Composite vs. Component Cables

I had a discussion with a techie friend of mind, who claimed that there
was no PHYSICAL difference between a "composite" cable bundle and a
"component" bundle of three cables (i.e. the only difference being the
kind of signal that is sent down the wires). They are physically
interchangeable.

Is this correct?

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From:

http://www.edmundoptics.com/techSupp...?articleid=297


Composite vs. Component Signal:

Color video signals are composed of luminance and chroma information.
Composite signals carry both luminance and chroma on one line, whereas Y-C
and RGB signals carry luminance information on one line and chroma
information separately on one or more lines. Breaking up the signal
components generally improves signal fidelity, especially when recording or
balancing color.

--
RJ

"Julian" wrote in message
...
I had a discussion with a techie friend of mind, who claimed that there
was no PHYSICAL difference between a "composite" cable bundle and a
"component" bundle of three cables (i.e. the only difference being the
kind of signal that is sent down the wires). They are physically
interchangeable.

Is this correct?

"Julian" wrote in message
...
I had a discussion with a techie friend of mind, who claimed that there
was no PHYSICAL difference between a "composite" cable bundle and a
"component" bundle of three cables (i.e. the only difference being the
kind of signal that is sent down the wires). They are physically
interchangeable.

Is this correct?

depends... the component threesome are all coax's, while the composite
threesome may be 3 coax's or 1 coax (video) with 2 twisted pair (R/L).

The former is fine, the latter would not be good.

Oops, I did miss the point.

However -- and to pick nits, he wasn't "asking whether a cable labeled for
composite use could be used for component signals," rather whether the
composite three-cable bundle of audio/video, could be used as a substitute
interface for a component video connection.

--
RJ

"Elmo P. Shagnasty" wrote in message
...
You missed his point.

He was talking about the physical cable, not the signal that's sent down
it.

He was asking whether a cable labeled for composite use could be used
for component signals.

- - -

In article ,
Julian wrote:

I had a discussion with a techie friend of mind, who claimed that there
was no PHYSICAL difference between a "composite" cable bundle and a
"component" bundle of three cables (i.e. the only difference being the
kind of signal that is sent down the wires). They are physically
interchangeable.

Is this correct?

In article ,
"R. J. Salvi" responds:

From:

http://www.edmundoptics.com/techSupp...?articleid=297


Composite vs. Component Signal:

Color video signals are composed of luminance and chroma information.
Composite signals carry both luminance and chroma on one line, whereas
Y-C
and RGB signals carry luminance information on one line and chroma
information separately on one or more lines. Breaking up the signal
components generally improves signal fidelity, especially when recording
or
balancing color.

On Sun, 5 Nov 2006 12:55:48 -0500, "R Sweeney"
wrote:


"Julian" wrote in message
...
I had a discussion with a techie friend of mind, who claimed that there
was no PHYSICAL difference between a "composite" cable bundle and a
"component" bundle of three cables (i.e. the only difference being the
kind of signal that is sent down the wires). They are physically
interchangeable.

Is this correct?

depends... the component threesome are all coax's, while the composite
threesome may be 3 coax's or 1 coax (video) with 2 twisted pair (R/L).

The former is fine, the latter would not be good.

Also where the (red/white) audio cables are coax, these two are oftten
thinner than the video (yellow) coax. That indicates that they
probably have different properties with respect to impedance etc. Not
good either.
/Jan

"Jan B" wrote in message

Also where the (red/white) audio cables are coax, these two are oftten
thinner than the video (yellow) coax. That indicates that they
probably have different properties with respect to impedance etc. Not
good either.
/Jan

correct, you need three matched impedence cables or else you are looking for
trouble

On Sun, 05 Nov 2006 11:38:44 -0500, Julian wrote:

I had a discussion with a techie friend of mind, who claimed that there
was no PHYSICAL difference between a "composite" cable bundle and a
"component" bundle of three cables (i.e. the only difference being the
kind of signal that is sent down the wires). They are physically
interchangeable.

Is this correct?

I wasn't going to reply to this, but since no one wants to give you a
simple answer, it's yes. The only difference other than wire size is the
color of the connectors. Each consist of 3 shielded rca cables.

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"Wes Newell" wrote in message
news:[email protected]
On Sun, 05 Nov 2006 11:38:44 -0500, Julian wrote:

I had a discussion with a techie friend of mind, who claimed that there
was no PHYSICAL difference between a "composite" cable bundle and a
"component" bundle of three cables (i.e. the only difference being the
kind of signal that is sent down the wires). They are physically
interchangeable.

Is this correct?

I wasn't going to reply to this, but since no one wants to give you a
simple answer, it's yes. The only difference other than wire size is the
color of the connectors. Each consist of 3 shielded rca cables.

not always...
I have video/stereo wire sets where the audio cables were twisted pair and
NOT coax.

On 2006-11-05, Wes Newell wrote:
On Sun, 05 Nov 2006 11:38:44 -0500, Julian wrote:

I had a discussion with a techie friend of mind, who claimed that there
was no PHYSICAL difference between a "composite" cable bundle and a
"component" bundle of three cables (i.e. the only difference being the
kind of signal that is sent down the wires). They are physically
interchangeable.

Is this correct?

I wasn't going to reply to this, but since no one wants to give you a
simple answer, it's yes. The only difference other than wire size is the
color of the connectors. Each consist of 3 shielded rca cables.

Except that the impedance of the cable makes a difference. You
can't just use anything with RCA connectors on the ends and
expect good results with high-bandwidth signals.

--
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at life a PATIO of FUN??
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R Sweeney wrote:
"Jan B" wrote in message

Also where the (red/white) audio cables are coax, these two are oftten
thinner than the video (yellow) coax. That indicates that they
probably have different properties with respect to impedance etc. Not
good either.
/Jan

correct, you need three matched impedence cables or else you are looking for
trouble

Not if you are only going two meters.

Matthew

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You can't win
You can't break even
You can't get out of the game