Does video cable length degrade a video signal?

[Widowmaker]

POSTED THIS IN GA BUT IT MAY BE MORE RELEVANT IN CABLES

Hey, folks, sorry about all my annoying questions. I just have another in my never-ending series.;)

I just got a front projector and have not ordered the extra-long component video cable for it yet. To tide me over, I borrowed a friend's 25 ft. S-video cable and when I plugged it up, I was amazed at the signal loss. Colors looked more monochromatic, images were fuzzier and the picture looked "foggier" than if I ran a 6 ft. S-video cable to the projector (I actually tested this, I dragged my DVD player over to the projector and plugged it up using the 6 ft. cable and the picture was noticeably better).

I've read about signal loss and how you get more if the cable run is longer (especially video cables). The company I will order my component cable from carries different lines, some cables are labled as "low bandwidth" (cheaper) while others are "high bandwidth." Should I just bite the bullet and order the higher priced high bandwidth cable or does component video not have as much signal loss as S-video?

[Monstrous Mike]

POSTED THIS IN GA BUT IT MAY BE MORE RELEVANT IN CABLES

Hey, folks, sorry about all my annoying questions. I just have another in my never-ending series.;)

I just got a front projector and have not ordered the extra-long component video cable for it yet. To tide me over, I borrowed a friend's 25 ft. S-video cable and when I plugged it up, I was amazed at the signal loss. Colors looked more monochromatic, images were fuzzier and the picture looked "foggier" than if I ran a 6 ft. S-video cable to the projector (I actually tested this, I dragged my DVD player over to the projector and plugged it up using the 6 ft. cable and the picture was noticeably better).

I've read about signal loss and how you get more if the cable run is longer (especially video cables). The company I will order my component cable from carries different lines, some cables are labled as "low bandwidth" (cheaper) while others are "high bandwidth." Should I just bite the bullet and order the higher priced high bandwidth cable or does component video not have as much signal loss as S-video?
I would need a lot more info from you but in general, yes, long cables have potentially large losses for certain signals.

I tried one to run about 50 feet of composite cable using two 25 section and an RCA connector. The picture was awful. The video cable was not top quality. I then tried 50 feet of RG-6 coax cable with F-type to RCA adapters and the picture was fine. RG-6 has low capacitance and good shielding.

As a matter of fact, if you have a long component video run you could use three RG-6 cables as less expensive solution.

[Widowmaker]

I would need a lot more info from you but in general, yes, long cables have potentially large losses for certain signals.

I tried one to run about 50 feet of composite cable using two 25 section and an RCA connector. The picture was awful. The video cable was not top quality. I then tried 50 feet of RG-6 coax cable with F-type to RCA adapters and the picture was fine. RG-6 has low capacitance and good shielding.

As a matter of fact, if you have a long component video run you could use three RG-6 cables as less expensive solution.

Thanks for the reply, Mike. I guess the best I can do is return my friend's cable, go out and buy my own (hopefully not Monster :( since they are almost as big a rip-off as Bose) and just hope for the best.