Canare V4-5C RGBS Jacketed Video Cable

Canare V4-5C RGBS 4-Channel Jacketed Precision Video Cable - "Pro Series" Precision Jacketed 4-Channel Video Cable, shown here with RCA/BNC connectors.

Our RGBS cables are built with Canare V4-5C multi-channel jacketed precision video cable, terminated with Canare's matching, high-quality, "True 75 Ohm" connectors.  The connectors are fitted with flexible silicone boots, which provide essential industry-standard color-coding, while avoiding sharp bends at the connectors.

This is an ideal way to connect video processors and similar sources to CRT, LCD, DLP, LCOS, plasma, monitors, HDTVs, front projector, or any RGBS video-enabled equipment.

Why Canare?

You can tell by looking that Canare cables and connectors are well made, and you can tell by reading the rave reviews that Canare cables are great performers!  Canare is the choice of professionals and discriminating enthusiasts, alike.  Canare cables are often the choice of the professionals who produce and broadcast the program material that we strive to accurately reproduce.  It is hard to imagine how one could do better than to use the same cables that were used to originate the programming!

The RCA Connectors

It is hard to imagine a finer RCA connector than Canare's.  Generic RCA plugs and cables have been around for over 50 years, but the old solder-type plugs typically have an impedance of about 25 ohms.  This is a problem because most modern A/V gear is designed for 75 ohms impedance.  This impedance mismatch results in extremely poor return loss performance, even when the connectors are mated to high quality cable.  Some of the so-called "high end" cables use exotic-sounding materials and make unsupportable claims, but still fail to solve this very real and important problem.

Canare's impedance-matched 75 ohm RCA crimp plugs solve these problems.  As with the BNC connectors, they are precision machined to maintain a constant 75 ohm impedance.  We install them using Canare tools that always prepare the cable ends, just right.  The connectors are crimped in place, using heavy, precision-machined dies.  The result is excellent digital and analog performance with a usable bandwidth to over 200 MHz!  The connector design ensures consistent and extremely reliable terminations.  VSWR is typically less than 1.1 from DC to 200 MHz.  The crimp design excludes oxygen, preventing corrosion associated with dissimilar metals, which can degrade even the best soldered connections.  It's an awesome system, and the resulting terminations are in a class of their own.

The center shaft is gold plated.  If you look closely at the picture at the right, you can see the internal beryllium pressure fingers, which ensure good contact, while avoiding the "grip of death" that afflicts Monster and some of the other manufacturers' connectors.  The "grip of death" connectors put unnecessary strain on your equipment.  Canare connectors connect up smoothly, and maintain good contact, while protecting your equipment investment.

The BNC Connectors

The BNC-type connector is the best connector that is commonly available for applications of this type.  In general, it is both mechanically and electrically superior to an RCA connector.  It has a twist-lock mechanism to ensure that the connection is mechanically secure, and the electrical design of the connector does a good job of maintaining constant impedance at the connector.

Canare takes this inherent superiority to the next level.  For example, many BNC connectors have a characteristic impedance of only 50 ohms, but Canare connectors are engineered to maintain a constant impedance of 75 ohms.  This make a lot of sense because virtually all A/V equipment is designed to work best with 75 ohm cables.  It follows that if you want the best performance your equipment can deliver, you will need cables and connectors that maintain this impedance.

This electrical superiority is the result of superior mechanical design, high-quality materials and precision manufacturing.  Canare's BNC connectors are almost artful in their design...and they work very well indeed.

In our experience, the key to great video cables is in the connectors.  Exotic conductors and shielding are fine, but it's the connectors that really make the difference.

The Cable

This is Canare's best multi-channel video cable, and it is awesome!  The smooth black jacket has special fillers to keep the bundle tight, reduce shift and twist, and to maintain a round shape.  It has a high-quality, professional look and feel.  With an outside jacket diameter of 19.2 mm (.756 in.), it is very large cable, to be sure, but it is also very well-behaved.  If you lay the cable out on the ground, it stays right where you put it -- there is very little curl.  Notice that in the pictures, there are no ties or restraints on the coiled cable...that should give you an idea of the flexibility of this cable.

This four-channel Canare cable is lightweight and extremely flexible for it's size.  It has a PVC jacket with a smooth, non-glare finish, and it stays flexible even at sub-zero temperatures!  Here are some specs on the cable:

• Outside jacket diameter, 17.1 mm (.674 in.)
• Individual channel OD, 6.0 mm (.237 in.)
• Low loss - less than .011 dB per meter at 1 MHz, and less than .34 dB even at 1 GHz!
• Tightly woven all-copper shield with greater than 94% coverage
• Nominal capacitance, 67 pF per meter at 1 KHz
• Nominal impedance, 75 ohms
• Velocity of propagation, 66%
• Less than 2.2 nanosecond differential delay between channels

Flawless Results

To summarize, here's what you need if you want the finest video that your equipment can deliver.  You need video cables that are capable of maintaining a constant impedance.  You don't want any bumps at the connectors, and you don't want the cable itself to change impedance when it bends.  Even the finest cable changes impedance a little bit when it is bent sharply, so avoid doing so.  Nice, smooth, consistent, 75 ohm impedance.  That's what your equipment wants, and that's what will deliver the best picture.

You also want superior mechanical integrity.  Nice, tight connections that will not degrade over time.  You want to avoid dissimilar metals, which can lead to corrosion and degrade connections.  To avoid dissimilar metals, try to stay away from soldered connections wherever you can, because solder almost guarantees that dissimilar metals will be in contact.  Good solder work minimizes the problem, but there is also the challenge of making a solder connection without heat deforming the dielectric material of the cable.  Any dimensional change in the dielectric will affect the impedance of the cable at that point.

Of course you also want high quality cable.  Flexibility is desirable because it avoids stress on your equipment and the interconnects.  This is big cable, but I think you will be surprised by its flexibility.  Try to avoid multiple materials in the conductors or shielding, because of the problems associated with dissimilar metals.  Consider the application - for example, just because a cable has better specs at 2 GHz, that does not mean that it will work better at video frequencies.  Low loss is desirable, but don't sacrifice mechanical integrity in favor of inconsequential differences in loss specifications!  Cables with foamed dielectric materials generally have lower loss, at extremely high frequencies, but foam is not without it's own inherent problems.  Shielding is also important, but don't be confused by exorbitant claims.  Electrical shielding is not the same as waterproofing -- you don't need three, four, or more layers of shielding to get good electrical shielding, and all the extra layers make the cables stiff, and tend to make good terminations more difficult to install, and more prone to failure.