BNC Video Cable Results

[SonicFlux]

I know some of you wanted to hear back from those of us who bought a BNC cable last week, so here goes

I went all out and paid 60+ bucks for mine at Ultraspec. When I picked up the package at my doorstep, I thought they shipped me the wrong thing because it was so heavy! This cable is 4 times the diameter of my original video cable that came with my viewsonic P817 (i'm not kidding). And boy was it worth it!

Web pages are easier to read, and graphics are more crisp. I have to agree with those of you that say, "reds are more red" etc...

I wouldn't recommend splurging like I did just to buy a BNC cable. But if your monitor supports BNC connections, and you aren't using it, go ahead and blow $20 to $30 on a BNC cable. Your eyes will thank you

oh, there is one downside to BNC... no plug and play.

 

[NaughtyusMaximus]

I didn't notice a huge difference, but all I went with was $30CDN belkin cables. Text is definetly much easier to read, as well as the colours being sharper. Overall, I am quite impressed with the performace increase for $30.

 

[odog]

outpost has a $20 set of BNS cables.. just put this number in the search engine 61196... here's the manufactures website6ft HD15M VGA/5 BNC VIDEO CABLE w/WOVEN SHIELD

 

[Jumpem]

SonicFlux, there are a bunch of different cables over there. Could you please do me a favor and link to the exact one that you ordered. Thanks alot!

 

[Radboy]

Thx for the post.

I have this one w/ Iiyama VM Pro 450 (Mits flatty tube) & Radeon DDR (32MB).

 

[JellyBaby]

Duly noted! Question: are the BNC 15-pin connection mutually exclusive? Can both be used simultaneously (ie is there a switch on the back of these monitors to change between signaling)? Thx.

One other thing, what video card do you own?

 

[mschell]

Most monitors that have dual d-sub/bnc connections allow you to switch between inputs with the on screen display.
I've never noticed much difference between d-sub and bnc except for the display using the monitors maximum resolution. One downside to using the bnc connection is the system has no way of knowing what monitor is connected to the video card, make sure to manually load your monitors drivers when you replace a video card or you will have a very limited selection of monitor resolutions to choose from.

 

[Celstar]

Question: Do all BNC cables perform equally well? What would be the difference between a $60 one and the $20 one at outpost.com?

 

[andrey]

I got Belkin 6ft BNC cable on eBay for $15 shipped and it seems to peform pretty good on my Sony GPD-F400, lines look much sharper and colors look more realisting.

To those who're thinking about BNC cable. It is only worth if you run at resolution 1152x864, anything lower will not make a difference.

 

[SonicFlux]

Reply to Jumpem, the part # from Ultraspec is 1522 and description is as follows: HD15M - 5 BNCM, 6 ft "These are stock, fully molded cables. Constructed with precision 75 Ohm miniature coax for the R, G, B, H & V video and sync lines for optimum extended distance/high resolution performance. There are 2 outer shields, 100 percent foil (with 25 percent overlap) and 87 percent tinned copper braid for maximum immunity from EMI/RFI interference across the frequency band."

Reply to Celstar: The difference between a $20 and $60 cable is that the $60 cable contains more shielding (hence the larger diameter) and is backed by a lifetime warranty. I seriously doubt the typical home computer room demands this much shielding from a BNC cable. However, If you're buying a BNC cable for your company's server room (miles of wire and tons of servers, monitors, etc.) then the extra shielding may come in handy.

Reply to andrey: I'm running at 1024x768 and 120Hz refresh with a P817 and geforce se, and I can see a difference. I agree that the difference isn't as noticable with lower resolutions and refresh rates. But then again, if you are running at 800x600 and 75Hz, your monitor probably doesn't support BNC

 

[Possum]

I tried a BNC cable on my 19" Sony GDM-400PS at 1152x864 (I always run Win___ at this resolution) and don't notice any difference. However, if there is a difference I would like to see what it is. Is there any program or way to test if the cables offer an obvious difference in quality? Just staring at the text and colors on my screen didn't help much.

 

[Jumpem]

Thanks SonicFlux!

 

[Imported]

Anyone know how good the BNC cable from Monster Cable is?

 

[tonetgs]

illkid -- I have a Monster BNC cable hooked to a 19" NEC FP950 monitor and a 3dfx Voodoo3 card. Got it a year ago for $50 from J&R, I think. I, too, debated between the cost-effectiveness of a BNC cable and a standard VGA cable. If there's a difference, I didn't notice it (I use 1024x768 resolution). I tested in both desktop apps and games. The real reason I got the cable, though, was to try to minimize some ghosting problems with text, but the BNC didn't fix it. But I think that's just due to the downside of aperture grille monitors (like my NEC) vs. shadow mask monitors.

At a minimum, though, a BNC cable won't degrade your video quality from a standard cable.

Tonet

 

[vec]

I bought a cheap $15 bnc cable and it looked worse than my dsub on my Mitsu 900u NF monitor (using gforce II and voodoo 3 @ 1280x1024).

Don't bother with the cheap ones, if you do decide to do this get a good quality cable.

I use the cheap cable when troubleshooting systems - nice to have dual inputs on the 900u.

 

[Radboy]

When I was shopping for a BNC cable, everybody told me the same thing -> get a good, quality cable (or you're wasting your money).

Yellows became more yellow, blues more blue. Text got a little criper, but I'm not into text very mich. More noticeable at higher rez'es.

 

[Origen]

I've been looking at the BNC cables at www.bettercables.com, they're horribly expensive compared to just an average set of BNC cables. Anyone here tried them, if so any noticeable differences to comment on?

 

[Dulanic]

I worked Video Sales for 2 years... and I can tell you Monster Cable makes purely TOP quality cables. I havent used their BNC cables because my Sony E200 (2 years old) doesnt support them. I will say I am an extreme Monster Cable fan and even have Monster Cable phone line for my modem and it did give me an extra .2KB/sec difference. My Home Theater is all monster cable and the difference it makes is noticable.

 

[AndrewR]

tonetgs: I have the same monitor (see sig) and have no ghosting problems whatsoever. I have the dreaded Radeon "shimmer", but otherwise this is the best monitor I have ever owned, hands down (and the shimmer is due to be fixed shortly with either a driver or BIOS update). I saw a dramatic improvement when I switched to BNC.

I've seen a slight trend with the couple posts here and some from before. It doesn't appear that Voodoo3 cards benefit from BNC as I seem to remember two others previously that posted no difference with V3's. I think it's a slam dunk on an ATI or a Matrox, probably the same for Nvidia, but 3dfx appears questionable. Just a wild guess.

 

[tonetgs]

AndrewR -- Interesting observation regarding 3dfx Voodoo3 cards and BNC cables.

And yes, I totally agree the NEC FP950 is a great monitor. I went through 3 other monitors (Sony G400, Mitsubishi 900u, and Hitachi SuperScan Elite 751) before choosing the NEC and the main reason I settled on the NEC is because it exhibited the least amount of problems. My situation is kind of unique because I was having all kinds of problems with magnetic field disortion, bowing, pincushioning, etc. on all the monitors. So I wouldn't be surprised if my ghosting had something to do with that. I think my apartment has a strong magnetic field in the walls that tends to freak out sensitive display devices.

Tonet

 

[oldfart]

I have a Mitsu 900U and got the Belkin cable. I dont see any difference at all. My res is 1152 x 864.

 

[major_major]

mitubishi 900u with bnc cables at 1280x1024..not a bit of difference from normal d-sub cables..and my monitor still gets blown away by my brother's dell P991

 

[joshdoe]

A few q's:

1. Would my Samsung SyncMaster 900NF/Visiontek OEM GF2MX @ 1240x1024x32 benefit from BNC?

2. Is the Outpost BNC cable any good?

3. How can it improve quality if it still uses the same output as standard VGA cables?

 

[tonyou]

I have a $30 BNC cable and an iiyama Vision Master Pro 450 for nearly two years now. With my old ATI All-in-Wonder 4meg (RageII, 170MHz RAMDAC), the BNC was noticeably more clear compared to D-SUB connector. While the Diamond Viper (Riva 128, 230MHz RAMDAC) show some differences between the two cables, it wasn't as obvious as with the ATI card. The Voodoo3 3000 (350MHz RAMDAC) and the Matrox G400 MAX (360MHz RAMDAC) that I have recently do not show any differences between the two cables anymore.

Perhaps I need to upgrade my BNC cable or monitor?

Tony