I have a 52" crt. I just bought a new DVD Home Theater system. This one now has component video outs on it. (my last one was a MAJOR POS) The TV has component ins.
I am obviously going to hook it up with the component cables, but....
What is the physical difference between component and rca cables? I know what they are meant for. One being only video the other being audio and video. But can I use rca cables in place of component cables? As far as I know, the only difference is the color of the jack.
Please help. I have some awesome rca cables around the house and don't want them to go to waste.
Component cables are two steps up in quality. The food chain is- RCA>S-Video>Component>DVI
More or less. I guarantee you, you see a HUGE difference going from composite (RCA) cables to component.
As for using the RCAs in place of component, nope, can't do it. Components are just the video signal separated which is why it delivers a better picture. RCAs are one single video and left and right audio. No matter how nice your RCAs are, they aren't worth much compared to upgrading to component.
Anon: Let's be clear here--composite (single RCA), S-Video, component (3 wire), and DVI are carriers of video only. Audio has to be handled by other means.