Can Component cables carry 1080i?

Question

Can Component (Y,Pb,Pr) cables carry a 1080i resolution signal from a digital cable box or game system that can give out a 1080 signal to a 1080i television?

Answer 1

Careful - Basic component cables were made for standard def frequencies (max about 4 Mhz).  HD video goes up to 35 Mhz.

So "HD Rated" component cables are totally capable of handling 1080p video.  If you adjust the brightness/contrast/sharpness for both inputs - you should not see any difference between HDMI and component.

HOWEVER:  Sometimes televisions show more artifacts with component over HDMI.  This is because the TV has to do an analog->digital conversion with component.  The manufacturer sometimes goes cheap with these assuming users will be using HDMI.

Both the adjustments and the analog->digital conversion issue is why some people say component does not look as good as HDMI.  It's not the cables fault, but the customer not knowing what he has to buy & do to get the best picture quality from component.

Answer 2

Yes!

Answer 3

Yes, but it won't be as good of quality as a DVI or HDMI cable (not that you can really tell anyway). Component video is capable of carrying signals such as 480i, 480p, 576i, 576p, 720p, 1080i and 1080p.