Sony has a winner with their mid-grade PS3 Component A/V Cable

So here's the story, last fall I finally couldn't wait any longer and decided I had to have a Sony Playstation 3 even though I didn't have a true HDTV yet.  After playing with one at a friends house and watching a Blueray movie or two, I decided I hadn't splurged in awhile and this was a worthy purchase... hey, I helped stimulate the economy, right?  : )

So I arrive home, unpack the whole thing and hook up the included RCA A/V cables to my older Sony 32" KD32FS170 WEGA TV only to realize the picture quality was fit for a Nintendo Wii, but not a PS3!  FYI RCA cables offer a single cable for all video and one cable each for left and right audio channels.  In contrast component cables offer 3 video cables, one cable for the Red, Green, & Blue color spectrum and two audio cables.  Okay, I know I was expecting too much from my CRT dinosaur of a TV, but it was rated for 480i and that had to look better than this!  Even the text displayed on the PS3 menu and online Playstation Store was unreadable it was so blurry.  After a month of muddling around and guessing what the screen was saying I took my PS3 to a friends house and hooked it up via HDMI to his 46" Samsung LCD.  Okay, big mistake... so THAT'S what it's supposed to look like!  I drove quickly to Best Buy and picked out a set of Sony Component Video Cables, rushed home and hooked them up.

     Using the Sony PS3 Comp. Cables

Hooking up these cables was super easy, all it takes is wrestling around my 140lb TV without breaking anything... easier said than done.  Connect the large brick-shaped end to your PS3 video out port then plug in all 5 component cables to an open TV input.  Wrestle your TV back around again, then fire up your PS3.

You'll immediately notice the improvement in quality over the old RCA cables as the menu loads, now go into your system settings and make sure your PS3 is using the highest quality video mode your TV can support.  Once all this is set up, fire up a game or a movie and enjoy the increased quality and clarity component cables provide.

A quick note, since I don't have a high end receiver I still use the A/V audio cables instead of the optical audio out on the PS3, that said I didn't notice any improvement in audio with the new cable set.  It could be just my ears but it sounds the same as with the factory RCA set.

     Bottom Line

Are these cables worth the money?  Absolutely... in my experience they improve the quality of your PS3 experience by at least 25%.  Do they replace HDMI cables as a budget option for owners of LCD HDTVs?  Not exactly, they are still an inferior option for owners of HiDef TVs that can support 1080p quality.  I found these cables for $20 on sale at Best Buy and I highly recommend them to anyone looking to upgrade from the RCA setup Sony gives you.  Personally, I think these should be packaged with every PS3 and the RCA cables should be purchased separately.