Did You Know

Both, component and composite video cables commonly use the same coaxial RCA connectors for connecting to various devices. This adds to the confusion that the consumers already face while distinguishing between these two cable types.

Component Component video technology splits the video signal into three basic components, and transmits them individually via separate channels (cables). This technology supersedes both composite and S-video in terms of clarity and picture quality, and is considered to be a high-end video interface. As mentioned above, component video uses three cables for transmitting video, and requires additional cables for audio transmission. It is an analog video format. This technology is widely used in DVD players, TV antennas, cable TV transmission and reception, etc. Composite Composite video technology was developed back in the 1950s, when the addition of color to black and white TVs had just begun. Back then, the color information for the video was multiplexed with the monochrome signals, and transmitted along the same TV channel. It was the first video signal to include color in it. Composite video combines all three video components, namely luminance (Y), color (U), and (V), via encoding into one signal, which is then transmitted over a single cable. For transmitting audio, additional cables and connectors are required. It too is an analog video format. This technology was used as a standard in the NTSC, PAL and SECAM television sets, before the advent of HDTVs.

Component: Basic component AV cables include five individual color-coded male connectors on each end. Of these, three cables with the connectors―red, blue, and green―carry the video signal split into three components, while the remaining two cables with the connectors―red and white―carry the left and right channel audio components of the stereoscopic sound. The specialized versions of the component cable have the usual five connectors on one end and a specialized device-specific output plug on the other. Composite: In the basic form, composite AV cables comprise three male connectors on each end. They are typically color coded into red, yellow, and white. The yellow cable carries the composite video signal, while the red and white cables carry the left and right channel audio components of the stereoscopic sound signal. In some specific versions, especially the ones designed for certain gaming consoles, there are three cables and connectors on one end and a single specialized output plug on the other, which is designed to connect to the console. Component: In the component video, the video signal is divided into three separate channels, namely, Y, P_B, and P_R. Y carries the information pertaining to the screen's brightness, also known as luminance, P_B carries the difference between blue and the luminance, and P_R carries the difference between red and the luminance. Composite: This technology transmits video signals via a single line-level cable, wherein the video information is encoded into a single channel. Component: Component video, is a successor to the composite, and is capable of supporting a wide range of resolutions, right from the standard 480i of old, to the 1080p HD, and theoretically even those beyond it. Composite: This is an older generation technology, which was used prior to the advent of high-definition (HD) video. As such, it is limited to resolutions of 480i and 576i, and doesn't support the modern HD technology and associated resolutions. Component: In this technology, the luminance and color components of the video are transmitted individually as three separate and independent signals. As they don't undergo the encoding and decoding process, there is comparatively much lower loss in this signal. As such, the picture quality obtained through the use of component cables is superior to that obtained from composite cables. Composite: For the generation of a composite video signal, all the different components of the video signal, including the luminance, chrominance, along with the different color information, are encoded together into one signal. This causes considerable degradation in the picture quality at the output when this signal is decoded.