DVD Question

[VAP0R]

I bought a Panasonic DVD-RV20 from some salesman at brandsmart for $170 and he told me some stuff about that i "have" to buy some cable for 20 bucks or my DVD will look like a VCR. IS this true or are the cables that come with my DVD good enough? I will buy it if i need it but if not i wont because i need those 20 bucks..... christmas is around the corner.

Thanks

 

[konichiwa]

He's probably talking about Component cables. No, it won't look like a VCR, it will look like DVD for sure...but if you want BETTER quality get component cables, but ONLY if your TV supports it. (Look on the back, if there's three inputs for one Video channel, for red/green/blue then your TV supports it)

Not absolutely necessary, but a nice addition.

 

[Paul]

"stuff" is a hard thing to judge. Sometimes stuff is good but other times stuff is bad. What stuff?!?

I will guess that he is talking about a S-Video cable. It is usually included with the DVD player but check on the box to make sure. S-Video connection allows a higher quality video feed to your TV compared with Composite. This works only if your TV supports it.

 

[VAP0R]

yes my tv has those 3 color plugs in the back.
The DVD already comes with cables but those are skinny and ugly looking...... the ones he told me to buy were pretty cool looking and bigger..... LOL
So do you guys think its worth the 20bucks to buy those cool lookign cables?

 

[konichiwa]

Well there's two types of plugs that you might have: One is the type that is simply A/V, and the colors are Yellow(video)/Red(Audio...left?)/White(Audio...right?) and the other type is component:...well, here, a picture says a thousand words:

The Red/Green/Blue inputs are for component out, the Yellow/White/Red inputs are A/V out. The Circular black input is for S-Video (higher quality than A/V, lower than component)

Which of those does your TV have? And which does your DVD player have?

Now that I think about it...he might've been talking about Monster cables. They're just really REALLY nice cables, sheilded, best possible connection. Again, your quality is still going to be good, but it'll be better with Monster cables.

 

[bcterps]

First of all it depends on what types of cables your TV accepts. I'll assume that your TV doesnt have component inputs, unless your tv is a high end model its unlikely that it will. Mostly likely you'll have S-Video, or your normal RCA inputs. I'm not sure what cables came with your dvd player (I have no idea what came with mine), but if your tv has s-video capability and you're using your normal RCA connection, then you should definitely invest in an S-video cable which will give you a noticablely better picture.

I find a good rule of thumb, prepare to spend about 10% of your budget on cables, higher quality cables do make a difference. If you're buying a $200 dvd player, you can shell out $20 for some decent cables, they will be better than the ones that come with your dvd player.

--Ben

 

[Anyone2u]

I doubt he was talking about Monster Cable's Component Video Cables if he said ~$20. I dropped ~$70 for a set when I bought my Sony WEGA and didn't notice a $70 improvement in the picture (and yes I did the "Video Essentials DVD" setup, etc.). Very disappointing.

 

[mjquilly]

I would say don't worry about purchasing more expensive cables unless you are looking to have the best sounding, best looking system, and have the TV and speakers to back it up.