Best Video cable for picture quality?

What kind of DVD player are we talking about? One consideration (which may or may not be relevant, depending) is that some of the new progressive scan DVD players (Pioneer for one, not sure about others) only run the progressive signal through the component outs. So, if you've spent the money to get a progressive scan DVD player and a compatible TV, make sure you're not short-changing yourself with either s-video or composit. I just ordered the new component cable from bettercables.com (based on recomendations from around these parts and a relatively friendly price tag) and am looking forward to seeing what it can do...

Drubin: a good quality low loss wideband 75 ohm RF coax is RG-6, available from Radio Shaft etc. along with type-F connectors. I have not evaluated any other coax's regarding differences in picture quality, but I expect the lowest loss cable is the one that yields best video performance. Anyone else?

I recently bought a pair of used Monster M2000SV silver series S-VHS cables from "Underwoodwally" (one of the partners of the Perpetual Technologies products). He still has some of these cables left for about half-price -- look for his ads here on Audiogon. The M2000SV series is the best that Monster Cable makes, and they have been highly recommended in several video mags.

Slightly off topic, but I'd like to improve the quality of the signal I'm getting from the wall into my digital cable box. This is 75 ohm coax I believe and I'm not sure what they call the connector they use (short, thin, stiff wire). Benefits to upgrading this cable? Recommendations?

Actually on the back of the Sony 9000 there is also a "S"
and a set of component outputs. I can e-mail anyone a picture of the back of the unit..if it helps.

Abstract7, The sony 9000 dvd player has audio RCA outputs
and a seperate RCA for video out. I will be running the
audio outputs directly into my audio system...so I am wanting to get the best cable for taking the video only
signal from the DVD player into the Sony XBR ..that has
inputs for Video and L & R Audio. Thanks

Composite is the most basic. It has the entire signal in one cable. The connection is generally RCA type. S Video separates the Y & C components of the video. For sources where this separation is native (originally recorded as separate signals), this can deliver a significantly better picture. If it is not native it varies--sometimes the composite is better, sometimes the S-video is better. The component is used on most DVDs, although your TV if it's more than 3 or 4 years old, probably does not have a component video in. This is really 3 composite video cables. They carry separate Y, Pb, and Pr signals.

In general, if you have component available to you on both your TV and DVD player, this will yield the best results. S-video would be the second choice, followed by Composite as the last choice in terms of best picture quality.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the input. Also, I am unsure of the difference
between composite, component, and composite S...?

The Monster M1000V Silver composite and M1000SV Silver S-Video cables are both recommended by Joe Kane, if that matters to you. Imaging Science Foundation certified these cables for video quality. I figure the ISF guys have more test equipment to verify the signal integrity than I do, so I trust them.

Hello. I have achieved excellent results with Monster Cable M1000 series video cables in both composite and S versions. The Monster wire is relatively inexpensive, and well made. You can pay much more for expensive, esoteric wire configurations, but you won't get much more for your money in the way of improved picture quality.

The best I have tried is the Audioquest. I have only tested the YIQ-4 which is a componenet video. It is equivalent to the top of the line terminations on the top composite cable, but with the 2nd in the line for the cable. However, for a composite signal, I really couldn't justify the price for the performance. I would recommend BetterCables.com. I believe they make the best value video cable around. They are very close to the AQ performance at a fraction of the price.