Monitor cable reccomendation

[CygnusX1]

Hi all,

I recently purchased a Samsung 900NF monitor and am quite happy with it (Thanks LXi!). It came with a standard 15 pin dsub cable but the monitor has 5 bnc connectors. I feel I might as well take advantage of the bnc connectors. Who makes a good quality dsub to bnc cable that isn't terribly expensive (I found one at http://www.bettercables.com for $85). I'm wary about the really inexpensive ones (I found an IBM cable for $7).
Any suggestions?

Mark.

 

[Gosharkss]

My 2 cents on BNC Connectors

Theoretically the BNC connectors should give you a better video image. BNC connectors are designed to match the impedance of the coaxial cable. Impedance miss matches will send small ripples (for lack of a better term) up and down the video cable. These ripples could be amplified by the monitor and show on the screen as very small ghost images particularly after a bright to dark, or dark to light transitions.

Even if you use a BNC cable, the end that attaches to the video card is still the VGA DB-15. The impedance mismatch at that end of the cable can cause the same types of ghosting affect. If both sides had BNC connections then there would be some improvement.

Many monitors come with BNC connectors. If the video quality really were better, shouldn't you expect the manufacturer to supply the right cable with the monitor? BTW almost all 15-pin cables use the same 75Ohm coaxial cable used in the BNC Cables.

For me, the quality aspect of Windows plug and play is more important. BNC connectors do not support Windows plug and play the DB-15 connector does.

Try both of them and see for yourself. I doubt that you will notice a difference between the two styles of connectors. Please post the results if you decide to try this experiment.

Good Luck

Jim @ http://www.monitorsdirect.com

 

[CygnusX1]

Thanks for the information. If I am going to do a test I'd rather do it with a high quality bnc cable. Who makes decent 15 pin to 5 bnc cables?

Mark.

 

[soupcan]

Gosharkss: just an fyi, the Samsung 1200nf monitor I just bought included the bnc cables.

But I have had a chance to compare one to the other yet.

 

[Gosharkss]

Thanks for the update, I'll add this to my data base. When you do the experiment please post the results. Also when you do the experiment have some else hook up the cables with out you knowing which one is connected. This will help eliminate the placebo affect.

Thanks

Jim

 

[CygnusX1]

I found a place locally that has the correct cable. I'll buy one tonight and do the double-blind test. I'll let you guys know what I find.

Mark.

 

[jamarno]

A cheap way to make a top quality BNC cable is to buy separate BNC cables (Fry's, Radio Shack) and some bulk 72-ohm coaxial cable and a crimper (not all BNC connectors need a crimping tool).

Since it's mostly the BNC connectors themselves that increase the bandwidth, the $7 IBM BNC cable is probably fine if it's at least as fat as one of those video cables that's permanently attached to a monitor, which indicates that each color signal gets its own coaxial cable. Don't use a 15-pin-to-BNC adapter because then the bandwidth will be limited by the 15-pin connector.

How are you going to compare video cables with a double blind test???

 

[Biggs]

Bump!
I'm anxiously awaiting for the results.