Is there any difference in the actual cables themselves when it comes to Composite and Component?

Question

I understand the difference in how the signals are sent - 1 yellow cable for analog vs. 3 for component video to reduce interference. However, I have a bunch of Red White Yellow cables. Can I use those to send the component signal or would I need to actually buy a component cable (the Yellow Blue Green cable)? Meaning, is an RCA cable always the same RCA cable? Thanks.

Answer 1

Of the yellow, red and white cables, only the yellow one was designed to carry a video signal.  So if you have a bunch of those yellow, red and wihte cables I would strip off the white and red and just use three yellow cables.  Just make sure you mate up the correct colors and you should be fine.

Answer 2

No there is no difference at all they both are made out of the same materials just different coloring

Answer 3

There is a LITTLE DIFFERENCE....The Yellow cable is thicker to transmit VIDEO FREQUENCIES better than the Thin Red and White cables, which are designed for low frequency audio signals.....

But the fact of the matter is, they will work and WORK fine.....

Answer 4

Well, they're all made of copper and use the same connections.

You could - in theory - use a set of yellow, red, white RCA cables for a component video cable.  I've done it, and it worked OK.

Same goes for the digital coax cable (orange RCA cable).

Answer 5

Component cables are specified to have 75 ohm nominal impedance. Composite A/V cables don't adhere to that specification, and so may not give best performance. You can certainly try your old red/white/yellow cables and see whether the result is good enough. It won't hurt anything to try.