There are so many different types of cables on the market, it’s no wonder that people get confused. This breakdown looks at the different types of video cables required for your home theatre components to be connected. There are four main types of cables: composite, coaxial, component, and S-Video, each of them performing a specific task in a certain way. Below is a detailed guide.

Composite cables: These are the everyday RCA leads, which come with yellow, red, and white tips and are standard accessories for practically every model of TV, DVD, and VCR player sold. They are cheap, analogue cables, used to connect the audio of your home theatre component, such as a TV or DVD player, to the receiver. It also means that although they carry both audio and video signals, the video in particular is very poor quality as it’s carried by only one cable. Generally, they are not recommended for use in connecting your home theatre components, despite their widespread household use.

Coaxial cables: Available in a variety of grades and types, these cables are very common and are a cheap means to transfer a signal a further distance. More than likely, if you have a satellite, this is the cable that will connect the dish to the receiver. Typically, the RG-6 and RG-59 are two of the most frequently-used cables, though, despite looking very similar, the RG-6 is a lot better (and more expensive) due to its increased shielding which protects from outside electrical interference and deteriorated signal quality.

S-Video cables: These cables carry one signal only: video. They are more expensive but provide a much better quality picture as the brightness (black and white) and colours (red, blue, and green) are separated into different signals within the same cable. They usually connect home theatre components such as VCR or DVDs to TVs.

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Component cables: These analogue cables are imperative to systems today, as one of the vital home theatre components – the DVD player, has the multiscan format used by this cable as its standard output.

The important thing to remember is that the signal remains as close to its original condition as possible when it reaches its destination. Poor quality – or cheap – materials within cables allow signals to deteriorate resulting in unclear visuals.

Unfortunately, many people believe that the various home theatre components are to blame, and in some cases, try to replace them at a considerable additional cost. However, often enough, the cables will be the ones responsible, so if there are any visual problems, it’s wise to check the cables before doing anything else.

Paying that bit extra for superior cables to ensure you have the best possible picture quality is a better option than trying things out with cheaper or lower quality cables on the basis that if they don’t work, you can easily replace them.

At the end of the day, you have spent so much getting all your individual home theatre components, why spoil their quality with inferior cables?