subject: Your Home Theater System Deserves The Best Cable Rigging [print this page] If you want an affordable video display for your home theater system, then you can substitute a VGA monitor for a flat-panel TV. LCD monitors and flat-panel TVs offer opposite extremes of a video display's price range. You'll easily find an LCD monitor with the same dimensions and resolutions (but at a fraction of the costs) of high-end flat-panel TV. You'll only maximize the quality of your entertainment system's audio-video output if it's properly rigged. You'll obtain a decent output if you configure a wireless setup for your sound system, but you have to use cables for your video display. While it's true that you'll only lose clarity with cables (the wires' resistance degrades it), you won't find a viable alternative to these. You shouldn't settle for anything less than a durable, high-quality video cable, though. Don't opt for the generic cables available at electronics stores; you should look past the matching socket pins when choosing a proper cable. Before you sort through your options at the electronics stores, you should mind the basic features that ensure a proper video cable's quality.
You can set up the video connections between your computer, monitor, and home theater system with a VGA cable. High-quality cables are shielded from all sorts of external interference. Your monitor's display quality suffers with poor insulation. Check the video cable's durability; thick rubber insulation guarantees less wearing and tearing. Check the joints near the sockets to ensure they're properly notched. You have to bend and twist the cable a few times to test its resilience and flexibility. You should also confirm the quality of the shielded conductors. Copper cables will do if you're stingy, but you should invest in gold-plated metals if you have slack to spare. You'd better opt for high-quality conductors if you're using large loops of cables, though. The video's quality won't suffer if the signal only travels a few feet's length of cable wire. If the layout stretches out to different rooms and areas of your house (for linked displays), then you shouldn't settle for anything less than gold-plated copper.
If your video quality is either pasty or crystal clear, then you can only trace the problem (or benefit) to the quality of your VGA cable. You can't improve on a digital signal's quality, but you should ensure minimal degradation by investing in a high-quality cable with proper insulation and conducting material. If you want to squeeze out every drop of quality from your digital signal, then you should only choose the best rigging for the setup. Don't settle for pasty and grainy images when you can maximize the quality with a minor replacement.
