Tom's Hardware > Forum > Graphic & Displays > TV/Video Cards > Can a composite a/v cable be used as a component video cable
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mrkorb   11-06-2006 at 01:31:45 AM

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?

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choirbass   11-06-2006 at 01:56:55 AM
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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.

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stallyn   11-06-2006 at 02:03:08 AM
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If they are thick cables to offset outside interference they will work, I do it myself, :P

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milnyckyj   11-20-2006 at 12:38:55 AM
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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).

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Irvinraw   11-22-2006 at 12:29:14 AM
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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

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killmess   11-29-2006 at 05:24:58 AM
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Quote :

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. :wink:

Reply to killmess
sirheck   11-29-2006 at 05:59:37 AM
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so have you tried it let us know?

Reply to sirheck
waylander   11-29-2006 at 06:30:12 AM
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Quote :

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.

Reply to waylander
NewbieTechGodII   11-29-2006 at 07:27:29 AM
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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...

Reply to NewbieTechGodII
killmess   11-30-2006 at 06:39:38 AM
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Quote :

so have you tried it let us know?


Nope. :oops:

Reply to killmess
Assman   11-30-2006 at 07:04:41 AM
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Quote :

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

Reply to Assman
azgard   12-02-2006 at 04:23:15 PM
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Been doing it for a year, no difference but of course you will find someone that will argue against it.

Reply to azgard
Anonymous   06-09-2009 at 03:24:54 PM
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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.

Reply to Anonymous
Bronze Graphics badge mousemonkey   06-09-2009 at 03:33:56 PM
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THREE YEAR OLD THREAD.

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Anonymous   06-09-2009 at 03:36:59 PM
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Should I open a new topic then?

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Bronze Graphics badge mousemonkey   06-09-2009 at 03:41:00 PM
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That would be a lot better than resurrecting a rotting corpse of a thread.

Reply to mousemonkey
Anonymous   06-09-2009 at 04:24:40 PM
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Please refer to new thread.

Reply to Anonymous
Ssseth   08-20-2009 at 07:55:59 PM
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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.

Reply to Ssseth
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