50ft. video commect question

[Eric]

<font color='#000000'>A friend needs to make a connection from a DVD player to a projector head. He will be viewing 480p and possibly 1080i. His projector has component and VGA inputs.

What would you recommend *using for a 50 ft. run (less than $150.00): a VGA cable or component video cable. Will he need some kind of signal booster? Could he buy Radio Shack coax and make the cables himself?

edit: sorry about the topic sp.

Thanks
Eric</font>

[gene]

<font color='#000000'>Eric;

Cable characterstic impedance starts to matter at about 1/10 the wavelength of the high frequency of the signal. &nbsp;For example, assuming max frequency signal is 10MHz for component video, then wavelength = 3*10^8m/s / 10^6Hz = 30 meters, thus 1/10(30) = 3 meters.

You should use a true 75ohm coax cable beyond 3 meters which is also well shielded, usually via combo of foil and braided.

For HDTV, cable length beyond a meter should be a true 75 ohm characteristic impedance.

The actual RCA connector is not that critical since the physical connection is only a few centimeters and thus wouldn't have much of an effect at these frequencies. &nbsp;In addition, the form factor doesn't truly allow for a 75 ohm connection, more like 60 ohms max. &nbsp;However, many vendors do offer attempt to offer coax component video cables with nearly 75 ohm terminations and thus it couldn't hurt to use them. &nbsp;

For more info, see:

Cable Budget Guidelines (http://audioholics.com/techtips/buyingguides/interconnects/cable_budget.php)

Component Video Cables: Definitive Guide (http://audioholics.com/techtips/audioprinciples/interconnects/ComponentVideoCables.php)</font>

[Clint DeBoer]

<font color='#000000'>In addition, may I recommend the consideration of setting up a Home Theater PC? Then you would run VGA cable using two Shielded Cat-5 cables. The result being that instead of running NTSC video, you get to send hi-resolution signal to your projector.

Look for an upcoming article where I explain how to do this in full detail...</font>

[Eric]

<font color='#000000'>Thank you for the responses!

My friend read your responses as well (and the guides) and decided to buy Monster video cable (MV3CV-8M). I’m not sure if he intends to run his computer to it as well, but I’ll pass the recommendation along.</font>