Monster Cable GameLink 400 Component-Video Cable for PlayStation 2 (10 feet)
by Monster Cable
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Monster Cable GameLink 400 Component-Video Cable for PlayStation 2 (10 feet)
Customer Review: Visible to the naked eye
Summary: 4 Stars
The bright side:You CAN get better, crystal-clear picture quality. After using S-Video for several years and the going to component, you'll instantly notice colors on the TV you have never seen before. It's not easy to put in words, but if you are ever in an electronics store, look for a demo comparing composite to S-Video to component, and you'll be amazed. Paying the extra money to go to component is definitely worth it when it comes to your DVD's.
The dark side:
When it comes to DVD's, this component output is incredible. When it comes to your PS2 games... no noticable difference in my view. Maybe there is or was, but it didn't catch my attention like it did with the DVD picture.
Is it really necessary or worth the money to get Monster Cables? In my opinion, the answer is NO. I did a test with a 3rd-Party Component PS2 cable...no difference whatsoever. It seems Monster Cable jacks up their prices with their unnecessary mumbo-jumbo features of how they were constructed with nitrogen/plutonium and the gold/diamond/kryptonite ingredients (I'm not being completely serious, by the way)...but, hey, cables are cables. I mean unless you have like thunderstorms, hailstorms, tornadoes and/or massive electromagnetic fields generating in your living room, yeah, you may need these high-quality, invincible cables. But in my opinion, there's no real need. So what if these quality cables last a life time? Name a single person in this world who would keep a PS2 for so long in his/her life.
My advice is to just get the cheap cables. They are good enough. Or look for the Monster brand cheap like I did on eBay. Seeing that Component cables have three jacks, I've noticed many people make the mistake believing audio is included...NOPE. Those three Red, Blue, and Green plugs are for video ONLY. Go with component, but not Monster brand.
Customer Review: Monster Gamelink 400 Component Video Cable
Summary: 4 Stars
After reading the reviews about the tightness of the connections, I was wary to purchase this at all. But at $15 it was too good to pass up.
____Connection____
When connecting to the back panel of my Hitachi 42" HDTV, they were indeed tight. But, instead of forcing them on like a caveman, I gradually rotated the RCA plug clockwise, and it was able to slide on with little effort. Note that this cable has no built-in way to loosen the connections. Unscrewing the cable just exposes the wiring, which is of no use to someone installing it. And when trying to remove it, pulling it out will most likely rip out the TV's jacks. Again, twisting gently I am able to remove them with little effort.
___Video Quality___
Using the cables supplied with the Playstation 2 (composite), video quality on an HDTV is quite horrible. The difference between the composite and the Gamelink 400 is remarkable. Even on games without Progressive Scan, it makes everything so much clearer. That's because unlike composite, which is compressing the signal into a single cable (resulting in poor video quality), component video transmits the video over three cables (uncompressed). And for games with Progressive Scan (which require component connections), the graphics are astounding for a console as old as this.
___Other Notes___
As this particular cable does not include audio, I use a Fiber Optic cable, and because this type of cable transmits digitally, you can get true 5.1 Surround out of the console. So far, this has made me actually play my Playstation 2 again (which is the SCPH-39001 model, and yes, it still works). A great purchase.
Customer Review: When you gotta have the best, this is it
Summary: 4 Stars
Typical of boutique cables, the cables are thick and attractive. I use Monster's Video2-series component and S-video cables for other sources and they are about equal in quality.The Monster 400 provides only the video connection. You must use optical Toslink cable for audio. Few PS2 titles output analog audio only (e.g., Fantavision), in which case you won't hear a thing.
I've been using Sony's composite video cable for few months (connected to Toshiba 56H80). The improvements probably owe more to component connection than anything, but for what it's worth, they are significant.
Most significant is the color definition. Before the switch, they were muddy and softly defined. Now they are vibrant and detailed.
My TV is equipped with pretty good comb filter (not yet ISF calibrated, just Video Essential). With composite, the images were still plagued with ringing artifacts and rainbow effects. Not so with Monster 400. If anything, this cable magnifies weakness in many PS2 titles (lack of anti-aliasing).
Is it worth $50? Sony's own component cable costs $25, and Pelican's poorly-shielded component cable costs $10. I've not used these cables personally (but my friend's used both on his Toshiba 40H80), but I am betting that Monster is not 2X better than Sony.
But if you want the absolute best, $25 may not a huge premium to pay. Especially when you slept outside the store all night (or refreshed browser every minutes) to get your hands on PS2.
Customer Review: Understand what you're buying!
Summary: 4 Stars
It seems there are alot of confused people out there who are disappointed in this cable. C'mon, do a little research if you're unsure! I was rolling on the floor after reading about the guy that stripped his cable into pieces trying to plug some of it into his TV and some of it into this A/V receiver.This is a component video cable. COMPONENT VIDEO. For those who are unfamiliar, this means a couple of things:
1. Your TV must have component video inputs (one each for red, blue and green)
2. This cable has nothing to do with AUDIO! You must have a seperate cable for audio (digital optical)
3. This cable has nothing to do with S-Video!
4. This cable has nothing to do with composite video!
If you have a smaller TV (say 27"), you're not going to notice much difference with these cables, as far as how games look (if you think you see a difference, I'm not saying you're wrong, just speaking as to the magnitude of improvement experienced on sets of different sizes). Even at 27", you'll probably notice more of a difference if you're using your PS2 as a DVD player (but get a cheap proggressive scan DVD player instead if that is your motivation for buying these cables). People who will benefit most from these cables are those with larger TV's, especially HD. Guaranteed you'll notice a difference at that level! This cable gets 4 stars because it's overpriced. See similar products from Sony and Madcatz.
Customer Review: Please read this before you buy this.
Summary: 4 Stars
At first I was not going to write a review then I was reading the ones that have been written. I see a lot of ... with keyboards. This does not have S-Video on it it is COMPONENT all 3 of theses cables carry a Video Signal. An S-Video has a thing that kind of resembles a computer's mouse hook up, and it has AV sound traveling with it. Yes it is excelent. But you have nothing carrying the audio signal. I have S-Video on my home TV and my friend is running the COMPONENT. I am not sure how he is running the sound I did not look. S-Video is easier to hook up and more common on TVs then Component hook ups. S-Video is only a little worse then this, but the S-Video is still great compared to the AV that comes standered, and alot better then the RHF hook up that can be bought. I will suggest the Monster Cable S-Video for the PS2. For my closing, I say this is a good product, and THESE ... WITH KEYBOARDS THAT THINK THIS IS AN S-VIDEO CABLE SHOULD LEARN SOMETHING AND STOP TYPING. I ahte to say this but if you spend only a few mins in an electronics store or something you can learn the difference in them all.