is as necessary as is hmmm life insurance on your cat.

[Mark Lamutt]

I'd say that life insurance on my kitty would be very much more important than monster cables... :D

[jgoggan]

Indeed -- go with something in the under-$40 category for a 12' component cable -- probably well under that if you can find them actually.

And get the kitty insurance with the money you saved. We've got four of them -- I probably can't afford to insure them actually... But I can't afford Monster cables either, so it's all good.

- John...

[MedMech]

It's refreshing to see that people see through the salespersons cloud that you have to have Monsters for your MONSTER system. Is'nt ironic that the same salesperson will tell you optical audio cables are better than coaxial just to bing you an extra $40 for the cable.

[dtcarson]

Most of the cables I've bought have been Acoustic Research [because that's the 'other' brand Best Buy carries]. No problems. And when they cost 1/2-1/4 the cost of Monster, it's a no-brainer. That is, if you can avoid the salesdroids pushing Monster. When I want to test out an 1800$ TV, they are no help and act like I'm bugging them. But when I talk about hooking up my DVD player, 'Oh, you'll want to get the Monster cables then.' Um, no, I won't.
I think the general opinion is that *if* you put Monster through the 'professional tests,' they score *slightly* higher than 'regular' cables; but to the unaided eye, they are either no better than or not worth 3x the cost of other cables [as long as you don't get cheapie Kmart cables.]

[sorahl]

:hurah: who shops at Kmart???

[Jim Parker]

When I went looking for a DVI cable for the 921, the salesman pushed the Monster $130 2 meter cable because the digital signal is "uncompressed" and therefore need the better cable. Needless to say, I left and found a Beldon cable at the local electronics store for $30.

On a similar subject, I was looking at a TV at BB, and the 18 year old salesman started his "Buy the warrenty" spiel. He claimed that all the TVs were made with the cheapest componets available and the TV would breakdown within 4 years, so I needed the warranty. I told him that the warranty was just a rip off, but he keep pushing. Sooo, I changed my tactic and said "If the TVs that you sell are that poorly made, I will buy one elsewhere" and walked off. :D

[dtcarson]

:hurah: who shops at Kmart???

Hypothetically speaking ; )..'Kmart' stood in for 'place that really isn't tech-oriented.'

Jim Parker: I normally don't buy extended warranties for virtually anything [when we bought our current car, they pushed it on us, we refused, and afterwards, we did the math--we would be paying for a 3 year warranty from the date of purchase, but the car was only 1 year old, so it still had 2 years worth of manufacturer warranty on it--making our 3 year extended warranty useful only for 1 year.]
But I did actually buy one for my bigscreen tv. I do expect tv prices to drop down in the next three years, but I don't think they'll drop enough for me to get an equivalent tv for the cost of the warranty. This was a 'just in case.' And Best Buy does prorate it, so I could cancel at any time, and it would cost me about 8 bucks a month for the months I had it active. I bought online, however, and if a 'sales' person told me what they told you, I would have said the same.

[Mike D-CO5]

I bought a big screen Rca tv and the 4 year warrenty to boot from Conn's electronic store in 97, and wouldn't you know the tv died one year to the month my warrenty expired.

[TomCat]

Hmmm. Lets think about this for a minute. What are we trying to do with these cables? Transport a 1v video signal (typically) from one piece of gear to another using standard protocols. What could go wrong? Other than breaking more easily, cheopo cables will be a little more prone to signal ingress, and may drop just a smidgen more of the voltage, and may present an impedance that is slightly different than the norm. None of those are problems that are either serious or can't be avoided.

A lower rejection of ingress is not really a problem as long as you don't let AC wires run paralell with them...otherwise there really should not be any signal ingress that would be noticeable in most cases. A slightly larger voltage drop means only an imperceptible change in brightness...something easily compensated for by the click of a remote were it to be perceptible. Two identical PVR's or TV's from the same production run are more likely to have luminance level differences much greater than those seen when comparing cheapo to expensive cables. Same thing with impedance mismatch. A cable would have to be more than simply cheap to make enough visible difference by having a slightly higher VSWR, it would have to be defective.

Bottom line, even the cheapos will usually work. If one presents a problem, then replace it. I even use a cheapo for SPDIF audio. As long as it works (and sometimes a cheapo will indeed NOT work for precision applications such as this), it works. So far, no dropouts, and the sound, being digital, is of course identical.

High-$ cables make about as much sense as kittycat life insurance (great analogy, BTW) or those $20 green magic markers that were supposed to make CD's sound better. Companies who prey on the fears and ignorance of the consumer simply to line their own pockets should be ashamed of themselves.