VGA to Component cable: do they work as advertised?

[Niku]

I want to buy a VGA to Component cable. They are around. $15 shipped some places. Do they work like they imply they should? VGA and RCA component are both analog signals, so i suspect they do, but i don't really know.

 

[ViRGE]

FYI, VGA -> Component requires active conversion, it's not just a mechanical connector difference. So a simple cable like that would not do what you want.

 

[Niku]

Why do they make them then? I see them all over ebay? is it a function of the card that allows this?

 

[mpilchfamily]

Generally if the card supports it it supports it threw the s-video plug on the card and the card would come with an adapter for it.

 

[nerp]

Some cards support SVIDEO to rca quite easily with just an adapter cable. These cards often include the coverter in the box. Other cards require a VIVO adapter, which acts like a breakout box, attaches to the svideo-like port on the back of the card and provides RGB as well as svideo output side by side.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: Niku
Why do they make them then? I see them all over ebay? is it a function of the card that allows this?

Technically there's more than 1 component video standard. When we talk about component video, we're near-universally talking about YPbPr, which is luma and two chroma channels. However there are some RGB based standards that use component video cables too, such as RGBHV (Red, Green, Blue, H-Sync, V-Sync). This RGB is very rarely used over component video cables, and few consumer devices (mostly older ones) support it.

Since VGA uses RGB, these cables are for hooking up the output of a PC to a device that can support RGB(HV).