Video Cables!

Here at the help desk, we try to help people better help themselves. Computers are everywhere – they’ve become a huge part of our everyday and professional lives. Why wouldn’t we want to know a thing or two about them?

To help with that, we’ve started this new segment called “Knowing Stuff” where we’ll cover a computer-related topic each week to help you know your way around computers better.

This week’s topic:
What’s up with all these video cables?
With the digital TV transition looming, and HDTVs and other high-quality consumer video coming out in droves, you might be curious as to what all these cables and connectors are for. What’s the difference between them all? Well, there’s a lot, actually, and most of it has to do with quality, and whether they are for digital or analog connections.

Wait. Digital? Analog? Huh?
You’re probably already pretty familiar with these, even if you might not be familiar with the terms. Digital is the language of computers, everything is transmitted in ones and zeros. When it comes to certain applications like video, digital allows us to get much higher quality than the alternative.

Analog is different from digital in that it is a wave form, a steady flow of signal. The way the signals or waves change as they move dictates what happens on our screens or comes out of our radios.

Though it might seem like it, analog is not necessarily inferior to digital. Each has its advantages and disadvantages depending on the situation. But when it comes to video, digital is king!

On to the cables!
Now that we’ve got that cleared up, check out this chart. It shows the most common video cables and ranks them by the quality of video you’ll get by using them.

In addition to those, there’s a couple more that don’t quite fit into a set place on the Scale of Awesomeness:

Now, there’s something else you should know. Some people/retailers will try to convince you that you need to spend a great deal on “high quality” cables. While it is true that you want good ones, they should never cost you an arm and a leg. A great place to get cables at actually reasonable prices, go to www.monoprice.com.

Thanks for reading this week’s Knowing Stuff!
Next week Wes will be discussing the importance of keeping your computer clean (it’s not just for aesthetics!)