Going Cable Crazy

Last Edited: 09:32PM Tuesday 25th of May 2010

Have you been told you need that $350 HDMI cable, or your new Blu Ray will look terrible? We just hope you didn't believe all you were told, because in most cases a $60 cable could be doing the same job for you. And essentially, you would want to see over 5 times the difference in the picture if you are paying over 5 times the price. Unlikely!

Making the right connections in the first place will always achieve at least 85% of the desired improvement. We know this to be true because we have hooked up the most basic yellow/white/red cables out of a box, and seen them do 96% of the job a $150 Monster cable will do. Higher quality cables are more often required for set ups where external interference from power or unlike signals, can mean the interference can be seen mixed in with the picture. As long as you connect component video from your to TV, you will be able to carry 1080 lines of resolution.

Settings on equipment are important, and we always carry some of the better cables in the trucks for those situations where interference is a problem, and also for some of the better systems we encounter. But anyone selling you a $350 cable with an $800 screen, should be selling you a $1000 screen with a $100 cable. A better screen will make much more of an improvement than a better cable.

With most equipment, S-video will improve a composite(yellow) connection by 30%, and is a step we highly recommend for things like DVD as it will eliminate the flicker you get with composite video.

Component will improve on S-video by at least 30%, due to increased resolution, and will greatly heighten colour reproduction, essential for lower quality brands of screens like L.G., that naturally have a flat colour out of the box. Component connection is vital when using Foxtel or DVDs with LCD, LED or plasmas.

HDMI will improve on component by about 8-20%, depending on the devices used. It will usually result in a sharper picture due to the digital connection, and does have the advantage of audio and picture in the one cable. It is the only type of connection we would recommend for Blu Ray.

If you would like some unbiased advice about cheaper and simpler cabling options for you system, please give us a call.