Video Cables & Connections (page 3)

How the Cable Measures Up

• Four-pin cable end is fragile.
• Cable is actually two single-wire cables molded together, so chances for magnetic and radio frequency interference increase. Shorter cables help reduce the likelihood of receiving interference and signal loss.

Composite

Composite RCA connectors are everywhere; they are cheap, simple and widely compatible across a range of devices and manufacturers. Their video performance is only so-so, however.

How It Works

• Cables are single-wire, which means they must carry a blended or composite video signal with both luminance and chrominance information.
• Cables pass along a second generation signal that's composited by the originating device and must be un-composited by the receiving device.
• Some signal loss, image degradation and color bleeding is common.

How It Connects

• Pin-and-cuff design couldn't be simpler to use; male cable ends plug into the female device sockets.
• Central conductor carries a frequency-based electrical signal between devices.
• BNC connectors can also be used to transmit composite video, but terminates in a highly durable locking connector that's found mainly on professional equipment.

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