Longest Effective Component Cable Extension

[David Saraceno]

I'm doing a review of the Matrox MXO.

I'm about 20 feet from our plasma HD with component in.

Can anyone weigh in on the longest effective component cable extension?

Thanks

 

[jak6705]

I've done 45 ft with ease. I custom made the cables from and old spool of RG59.

 

[filmstox]

I have a 50' extension that I occasionally use between the HVX and Dell 2405. It works fine. The image looses a bit in the blacks, but since the 2405 isn't really appropriate for judging color, it doesn't worry me. I use the monitor for Focus and Framing and that survives a 65' (15' D4 cable+50' extension) trip without issue.


-filmstox

 

[David Saraceno]

Thanks for the responses.

 

[AbstracTheory]

I posted this in another post.. but this might help...

Gefen Products makes all sorts of extenders... They specialize in DVI and HDMI and such... They do make a handy product that I believe will be perfect for you!

from gefen.com
Gefen Component Extender
Extends any Component Video HDTV display up to 300 feet using a Single CAT-5e Cable

How it Works
The Component Extender sender unit connects to any component video source using the supplied Component cable. The receiver unit connects to your HDTV component video display up to 300 feet away. One CAT-5e cable is used to connect the sender to receiver for perfect video extension up to 1080p.

Here's a link:
http://www.gefen.com/kvm/product.jsp?prod_id=3414
http://www.gefen.com/kvm/cables/cat5.jsp

Hope this helps..

 

[David Saraceno]

Thank you.

I got a 30 foot component cable from a company for about $40.00

 

[khmuse]

In as much as component video is comprised of analog signals (Y-Pb-Pr), there isn't an exact limit on length such as occurs when data collision become problematic with digital cables. What will occur over distance is a loss in amplitude (caused by the ohmic loss of the cables resistance) and a reduction of bandwidth (caused to the capacitive load that the cable represents). These accumulate in a linear manner and are proportional to the length.

Assuming that you have an adjustable video monitor, you can fairly effectively compensate for the ohmic loss by setting the levels with the longer cable in use. The capacitive losses can't be as easily compensated for, but these will only manifest as loss of definition on highly contrasting edges. As long as you are happy with the performance, any cable length can be used.