Component Video Cables

[Tempest]

I finally upgraded my TV last week to a 32" Flatscreen, and I noticed it has component video inputs in the back. Since my TV isn't a High Definition model (they were way too much), will using component video cables with a game console make any difference? I'm assuming it must look slightly better or they wouldn't have bothered putting the jacks in the back of the TV.

Tempest

[chadtower]

Better than what?

[digitalpress]

Things that using component cables is DEFINITELY better than:

-being abducted and probed by aliens.
-havnig your toe lopped off in a freak industrial accident.
-listening to Yoko Ono music.

Hope this helps :P

[chadtower]

But is it better than spending 5 hours trying to beat Zelda's level 6 blue knights, only to have your mother come in and turn off the power because you didn't come out to dinner? That happened at a friend's house and all hell broke loose.

[bargora]

It would be noticeably better than composite or RF. I don't know if you would see a noticeable improvement over S-video. Does it have an S-video input as well?

[tynstar]

I know on a HDTV it would make a differecne. You see all the details. I just picked up a HDTV and ordered my componet cables. I will try them on my none HDTV compaired to the S-video and let you know if there is a difference.

Scott

[chadtower]

On my dvd player there is a difference between svid and component. It is small, but this is a sample of a nonhd, nonprogressive scan example.

[Tempest]

Better than what?

I thought I mentioned that, sorry. I'm using S-Video now and I was wondering if I would notice the difference with component video on a non-HD TV.

Tempest

[chadtower]

I don't think the HD is the issue at all, since the game isn't HD anyway. The real differences will be things like is the game system progressive scan (do these exist? I don't know)? What type of filter does the tv have? Digital? 2 line, 3 line, etc? Those are the things that will determine how much more your components gives than the svid. I suspect that since it's a brand new tv the difference will be small but enough to notice.

[wberdan]

I don't think the HD is the issue at all, since the game isn't HD anyway. The real differences will be things like is the game system progressive scan (do these exist? I don't know)? What type of filter does the tv have? Digital? 2 line, 3 line, etc? Those are the things that will determine how much more your components gives than the svid. I suspect that since it's a brand new tv the difference will be small but enough to notice.

honestly matt, i doubt if you will see much difference between s-video and component, especially on a non-hd monitor.

and to answer some of these questions- some games do output high definition images (720p and or 1080i) .. the only system (besides a PC) that can do this is XBox. You would not be able to get anything besides 480i without the component cables. as far as i know, xbox and game cube are the only two consoles that use progressive scan. game cube games scarcely use it, as far as i know EVERY xbox game outputs at least a 480p image.
hope this helps

willie

[The Clonus Horror]

I noticed a big difference in brightness of colors while using it on my non-HDTV flatscreen. If you have a PS2 and are playing a PSOne game, you'll REALLY notice a difference in color brightness.

[FABombjoy]

Component is a definate step up from s-video. While s-video does a good job of eliminating most of the composite artifacts, component goes one step further. I notice it most in terms of color purity, espically blue. With component, your TV will start to resemble a computer monitor in terms of stability & color.

Also, the comb filter in a television has no effect on svideo or component. It is only used for the composite inputs.

Whatever you do, don't spend a fortune on cables. MCM electronics has great cables at reasonable prices. The more that the signal is split up into discreet components, the less important the cabling becomes.

[TheCrow]

You will notice a dramatic difference in the colors. I know i went from s-video to component and noticed the collors were more vivid and vibrant. I even noticed the difference from the Microsoft cables and the Monsters. The MS cables are thinner and seemed more towards the green scale. Looked a little fainter as well. The Monster cables were real vivid.

[Tempest]

Anyone know why Nintenod doesn't sell Gamecube component cables in stores? I can't seem to find them anywhere!

Is there a splitter or switch box type thing for component inputs? I haven't seen one yet, and I'll have three things to plug into one component jack.

Tempest

[WiseSalesman]

re: the gamecube, I actually called nintendo when I ordered my new Tv, and asked them where ot find component cables. You can order then through the website or over the phone form nintendo, but they're not sold in stores due to "low demand".

[FABombjoy]

Is there a splitter or switch box type thing for component inputs? I haven't seen one yet, and I'll have three things to plug into one component jack.

I use one of those plain Radio Shack a/v switchboxes... the one with composite/l/r jacks. Just keep yer colors straight and it'll work fine :)

The Gamecube component cable is priced to make up ground on hardware profit loss. Kinda like extended warranties & automotive undercoating. Personally, I'll be waiting until it's available at a more reasonable price. I try not to purchase anything that's %1000 markup.

[Tempest]

I use one of those plain Radio Shack a/v switchboxes... the one with composite/l/r jacks. Just keep yer colors straight and it'll work fine

I was wondering if you could do that, but wouldn't you need 2 switch boxes then (one for the component cables and one for sound)? That could get a bit confusing.

I'm not even sure if my TV supports 480p or not (any way to find out?) so component cables may not do me much good.

Tempest

[FABombjoy]

I was wondering if you could do that, but wouldn't you need 2 switch boxes then (one for the component cables and one for sound)? That could get a bit confusing.

Yeah, you do. I have 2 switchboxes that are stacked on top of each other... I just hit both sets of buttons at the same time. There is probably a better way of doing it, but I just happened to have extra switchboxes. Last time I looked, component video switchboxes were stupid expensive.

The easiest way to tell if your TV supports progressive scan is to feed it a progressive scan signal and see what happens. Like on the Xbox, just set it for progressive scan & pop in a game. If it doesn't work, just set it back (the dashboard defaults to 480i). Or, it will probably be in the TV manual. From the sounds of it, your TV probably doesn't support progressive scan.

Progressive scan or not, upgrade to component if you have the chance. You will notice a difference.

[Tempest]

Well I already have two boxes (one for my S-Video systems, and one for the composite systems), what's one more? I don't think my TV supports PS (I think it's a JVC AV-32F713), but if I get richer colors its worth it. My next TV will be a 36" HDTV, but I didn't want to spend $1800 on a TV this time around.

Tempest

[tynstar]

The Gamecube component cable is priced to make up ground on hardware profit loss. Kinda like extended warranties & automotive undercoating. Personally, I'll be waiting until it's available at a more reasonable price. I try not to purchase anything that's %1000 markup

The cables where only 30 bucks. That is not a lot for cables.

[Tempest]

$30 isn't bad, the cheapo ones for the X-Box and PS2 will run you $17 to $30. I was looking at the cabel and I noticed its video only, where would you plug in the stereo cable? The one I got for my PS2 has the stereo plugs included. Are there stereo plugs on the back of the GC or something?

Tempest

[dan2357]

Only HD TV's are progressive scan.

[FABombjoy]

I was looking at the cabel and I noticed its video only, where would you plug in the stereo cable? The one I got for my PS2 has the stereo plugs included.

You have to use the standard AV cable in conjunction with the component cable. There are 2 different connectors on the back.

$30 (plus the $5 s/h) is a lot for a cable when you consider that the manufacturing costs are probably less that $3. If I had paid retail for all the cabling that I use, I'd have hundreds of dollars in cabling alone; money I'd rather spend on more games. Remember, the professional video production & broadcast industry has survived for decades without gold-plated oxygen-free fortified-with-riboflavin audio/video cable.

[Tempest]

Yeah that's why I was wondering why I wasn't seeing any generic GC Component video cables like I did for the PS2 and X-Box. Maybe there's just not a market for them?

Tempest

[FABombjoy]

Yeah that's why I was wondering why I wasn't seeing any generic GC Component video cables like I did for the PS2 and X-Box. Maybe there's just not a market for them?

Tempest

Pelican is supposed to have a generic cable, viewable at http://www.pelicanacc.com/search/display.php?platform=Game+Cube

I've never seen it in any store, tho. It's been on their website for months and months.

I would imagine that there isn't a whole lot of overlap between the Hi-Fi gamers & the Gamecube owner demographics. At least not as much as the PS2 and Xbox crowds, unfortunately.

[wberdan]

Anyone know why Nintenod doesn't sell Gamecube component cables in stores? I can't seem to find them anywhere!

Is there a splitter or switch box type thing for component inputs? I haven't seen one yet, and I'll have three things to plug into one component jack.

Tempest

using a video switcher almost completely defeats the benefits of using component cables. if you must use a video switicher (and care about video quality), try to find one by a company that knows what it is doing, like extron.

willie

[wberdan]

I use one of those plain Radio Shack a/v switchboxes... the one with composite/l/r jacks. Just keep yer colors straight and it'll work fine

I was wondering if you could do that, but wouldn't you need 2 switch boxes then (one for the component cables and one for sound)? That could get a bit confusing.

I'm not even sure if my TV supports 480p or not (any way to find out?) so component cables may not do me much good.

Tempest

if you dont have an HDTV, then it definetely does NOT support progressive scan.

w

[Tempest]

So I guess I'm back to my original question: If I don't have a HDTV will I notice a difference with Component cables?

I tried it with REZ on my PS2 tonight and didn't see any difference whatsoever, but then that may not have been the best game to try it with. What kind of stuff should I be looking for?

Tempest

[FABombjoy]

using a video switcher almost completely defeats the benefits of using component cables

Why is that, exactly? I am using a switchbox with component, and have no observable degradation of video quality. Would you say the same thing of Composite or Svideo switchboxes? What about VGA switchboxes?

Obviously, there is some amount of resistive loss whenever additional connectors are added into the wiring scheme, but it will affect component far less than composite/svideo.

In any event, the connectors on the back of the video game system/DVD player/VCR/etc. are all fed by miniscule unshielded traces on the mainboards of the devices (inside of the RF shielding no less). Seems silly to spend top dollar on cables/switchers when the majority of noise entry is before you even attach the cable. Even inside of the cheapo Pelican switchboxes, they use fairly wide traces throughout, much wider than what's inside of the equipment being switched.

I'm not saying that a $20 switchbox is as good as a $200 switchbox, but I am saying it's certainly not 10x better. As is the case in all fanatical-driven hardware markets, an exponential growth in cost matches a linear growth in quality/power/etc. I say, start with the least expensive, and if it doesn't work for you, return it and buy something better. Ultimately, everybody should just buy whatever makes them happy.

I am also a cheap bastard, in case you haven't noticed. :)

[Tempest]

So how do you hook up the component cables to one of those switch boxes? Whats the color corilation? Component thas G,R,B and Composite has r,w,y.

Tempest

[FABombjoy]

So how do you hook up the component cables to one of those switch boxes? Whats the color corilation? Component thas G,R,B and Composite has r,w,y.

Tempest

Doesn't really matter. I used red-red green-white blue-yellow (MSU/UofM colors). Always helps to have good mnemonic triggers.