Can a composite a/v cable be used as a component video cable

[mrkorb]

I've got several of those red/white/yellow composite a/v cables laying around here, and I was wondering if I could save myself a few bucks and trip to the store to buy a green/red/blue component cable by using one of them. There shouldn't be any problem as long as the colors on each end of the connection matches up, right?

 

[choirbass]

shouldnt be a problem... you can try it though, with the standard rca cabling (hopefully theyre not damaged at all, cuz that would interfere with the signal more than likely too)... as you seem to have some onhand... ...if that doesnt work, then a trip to the store might be in order.

 

[stallyn]

If they are thick cables to offset outside interference they will work, I do it myself,

 

[milnyckyj]

Composite and component cables can be used interchangeably. With most brands of cables the only difference between the two is the colors of the connectors and the price (component cables are the biggest scam ever. Companies like radioshack and bestbuy love raping their idiot customers for an extra 10-20 bucks at any chance they can get).

 

[Irvinraw]

I've been trying to do this myself. I have a Comcast (Motorola) HD Cable Converter with two component outs. One component out is connected to my HDTV. The other is where I'm having a problem. I am trying to connect it to my DVD Recorder, which only have composite inputs.

So I used a composite cable to connect the cable converter to my DVD recorder. After doing this, my DVD recorder shows the picture from the cable converter but has no sound. I have it correctly attached with red and white connected to red and white on both systems.

Am I doing anything wrong? I presume you guys are suggesting what I'm doing is possible. I asked people at work and they said its probably not possible. So please let me know if I understand you guys correctly. Also any suggestions on how I can correct this would be appreciated.


Thanks

Irvin

 

[killmess]

shouldnt be a problem... you can try it though, with the standard rca cabling (hopefully theyre not damaged at all, cuz that would interfere with the signal more than likely too)... as you seem to have some onhand... ...if that doesnt work, then a trip to the store might be in order.

He's right, just try. I don't think it could broke if you try those cables.

 

[sirheck]

so have you tried it let us know?

 

[waylander]

I've been trying to do this myself. I have a Comcast (Motorola) HD Cable Converter with two component outs. One component out is connected to my HDTV. The other is where I'm having a problem. I am trying to connect it to my DVD Recorder, which only have composite inputs.

So I used a composite cable to connect the cable converter to my DVD recorder. After doing this, my DVD recorder shows the picture from the cable converter but has no sound. I have it correctly attached with red and white connected to red and white on both systems.

Am I doing anything wrong? I presume you guys are suggesting what I'm doing is possible. I asked people at work and they said its probably not possible. So please let me know if I understand you guys correctly. Also any suggestions on how I can correct this would be appreciated.


Thanks

Irvin

I just want to make sure you aren't too confused here. Component cables are the ones for video only (splits the video signal into 3 separate signals) the composite cables have a red (right audio), white (left audio) and yellow (video). So what exactly are you trying to say? Did you connect the component video out to the composite video in? That won't work. The OP wanted to know if you could use composite video CABLES to connect two component devices.

 

[NewbieTechGodII]

Yeah, it WILL work.

Just as another poster on here already said- the cables are the same; just with different-colored connecters. I am running my DVD player's composite video to my TV's composite connecters and it works just fine.

Except, I don't really see any big difference; looks like the same quality as before when I was running the "old-fashioned" rca jacks.

Oh well, I figured I may as well put those lazy component outputs to work! Besides, I had all of this money burning a hole in my pocket...

 

[killmess]

so have you tried it let us know?

Nope.

 

[Assman]

There shouldn't be any problem as long as the colors on each end of the connection matches up, right?

Right, i tried, it works

 

[azgard]

Been doing it for a year, no difference but of course you will find someone that will argue against it.

 

[Guest]

Hi, I see there are many opinions on this so I just want to confirm with a little more detail. If I have a VGA to component (red, green, blue) cable or a DVI to component cable, can I do the following: VGA out from computer to composite TV in using component red to composite red, component green to composite white, and component blue to composite yellow?

Also, the same connection using a DVI to component cable.

I presume there will be a quality decline but not so much as I don't actually require a true digital quality video. I am happy with the analog quality so I just want to be sure this will work before I purchase these cables.

 

[Mousemonkey]

THREE YEAR OLD THREAD.

 

[Guest]

Should I open a new topic then?

 

[Mousemonkey]

That would be a lot better than resurrecting a rotting corpse of a thread.

 

[Guest]

Please refer to new thread.

 

[Ssseth]

This thread came up as the first hit on google when searching if composite cables can be used as component cables so give the guy a little slack. That's how I got here as well.

 

[Guest]

Yes! resurrect the thread! It's alive!! ALIVE!

Yea, especially since it's the 1st hit on Google. BTW, I'm going the other direction (using a component video cable as a composite with stereo audio) and I guess I'm just wanting to make sure I don't screw anything up. From what I can tell thus far, composite & component video signals are between zero and 1.073 volts. I think line-level audio signals are generally between -2 and +2 volts (or zero & +2 volts), but I'm not certain.

Of course, what I wouldn't do is use them for any type of speaker cables (even head-phone level) because I'm guessing you could fry them pretty easily that way.

 

[BenHughesStudios]

Yes It will work just as good as a real component cable.

Cables are really just pieces of metal. Unless you're trying to adapt two completely different signals, then any cable will work as long as the plug fits.

I put the red RCA into the Red Component slot, white into the blue component spot, and yellow into the green component spot. TADA! Works like a charm!

I watched my inception blu ray using this technique, and it looked amazing on my 32" HDTV.

 

[Unclebob9]

I think what is missing is IF you use the 3 component connections, you also will have to run cables from the red and white audio connections to get sound.

 

[Wolfshadw]

Mouse, can we get a lock on this thread?

-Wolf sends

 

[leon2006]

I've got several of those red/white/yellow composite a/v cables laying around here, and I was wondering if I could save myself a few bucks and trip to the store to buy a green/red/blue component cable by using one of them. There shouldn't be any problem as long as the colors on each end of the connection matches up, right?

I have done it. It works. The quality of the cable in most cases is/are sufficient for component signal to work. I retag the cable to avoid confusion when making the connection.

 

[bullybeef]

Component versus composite - as cut and pasted from wikipedia

In a composite signal, the luminance, Brightness (Y) signal and the chrominance, Color (C) signals are encoded together into one signal. When the color components are kept as separate signals, the video is called component analog video (CAV), which requires three separate signals: the luminance signal (Y) and the color difference signals (R-Y and B-Y).

Component video does not undergo the encoding process, the color quality is noticeably better than composite video.[4]

Component video connectors are not unique in that the same connectors are used for several different standards; hence, making a component video connection often does not lead to a satisfactory video signal being transferred. Many DVD players and TVs may need to be set to indicate the type of input/output being used, and if set incorrectly the image may not be properly displayed. Progressive scan, for example, is often not enabled by default, even when component video output is selected.


ps I found this thread as it was no1 on google search. Damn I love tomshardware site has all the tech pron a man could ever need

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey