Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
If the plugs on the cables are red/blue/green, then what you're describing is a component cable. (Composite cables have a single yellow plug.)
Component cables are a different way of getting video signals into your TV. Out of the 4 possible types of connections for video, component is the second best method to use, after HDMI.
In order of quality, the 4 methods are:
1. HDMI
2. Component
3. S-Video
4. Composite (single yellow cable)
Lots of good advice here so far. I've visited people's home theaters to find that they have an HD screen hooked up by the old NTSC 480i, Standard Definition, "yellow" RCA cable.
As a 'tech hound' audio/videophile, I have seen tremendous quality differences, even in showrooms like Best Buy, etc. Generally, LOUSY quality due to the distribution systems employed to deliver sound & picture to so many TV's in their showrooms; as well as low quality SOURCE video to begin with.
Even DISH and DIRECT TV reduce bandwidth severely; and any Cable Company source would likely be even lower. Good advice above to make sure you have a Blu-Ray player connected via HDMI as a reference source. The imagery and Sound are MANY times the bandwidth from above sources. I remember viewing "Planet Earth" on my Dish Network receiver, then obtaining the Blu-Ray disc. Differences were astounding to me. HD resolution of 1920 x 1080, can be delivered through the Satellite and Cable systems MUCH LOWER in bandwidth than Blu-Ray; even though both are claiming "1080" resolution. First of all, the Satellite and Cable sources can ONLY do 1080i; Blu-Ray can do 1080p if authored from film or progressive video originals. The little "i" stands for interlaced; which means you actually get TWO 540 line resolution half-frames (called fields), instead of ALL 1080 vertical lines of pixel resolution ALL AT ONCE, which is progressive, or what the little "p" stands for. Seeing a film at the theater, one views 24 progressive film frames every second; and this is part of that "never quite looks as good at home" feeling.
The other spec that's never disclosed by any available HD sources is the average DATA RATE. Dish and Direct TV's "general" average for HD channels is about 12 mega-bits a second (mbits/sec); and sometimes lower. I know many Blu-Ray authors working on major Hollywood release titles. They have access to VERY expensive encoders that can deliver HD quality that one is very hard pressed to tell from the original source AND at an average of about 20-24 mbits/sec (thank you Cinemacraft); and actually don't need any higher bandwidth (even though Blu-Ray can do 40mbits/sec max) because of the amazing quality industry standard tools they have at their disposal. Then sources like HBO, Starz, History, Discovery, etc. etc. etc. will get REDUCED bandwidth when DISH and DIRECT TV have to "squeeze" down due to so many channels on their satellites. On Cable, one can "forget about it" as said in GoodFellas. Your cable is sharing bandwidth will many many neighbors internet access besides TV channels.
The 'telltails' of bandwidth reduction are "mosquitos" or pixel errors around titles and other EDGES in a viewed image; pixellated blocky-stairsteppy artifacts when the image moves quickly; and general fuzziness, which is an artifact from intentionally inserted video filters by the networks, satellites, etc.
People like me either laugh hysterically or get really perturbed when we see the HYPE that the Marketing Departments of all these technology companies employ. Like: "Digital Quality" which is ludicrous to any of us in the know. Can most people tell the difference between the audio quality of a Cell Phone versus a CD? Of course they can. Well, these are BOTH "digital quality!!" What's not said is that the bandwidth of a Cell Phone is about ONE-ONE HUNDREDTH (1/100) of a CD; yet they are indeed both digital. I'm making this analogy here - in that - I've seen "HD" picture & sound just about at this kind of extreme.
Last edited by dvdaudio; 04-04-2010 at 03:56 PM..
Reason: clarification
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.