Gold Plated Vs Normal Cables

[amira]

Is capturing with "Gold plated svideo cable" as opposed to "Normal Svideo cable" really give you better quality?

What are the main differences?

[edDV]

Main difference is connection resistance. Gold (or silver) is a better conductor and doesn't corrode as much. However only high end equipment has gold plated connectors. Best if both connectors are gold plated.

Normal connectors should be rotated periodically to break through the corrosion layer.

Just because a cable is gold color does not mean the material is gold. Check the specs.

All that said, most consumer equipment will operate fine without overspending on cables. Retail chain premium cables can be total ripoffs. You are mostly paying for increased markup and salesman commission. Buy online.

Prior to capturing, unplug and replug or rotate cables for a secure connection.

[piano632]

Gold plating is used mainly because it is the only metal that doesn't rust or oxidize (turn green) when exposed to air/humidity over long periods of time.

As to whether you get better captures with gold plated cables - it depends more on the quality of the whole cable, not just the gold plated ends. You also want to make sure it is real gold and not just gold-colored.

[Pixel Land]

With hundreds of tin/lead connections on the boards inside, I don't worry much about the type of metal used for a cable end. As long as the cable you choose has good shielding against noise, no big concern.

[only_emo_kid]

it's all about money.....

[normcar]

If you are using cheap video cables, then good video cables (such as monster cables) will help. Most of the best cables are gold plated. This will make a difference if you take apart and reassemble the components on an ongoing basis (or if you live in a humid and/or close to the ocean which would cause oxidation). Connections that remain connected can also oxidize, because each type of metal has a different charge, and one metal may make the other metal oxidize at a faster rate. However, gold oxidizes at a much slower rate.

Did you know that the best thing you can do for sound in sterio system is get cables that are better than the little thin 2 wire type? Replacing these cables will improve the sound quality.

[edDV]

If you are using cheap video cables, then good video cables (such as monster cables) will help. Most of the best cables are gold plated. This will make a difference if you take apart and reassemble the components on an ongoing basis (or if you live in a humid and/or close to the ocean which would cause oxidation). Connections that remain connected can also oxidize, because each type of metal has a different charge, and one metal may make the other metal oxidize at a faster rate. However, gold oxidizes at a much slower rate.

Reconnecting cables usuallly wipes any surface corrosion. Monster cables are vastly overpriced and won't solve the problem unless every other connection in the chain is also gold. It isn't a big problem anyway, just a precaution.

Did you know that the best thing you can do for sound in sterio system is get cables that are better than the little thin 2 wire type? Replacing these cables will improve the sound quality.

If you are talking about speaker wire I agree 100%. Wal-Mart sells heavy gauge speaker wire at low prices.

[eddytor]

take a look at Belkin PureAV silver series. www.pureav.com

the spec on these cables is very high and they are much cheaper than monster cables.

for some detailed info on cable construction read this link:-

http://www.hifi.org.uk/tech/

reading all of the sections gives you all the info you need to make your decisions. I chose the belkins on the strength of this atlas article.

hope that helps

Pete

[JonathanMSTY]

Gold Plating is less conductive then silver or tin there for it is better.

Now if your device doesn't have a gold adapter then your benefit is less but is still there.

The Cables quality is more important then the adapter quality but is still important

Adapter Specification: (Highly Recommended 2011)

Coax
RG-6 compatible COMPRESSION connecters

HDMI
Gold Plated 1.3/1.4 compatible


Ethernet
RJ-45 CAT7 compatible with GOLD tips

SATA III
Quality cables have a metal clip on the adapter

Cable Specification: (Highly Recommended 2011)

Coax RG-6/U or RG-6/UQ
(RG-6/UQ is higher quality and has Quad Shielding pervading better quality cable and higher durability)

HDMI 1.3 or 1.4
(1.4 is better quality and has a higher data transfer speed)

Ethernet Cat 6 or Cat 7
(Cat 7 has a wire shield pervading better quality cable and more durability also has a higher data transfer speed)

SATA III
(SATA III is better quality and has 2XSATAII data speed)

[redwudz]

I just stick with name brand cables like Belkin or similar. A quality cable will have quality connectors and will have a decent shield and fair sized conductors. But it doesn't have to cost a fortune. 99% of cables will work exactly the same at audio and video frequencies if they're short enough and have decent shielding.

If you are talking gigahertz frequencies, then a good cable is a must. But most video is far below that in frequencies and audio even less so. If you unplug your cables a couple of times a week, sure, go for the professional quality. But make sure the connectors they plug into are also pro quality, or you are just wasting money, IMO.

[Cornucopia]

Wow, there's a lot of misinformation (or rather cross-information) going on here.

A LOT has to do with how signals travel through wires, or down pathways (electrical conductivity). But one must also take into account interference and or heat conduction. Also, bandwidth.

However, we're now living in a world where the great majority of connections are digital. Usually, only the 1st link (microphones) and Last link (speakers) in the signal chain are actually in the analog domain. And this makes all the difference.

Conductivity-wise, Silver is best, then Copper, then Gold. However, when Silver oxidizes (tarnishes), it starts mutating into "silver oxide" which has much less conductivity. This happens to a lesser extent with Copper as well. Gold rarely/barely oxides, which is why it is revered for its external plating as it retains its low resistance (high conductivity).

When dealing with these different resistances, analog signals will lose the highest frequencies the greater the resistance, and of course, the greater the length and smaller the diameter of cable, the greater the resistance. So for analog high-bandwidth to be maintained, you want short, fat cables. Then the minor differences between materials matters less.

And back to what I said about digital - for all normal purposes, IT DOES NOT MATTER AT ALL. Why? Because that's one of the benefits of digital. As long as the medium (in this case, wires/cables) isn't so degrading as to cause uncorrectable bit errors, then EVERYTHING is fully recoverable & identical to the original/source.

IOW, you'd have to have really crappy cables, or really high demands (on bandwidth, etc) to make ANY DIFFERENCE in a digital signal. And with modern cable braiding/shielding techniques, bandwidth can be very high indeed. In fact, I'd say there's more to be concerned about regarding how well shielded a cable is, and how solidly welded the connectors are. That's where high end cables make a big difference, particularly after aging effects.

Scott

[pandy]

my 2 cents - gold plating must be on both sides ie receptacle and plug - gold is very good but for example tin destroy gold layer (gold dissolve in tin - similar to silver) - if receptacle is cheap, consumer type (mostly brass with tin layer) - gold will not help to much - more important is that gold is better from marketing point of view ie looks more professional and expensive... but once again - all joints must be gold plated (like in pro equipment) also there is second explanation for gold/tin contacts http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?arnumber=122287 electrochemical corrosion http://www.te.com/documentation/whitepapers/pdf/aurulrep.pdf

[jagabo]

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/221249-Test-Caps-various-composite-and-s-video-cabl...ight=composite

[pandy]

but this comparison takes only material and price to consideration - cable and plugs is more complex than gold (or not) plated connector - constant impedance, cable own capacity, losses - those things can be more important than gold or not gold plated plugs, i can imagine very good and cheap cable made form industry standard coaxial cable with good parameters and decent plugs without gold plating, i can imagine to heavily bloated by marketing cable with poor parameters and gold everywhere - look at the plastic optic cables - many of them have ferrite cores... everything is gold plated then if you measure system such expensive plastic coax is worse than average 75ohm coax s/pdif cable based on old RG59 and two good 75 Ohm's RCA plugs.

[JonathanMSTY]

I just stick with name brand cables like Belkin or similar. A quality cable will have quality connectors and will have a decent shield and fair sized conductors. But it doesn't have to cost a fortune. 99% of cables will work exactly the same at audio and video frequencies if they're short enough and have decent shielding.

If you are talking gigahertz frequencies, then a good cable is a must. But most video is far below that in frequencies and audio even less so. If you unplug your cables a couple of times a week, sure, go for the professional quality. But make sure the connectors they plug into are also pro quality, or you are just wasting money, IMO.

Yes that will work most of the time but you still need to make sure that it is maid out of the most current cable design.

[JonathanMSTY]

Quote:
Originally Posted by andy1249
There is no such thing as a HDMI 1.4 compatible cable , thats BS , all HDMI cables work with all HDMI interfaces and all the features that are found on all interfaces.
The only exception to this is the "with ethernet" feature which nobody, and I mean nobody , has implemented , mainly because RJ45 and ethernet cable is so much more reliable.

There is zero difference between HDMI 1.3 and 1.4 chipsets in terms of data throughput , both have exactly the same limit of 10.2 Gbps.

As for the rest of the post , only the first sentence makes any sense as far as I can see.

Yes all HDMI's are compatible, and yes the HDMI limit is 10.2Gbps. But 1.4 is different from 1.3 being that it is of higher quality cable and more reliable data transfer speed.

Now petty much every connecter is backwards compatible yes, but that does not mean it will utilize the full patenchal of the newer configuration to achieve the best performance you must have the newer of the two adapters across the entire system. For example if my TV has a 1.3 HDMI adapter and my wire is HDMI 1.4 then the cable and the TV will never achieve better then the 1.3 specifications.

Ethernet, if you put in a Cat 7 Ethernet cable but use CAT 5e wall mounts then the cable will perform as if it were a CAT 5e cable. Professionals have adapted CAT 6/7 as the main stream Ethernet because it runs a 1Gb to 10Gb were Cat 5e and all others do not.

[pandy]

AFAIR for HDMI 1.4 jitter requirement is more strict - thus impedance of cable must be better controlled - also other parameters was changed thus cable for 1.4 and 1.3 can be different (but backward compatible anyway) - also full 1.4 have Ethernet and audio return thus features not present in previous versions (but cables and connectors are also different - no backward compatibility)

[jagabo]

The OP is asking about s-video cables.

[El Heggunte]

^ And the OP started this thread 6 years ago

[sanlyn]

^ And the OP started this thread 6 years ago

Yep. And the myths keep on keepin' on.

MonsterCable: Soldered connections on the plugs? Must be kidding. Don't see any pro setups that use solder. Pros build their own cable with crimped, solderless connectors. Be prepared to spend something for the tools.

Gold: poor conductor. Check the cable or phone company's wire coming into your home. See any gold on it? I thought the big boys used copper/chromium or some other copper alloy. But I guess gold won't hurt too much. Makes people feel as if they spent their money and got something.

Video/audiophiles (those on a budget, anyway): Price alone is an unreliable indicator. Some of the really expensive stuff, far beyond Monster or BestBuy's range, is actually pretty good stuff...some of it. Stranded-core, mixed core (Monster loves to sell this kind), silver plated, twisted-pair? Those are no-no's.

HDMI: Get some 100-ohm Ethernet wire. Strip the insulation and pull out the inner insulated twisted pairs. Get enough pairs to equal the same number of wire leads in typical HDMI. Get some insulated cable sleeving, shove your gathered twisted pairs through it. Get some blank HDMI plugs, some silver solder, a soldering iron. Voila! Make 'em all day and save lots of money. Or go to a UK outfit called ThatCable and save time and even more money.

While I don't care for every piece of wire made by BlueJeansCable (and I tried them all), their website has some excellent and informative articles on how pros use cables. Look at the left-hand sidebar on their website. Then ignore the hype on the cable packaging and make up your own mind.