VGA Leads and Quality- Advice

[randyrandall]

Hi,

Advice needed! VGA leads seem to vary a great deal in quality. I'm using a 17" HP LCD screen, got it back from my dad recently so now I'm using it on my laptop so I can use a proper keyboard- comfier to type essays on, and I can hook my laptop up to my stereo etc.

My question.. is there a certain type of VGA lead to aim for? I'm using one that came with my Samsung HDTV and when the screen is showing a flat colour eg grey) you can see flickering (this is the best I can describe it sorry). I never used to see this when I used this screen initially. I bought a VGA Belkin lead to use on my HDTV (1440 x 900) and the ghosting was horrible. So they obviosuly aren't all created equal. My sisters 1440 x 900 screen is through VGA and it has none of thes effects I;m seeing And I didn't see it when my Dad was using it either, and his lead his now driving the same TV as mine. (Ugh confusing I know..)

So basically, two other screens in my house are 1440 x 900 through VGA and picel-perfect. Mine, a smaller res, is seeing flcikering on solid colours, almost like shifting bands. No bands though, and it is very sharp. Would you say this is the lead?

If I went and bought an expensive lead, would I notice a difference? Any recommendations? I'll probably take the trip to Maplins, unless anyone can recommended off the internet for a reasonable price (£20 sound reasonable? Only needs to be short). My screen is 1280 x 1024.

[Jamtex]

Indeed VGA leads are not created equal, generally you need a fully wired, 75Ohm coaxial wired with seperate R G B grounds (a number of cables, have shared or single wired grounds which can cause crosstalk and ghosting), with gold plated connectors and moulded plugs. Although it's a bit hit and miss, but avoid Belkin cables as they are shite.

[madhatter256]

Make sure the output on that TV is set to PAL??? That ghosting/flickering you describe sounds like what you get when you hook up an NTSC signal (or receiver) up to a PAL unit.

If that's not the case. A namebrand cable will suffice, but look for a VGA cable that is thick and has a ferrite core at both ends. All of that helps with shielding.

[TmEE]

I'm getting some shadowy stuff on black on my VGA to LCD setup, and in my case, the problem is in GFX card not the cable. No problems over DVI at least.

[randyrandall]

TV wise the region setting is irrelevant- it was in VGA mode and it was taking the output from a laptop. The ghosting was almost like a 'double image', very faint though. And the TV takes NTSC signal fine anyway.

Cheers for the advice, when I finally get my damn car back I'll go have a snout in Maplins..

How does this look? http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=97367

What brands are best? Can you point me in the right direction of one on Amazon? Ta people!

[Alchy]

If you work in a place that has tech support of some kind, give them a knock and ask if they've got an old monitor cable going spare. Most places are ditching CRTs at a rate of knots so it really shouldn't be necessary to purchase a VGA cable, especially not for those prices.

[randyrandall]

I don't unfortunately..

[link83]

but avoid Belkin cables as they are shite.
I have actually found alot of Belkin cables to be quite good :shrug:

I was going to recommend the Belkin PureAV VGA cable if you havent already tried it, model code AV21401QP06. You can find it for less than £10.00 including postage online - I have one and think its pretty good - no picture problems for me. The cable is very thick (Although I know that doesnt always mean its good quality) so can be abit inflexible but apart from that I have no complaints.
Hope that helps :nod:

[randyrandall]

Ta for the advice. I just tried my Belkin lead on this monitor, and it blurs and the screen can't even frame the image correctly. Weird, because I usually stand by belkin's products..

Looking for your suggestion, link83, that lead does look good quality.. What resolution do you use it at? I notice my current one gets interference from my stereo, the 'flickering' increases as the volume of my stereo does!

[link83]

No problem ;-)
I know Belkin do different ranges of VGA cables right from 'cheapo' to 'mid-range' to 'super-duper' - The PureAV range is supposed to be their 'Super Duper' version. Also, I think Belkin just re-package cheap Hong Kong cables for their 'cheapo' range so that doesnt really help...

<EDIT> Just noticed your edit - I currently use it at 1024x768 but have also used it as 1280x1024 with no problems (Just my girlfriend didnt like the text and icons being so small!)

I havent had any problems with ghosting, interference or anything else with mine (but please dont blame me if you still have problems!)

[randyrandall]

Yeah I gathered that. The one I bought was a Pro Series, cheap looking so I assume thats why. It's dreadful, wish I'd returned it now but oh well.

That PureAV one looks top notch.. but I saw a couple of reviews mentioning ghosting, one at 1440 x 900 which is my TVs res and my screen is 1280 x 1024.

Just had a brainwave and texted a mate who runs a 32" LCD through a VGA, he said he might be able to nab one from work. Result, we'll see how that goes.

[link83]

Sorry - had not seen any reviews mentioning ghosting - in fact the only review I could find was this one on play.com here:-
http://www.play.com/Electronics/Electronics/4-/7966588/Belkin-AV21401QP06-Pure-AV-Blue-Series-HD-15-HD-15-Super-VGA-Home-Theatre-Cable-1-8m/Product.html

I'd be interested to see the review you found if its not too much trouble?

Anyway, hope you get it sorted with your friends VGA cable :icon_bigg

[randyrandall]

I saw the one you posted. The one I refer to was on Amazon actually. (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-Blue-PureAV-Theatre-Cable/dp/B0003057G4/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1232467531&sr=8-3)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-Blue-PureAV-Theatre-Cable/dp/B0003057G4/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1232467531&sr=8-3

Theres two at the bottom..

[link83]

Doh! I actually saw the 3.6m version reviews here which were all fine:-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/product/B0003057D2/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt/275-3937719-5271008?%5Fencoding=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
Although you sometimes wonder what the reviewers were talking about - "great picture and sound"!

Oh well, hope you get a good one in the end :nod:

[randyrandall]

Yeah, I saw the good reviews for the longer one. My screen is like right next to my laptop so I don't need all that cable..

Heres hoping, cheers for the advice!

[madhatter256]

Well, don't believe those belkin reviews nor buy from them ever again:

http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/17/166226

[link83]

Well, don't believe those belkin reviews nor buy from them ever again:

http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/17/166226
Flippin heck! :oh: I didnt know that....they didnt pay me, honest!

I half feel bad for recommending Belkin now...

....I suppose with any company theres good and bad points - like Nintendo with their European 'price fixing' in the early 90's :rolleyes: ....

[randyrandall]

Yeah, I saw about Belkin's reviews.. but I believe it was just for one product, and Belkin officially state that it was a 'rogue employee' and are in the process of taking down the reviews in question.

Either way never had problems with any of their products until this one VGA lead (Pro series)

[Alchy]

If you live nearby a dump for large household waste, there's always a million CRT monitors there, they'd probably let you take the cable for pennies. I guess I still think paying a tenner for a cable as common as VGA is madness (especially when the older ones tend to be so well shielded and you're having problems with interference). I'd send you a spare for free if I had one, but I've only got extension cables...

[randyrandall]

Yeah it wrenches my gut a bit. We have 2 old CRTs but the leads are physically attached to the monitors..

[retro]

Keep it short, and keep away from Maplin unless you want to be ripped off!

Buy online, or from a reputable local computer dealer. Should cost you around £10-15.

I would go with CPC ;-)

[skavenger216]

Try monoprice.com . High quality cables for dirt cheap. I actually just ordered 2 VGA cables, one for my 360, the other for my laptop, and for both cables after shipping i only paid about $13.00 USD.

EDIT: and also, when i get paid later this week, i plan on buying some 1/4" audio cables ( for my guitar and amp and such) from them.

[Alchy]

Try monoprice.com . High quality cables for dirt cheap. I actually just ordered 2 VGA cables, one for my 360, the other for my laptop, and for both cables after shipping i only paid about $13.00 USD.

EDIT: and also, when i get paid later this week, i plan on buying some 1/4" audio cables ( for my guitar and amp and such) from them.Not everyone lives in the USA, you know.

[randyrandall]

Does anyone else have any recommendations? All the leads I find look much of a much, similar to what I already have. I don't want to keep spending £10 a time to be disappointed..

[skavenger216]

Not everyone lives in the USA, you know.

Sorry, i didnt realize they didnt ship outside of the USA.

my mistake:shrug:

[retro]

Does anyone else have any recommendations? All the leads I find look much of a much, similar to what I already have. I don't want to keep spending £10 a time to be disappointed..

Then go to Maplin or PC World. They may rip you off, but if it doesn't work, you can take it back and say "Your salesman said this would be good, but it's crap!" ;-)

[randyrandall]

Got one- chuffed. Its even sharper than the previous one, didn't think that possible- you can see the screens own imperfections. You can see the screen refreshing ever so slightly but I belive that just the screen and I remember that from every other computers it;s been used on so yeah, I'm chuffed :)

Bought this one:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000WTT0EG

[link83]

Glad you got it sorted - it does looky pretty good quality :icon_bigg

[randyrandall]

Theres still a tiny bit when my stereo is loud, I guess since it's so close. Maybe it;s my laptop's chipset or whatever. *Shrugs* pleased enough now, cheers for all the help =)