Component Cable for PS2

[Nimdok]

Just a couple of questions regarding these:

Decided to dig out my PS2 after not having played on it in a number of years, but found that connecting it to my HDTV by AV cable produces a terrible low res image that flickers and distorts the colours a lot (mainly the reds, but some text is so pixelated it's almost unreadable). Now I've had a read around several forums (including this one) and it seems that a lot of people recommend using a component cable instead to produce a better looking picture. I however, have limited knowledge when it comes to TV/AV related stuff, so I checked the back of my TV to see if I had the appropriate connectors and only found 2 ports labelled as component:

Firstly, am I missing something? Going by the diagram of the official Sony PS3/PS2 component cable (link to follow shortly) I figured there'd be a port for each of the 5 leads. Do I only connect a couple of them?

Secondly, does the quality of the component cable make that much of a difference? Some people seem to recommend the cheap/bargain versions of these cables saying they do the job while others say they should be avoided, and get the official one instead. Looked around Amazon and found the following which I was considering buying until I saw the number of ports on the back of my TV:

So would this work with my TV, and is that cable worth the £20? Not really fussed about the graphics looking any better, but I'd like to not have such distorted text and dodgy looking colours.

(Please excuse my nubbery )

 

[sean]

Secondly, does the quality of the component cable make that much of a difference? Some people seem to recommend the cheap/bargain versions of these cables saying they do the job while others say they should be avoided, and get the official one instead.

I've tried my PS2 on a couple of HDTVs and a home projector and component cables make a huge difference, especially when coming from the standard yellow composite AV cable. I've tried the official Sony cable, a cheap Ebay cable and a £10 one from game - I couldn't tell any difference between Sony and Game's cables but the £3 effort from Ebay looked awful, with green ghosting across any high contrast area.

I suspect your TV came with / requires an adaptor to connect the component video cables. Something like this, perhaps with red & white audio connectors, too

 

[Nimdok]

I've tried my PS2 on a couple of HDTVs and a home projector and component cables make a huge difference, especially when coming from the standard yellow composite AV cable. I've tried the official Sony cable, a cheap Ebay cable and a £10 one from game - I couldn't tell any difference between Sony and Game's cables but the £3 effort from Ebay looked awful, with green ghosting across any high contrast area.

I suspect your TV came with / requires an adaptor to connect the component video cables. Something like this, perhaps with red & white audio connectors, too

<snip>

Ah, thanks for that believe I got something similar with my TV, so I'll have a look for it in the morning. Will see if GAME has any cables in stock tomorrow, if not I'll probably just order one from the rainforest (might as well give some of the high rated non-Sony cables a go I guess).

Cheers again for the help, cleared up a lot

 

[Black Dog]

The component cable will make a bit of a difference but only with games that support progressive scan 480p resolution will you get the best picture possible. Only a few games support this feature though. The PS2 is limited to low res, I think it's 300 x 240 which is not the best on a HD tv.

The five leads are red, green and blue which are for the picture and the other red and white are for the left and right audio. You don't need any other cables except you will have to figure out what colour goes in what with your tv as it doesn't seem to display them. The left and right audio should go into the other connecters on the back next to the av connectors.

You will also have to go into the PS2 settings and change from RGB to YPbPr.

Have fun as the PS2 is a fine system. I have several Component cables and have not seen any different in the picture quality so I would go for a cheapy.

 

[Armadillo]

I used some cheap blaze cables on mine, no issues with them. Although I went back to CRT and RGB scart, as ps2 is just awful on lcd (as are all sd consoles) .

 

[Black Dog]

Although I went back to CRT and RGB scart, as ps2 is just awful on lcd (as are all sd consoles) .

Same here, looks much better on CRT. My old Sony 21" is still going strong.

 

[Nimdok]

Thanks for the tips guys much appreciated. Should hopefully have some cables arriving from Amazon tomorrow, so I'll see if they at least stop the flickering colours (hurts my eyes a bit so mainly want to get rid of this issue). If worst comes to worst I'll just have to take one of the CRTs out of my garage and hook it up to that instead, would feel more appropriate too I guess haha

The component cable will make a bit of a difference but only with games that support progressive scan 480p resolution will you get the best picture possible. Only a few games support this feature though. The PS2 is limited to low res, I think it's 300 x 240 which is not the best on a HD tv.

The five leads are red, green and blue which are for the picture and the other red and white are for the left and right audio. You don't need any other cables except you will have to figure out what colour goes in what with your tv as it doesn't seem to display them. The left and right audio should go into the other connecters on the back next to the av connectors.

You will also have to go into the PS2 settings and change from RGB to YPbPr.

Have fun as the PS2 is a fine system. I have several Component cables and have not seen any different in the picture quality so I would go for a cheapy.

<snip>

It's a mighty fine system indeed really do miss some of the old games on it, so I'm looking forward to an epic trip down memory lane! Ordered one of the cheapish cables first, could always go for the official one at a later stage but from the sounds of it these cheap ones seem to do the job

I used some cheap blaze cables on mine, no issues with them. Although I went back to CRT and RGB scart, as ps2 is just awful on lcd (as are all sd consoles) .

Will probably give SCART a try if the component cables don't stop the damn flickering, tearing, and pixelation. Failing that I'll just go back to CRT altogether for it would mean having to play it downstairs but hey, it's better than squinting to play it on LCD.

 

[Phatjayunoi]

The cheap component cables can really be a hit or miss.

I bought a cheap pair a few years for my PS2 and it works wonders on my LCD TV but when I try it on a few others around some friend's TVs, it was a blurry pixelated mess.

The official Sony ones may be pricey but are definitely worth in it in the end, plus you could also use it for PS3 given the rare chance.

Nothing beats good ol' CRT though, but sometimes I find it just depends on the distance you sit from the LCD/Plasma TV. Too spoilt by the colours and brightness of modern TVs now.