How many feet is component video good for?

Question

I want to have Dish HD on a 2nd TV, but HDMI is only good for 16 feet. I want component video, but how many feet is it good for?

Answer 1

The older, thinner wires in a HDMI cable tend to have problems above 15 ft. This is why you buy a cable with the thicker wires.

BlueJeans sells cables they say they ran 120 ft without a repeater.  They also sell component cable sets that are quite good and less than retail for HD compatible cables.

Answer 2

Over normal run lengths and with cable of reasonable parameters, at least 22ga, the amount of signal lost to resistance in the cable is not particularly significant; this is  because, even to the extent that resistance causes loss, the loss is linear--it affects all frequencies in the signal equally, and so when the display receives the signal and adjusts its amplitude all of the information is still present regardless of the loss of signal strength. Over reasonable run lengths, aprox 100 feet, these losses are not significant .

I recommend If you are going long distances to make 3 runs utilizing RG6 cable and terminating with a decent quality connector.

Actually HDMI can run much further than 16ft. I have a 25ft run to a projector that works just fine. In addition you can also purchase HDMI signal boosters. I've included a link below.

Answer 3

No limit on length component.

You can get a HDMI repeater if you need a long run of HDMI - HDMI is better quality most of the time.

Answer 4

There are longer length HDMI cables. Key Digital, Monster Cable, Ultralink, Ethereal all make cables out to 50'+. They are pricey though. For this length you are usually talking about in wall and if so don't skimp. A cheaper cable may work, but do you really want to replace an in-wall cable after it is installed? Since you are talking about 1080i, a better companies entry level but still CL3 rated cable should do fine. Monster 35' for $299 works good. Other people will shout me down for recommending Monster but make sure whatever they recommend has a guarranteed speed rating suitable for 1080i or higher if the cable will come from an HDMI enable receiver. You never know what you may decide to connect to it later.

If you need super long lengths use Cat5E with baluns. 1 Cat5 for Component, 2 cat5e for HDMI. You can get lengths up to 500' or so. The Baluns are kind of expensive though.