So I am wiring my basement, and in the hopes of someday being able to afford a projector for a home theatre, I am putting in the wire I anticipate needing before I put the sheetrock over the whole thing. It looks like the best bet for picture quality in my budget is going to be S-Video (true?), but I am having a hard time communicating to the folks down at the Big-Orange-Sign home improvement store what kind of wire I need. I presume it will be a copper stranded wire, but what gauge? What kind of plug will I need to put on both ends? What kind of soldering will that be?
Has anyone done this and can give me some advice?
The main question is, where are the wires coming from?
S-video is considered a medium cable type. RCA is the lowest, Component is the best (there are plenty of others but probably outside your price range).
If you’re pulling a signal from an upstairs cable box or sat box, S-video is probably the best output on it (only IIRC HD dish boxes have Component out).
You should be able to buy any wire from a regular electronics store. You shouldn’t have to buy raw wire (and really, I don’t know if you can crimp it properly). I have no idea if S-video comes in anything longer than 25 feet though.
Here’s a decent guide to each cable:
http://fineliving.com.com/4520-7874_1-5108580-5.html?tag=dir
(middle of the page).
After looking up prices on component cabling though, I think you might have to go with S-video.
Probably the best thing to do is to just install an empty cable run (thinwall or plastic conduit) in the places where you anticipate needing it.
Then you can easily pull the needed wire(s) thru it when you actually install your system. Depends on how long before you can afford your system but given the speed of changes in this field, the type of wires you need may be something that isn’t even around now.
Empty conduit is very cheap to do now, plus wires are likely to come down in price as they become more common.