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  Cable Products > xStream Resolution Video Cables xStream Resolution Video Cables More Info Starting at just $99.95!  We were just watching a newly released collection of Disney’s Donald Duck cartoons, beautifully transferred from the original 1940’s films to DVD, and while we admit the subject matter might not interest everyone as much as it did us, what is relevant was the picture quality. The picture quality was good with our run of the mill component cables feeding the DLP, but breathtaking when we replaced them with the new xStream Videos™. Unlike audio, which sometimes requires a bit of patience and experience to choose the right interconnect, video cables are easy! A simple AB will quickly demonstrate the difference: richer colors, blacker blacks, more three dimensional look and feel to the material. The Disney transfer was really stunning and there wasn’t a person in the room that didn’t see the improvement. Try this same experiment on a modern film and you will also notice increased gradations in the subtle hues that a great transfer from film to DVD has waiting for you. Video cables matter? Yes, perhaps even more so than audio. The high bandwidth of the video signals must be preserved as accurately as is possible while shielding the video signal from the noisy environment of a video system. The two requirements of low loss signal transmission and a low noise environment work counter to each other when building a cable. This is because maintaining signal bandwidth is a function of materials in the conductor and low capacitance at high frequencies. Shielding increases capacitance and so there is always a trade off between the two. For two years PS Engineering has been working on the xStream Video™ series of cables to maximize both.  What we have achieved is quite extraordinary: the techniques we used are nothing more than excellent engineering practices, built up over the years by better minds than ours. To engineer the xStream Video™ series we turned to outside engineers that have far more experience than we do in high speed signal transmission and with their help, designed a near perfect balance of conductivity and shielding.Passing the video signal properly High frequencies in the range of video signals travel almost exclusively on the outside surface of the cables conductors. Known as “skin effect” it turns out that the core of the conductor is almost useless as the vast majority of video information passes down the skin of the conductor only. So, the trick in a video cable is two fold: have as much skin area as you can and make sure the insulation next to the skin of the conductors is a low loss as possible. To achieve these goals we built each cable in the series with 7 strands of extremely thin 0.15mm copper plated with a heavy layer of the purest silver we can find. We plate each conductor with 99.9% pure silver which is the best conductor in the world. The 7 conductors are bundled in a spiral wind and then placed in a sheath of Teflon™. Teflon™ is perhaps the lowest loss insulator we know of today. Shielding is next  Shielding the cables is an art. It’s been said that if you can pass the signal using a high conductivity carrier, the biggest difference in video quality is achieved by proper shielding. Most video cables have a simple, single shield that works adequately. As big advocates of shielding, we have always believed that keeping the noise level down helps improve black levels and improves color saturation. On the xStream Video line, we use two shields: a foil shield closely wrapped around the thick layer of Teflon insulation which is then closely knit in with a second braided shield. The braided shield uses silver plated copper to make sure that high frequency noises are conducted properly in the shield and then shunted away from the video signal. And the connectors We also realize that building a perfect conductor that is well shielded is only half the battle. You then have to terminate it properly using the appropriate connectors. To terminate the conductors and shield, each xStream Video cable is hand soldered with high silver content solder. This completes the path for the video signal but now we have to attach the cable to the video device. Video devices have a multitude of connection schemes, including RCA, XLR, HDMI, DVI etc. A  somewhat bewildering array.Each of these types of connectors used in the xStream Video series is a custom built connector for PS. The RCA’s were designed to have as small a diameter as possible so they will easily fit on even the tightest of connection spacing on the back of a DVD player or SSP. The DVI connector is specially designed to be hand soldered, tested, and then hermetically sealed with a built in strain relief to offer years of trouble free operation. Video never looked so good At the end of the day, it’s the results that count. After two years of hard work we are finally ready to launch the video series of cables. They are ready for your system and your enjoyment. Video never looked so good as through an xStream Video cable. Take a set home today and see the difference! |
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