Cables & Wires for Home Theater System Setup

Video Transcript

"In this section, we will discuss the major video and audio cables from the lowest quality to the highest. First we have basic speaker wire. In most cases, the wire will have 2 distinct colors; a copper tone and one with a lighter silver color on the other side. Adapters will be available to identify the difference quicker as a red or black which will match the back of your speakers and receiver. The speaker wires are measured by gage count; 16 being thin and 8 being thicker. The smaller the number the thicker and more expensive it is. Using a thicker gage for longer distances between the receiver and speakers is recommended. Here we have a basic RF Coax Cable. This cable is mostly used to set up your cable service or satellite receiver. Use of this cable is not recommended to hook up your components together. It does however carry both audio and video signals within the same cable. Next we have basic RCA Cables. This set comes with most DVD players are VCR’s. It carries video and 2 audio signals using 3 cables; yellow is video, red is right, white is left or mono. For better video quality than standard RCA Cables, is the S Video Cable. This cable separates the signals into different paths for better picture quality. It does not carry audio. Moving onto component cables, the RCA style cables separate the video into red, green and blue. These cables can transmit standard definition and high definition signals. They also do not transmit audio. For more superior video quality, we have the DVI Cable. The digital video interface cable carries a true digital signal from your source to the television. DVI Cables are also used to transmit digital signals from your computer monitors as well. This cable is capable of 2 high definition signals but does not transmit audio. Now we have the digital coax cable or Spitaff. This is a digital RCA style cable that carries digital audio from the DVD player or digital cable box to your receiver. This cable was needed for playback of Dolby digital or DTS surround sound. Next is the optical cable which also transmits digital audio from your DVD player cable box. This cable was used for superior audio playback of Dolby digital or DTS surround sound. Lastly, we have the newest cable on the market; this is the HDMI Cable. This cable carries both high definition video and digital audio. This is the idea connection for any system. "