Which Cables to Buy?

[wirm]

Hi, I'm a total noob at buying cables, but I just ordered a new TV and would like to connect it to my satellite receiver. The receiver is non-HD, so I was planning to use a single cable like the ones that come out of the wall to connnect the TV and receiver.

I've heard that monoprice was a good source, so I went to the site but realize that I have no idea what kind of cable to get. I've never seen so many different numbers before.

After some looking, I'm guessing I need an RG-6, and clicked on this link:
quad shielded coaxial

I have a couple questions:
Is this the right kind of cable?

Why does the price get cheaper the longer it is? Maybe I'm reading it wrong.

Does the cable come with the heads? I don't know how to add those connectors at the end

Am I better off getting a 50 foot RCA component cable? RCA Composite? What's the difference? The component seems to have more cables.

Thanks for your help

 

[sdifox]

What kind of connection does your satellite receiver have? What kind of input your tv has? find the highest common denominator, chances are component is the best you are going to get out of a sd sat box.

 

[wirm]

The satellite box just has either the red/white/yellow outputs or the knd with green/blue/red along with the coaxial output.

No HDMI for the SD satellite box.

So is the green/blue/red cable better than the white/red/yellow?

thanks

 

[id24601]

You said you dont have HDMI then Component video would be your best bet.

Component video = green/blue/red cable <--
Composite video = yellow cable

Stereo sound (Left/Right) = white/red cable
Surround sound (5.1 stuff) = coaxial


Component cables
The 3 cables ones are for the component video signal. The 5 cable ones are the same thing, they just have the stereo sound cables with it. Since you are connecting it to a tv there is no point in bothering with the surround sound stuff.

 

[wirm]

Ok, so I should be shooting for the one with 5 cables (2 reds, green, blue, white) then.

I'm guessing the 3-cable one (red, yellow, white) is lower quality?

Thanks

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: wirm
Ok, so I should be shooting for the one with 5 cables (2 reds, green, blue, white) then.

I'm guessing the 3-cable one (red, yellow, white) is lower quality?

Thanks

Correct. Component video keeps the video in three separate signals. Composite(yellow) keeps it as one.

Red and white is just stereo audio and has nothing to do with video.