The age old HDMI quality myth...

Just to contribute to this thread - I have a £5 cable connecting my Sony BDP-S560 blu-ray player to my TV and the picture is stunning. When I used to DJ I had no problem spending £30 - £40 on good cables as they really do make a difference with sound systems, but for the average consumer they would be hard pressed to tell any difference between a £5 and a £50 HDMI cable when watching a Movie.
 
Deyvy said:
Really? I recently upgraded to HD before Christmas. I think its miles better. Movies and sports look so much better.
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They look better to me if I sit closer, but I have a fairly big living room and only(!) a 40 inch TV. I did love HD when I first got it about 2 years ago but the novelty has worn off and I forget to even turn over to HD channels most of the time. I don't bother subscribing to Sky Movies anymore now as I might as well watch HD movies with my PS3, I have more choice and much newer films that way so the extra tenner a month for HD is even more of a rip off to me now.
 
[tinfoil hat]

Beetamax = VHS = DVD = BLU RAY

It's all one big con dreamt up by "the man" to make you buy stuff. They are all exactly the same.

[/tinfoil hat]

But seriously...no

I have had people swear blindly that they can tell the difference between a "good £80" cable and a "generic £2.99" cable when playing blu ray. Persoanlly, I can't tell the difference, but the difference between DVD and Blu Ray is amazing depending on the Blu Ray I suppose.

I have got a new TV this year and the ability to play HD material. Now whenever I look at DVD or SD material I lose my wood instantly. Essentially I am desensitised and only HD will do it for me now... :D
 
The article is pretty true to form.

I went to help my Dad when he was buying a HD TV back at Xmas, from the big high-street store that's name resembles and object from outerspace.

The guy tried to sell us a HDMI cable to go with it, recommending we spend at least £60, but that he would go further and buy the even more expensive ones, if you really wanted the best picture to go with the TV. I pointed out that it made no difference as it was a digital signal that won't degrade over that distance. He tried to tell me I was totally wrong, my Dad then pointed out to him that I work in HD mastering, so I knew what I was talking about! He still wouldn't listen though, and in the end said "Let's just agree to disagree".

When I asked for the cheapest cable they had, he sort of ummed and arred looking about, asked a colleague and then said the cheapest they had were the £30 ones.


Similarly I bought a PS3 a couple of years ago from the other big high-street chain. I asked for the cheapest HDMI cable they had, which was about £14, however, this isn't kept with all the HDMI cables, you know the ones which you can buy made with snake oil and stardust.... no, the cheap HDMI cable is found hidden at the back of the store with a bunch of unassuming other cables where you won't find it unless you ask nicely.
 
Knubje said:
[tinfoil hat], but the difference between DVD and Blu Ray is amazing depending on the Blu Ray I suppose.
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That is the key part, depending on the Blu-Ray, some early ones were basically upscaled from DVD masters thus were effectively no different to watching the DVD on a good upscaling player.

Most/all new ones now, should be based off HD masters if they were available.

I watched Blade Runner Final Cut on DVD about 2 weeks before giving in and getting a Blu-ray Player, and then watching Blade Runner Final Cut on Blu-ray.
A lot of the differences were subtle,small details (both were based off the same remasters, just one at DVD res, the other at 1080p), but there was definitely an improvement on the Blu-Ray version.

Back on topic :p
As has been said, as long as your cable isn't too long, any HDMI specced cable will do an identical job in terms of picture/sound data transmission over a short run, be it a Poundland special, or a £1000 qold plated oxygen free cable, hand made by Tibetan Nuns of the ancient order of Her Lady of the Idon'tbeleivepeoplereallybuythisstuff.

Over longer distances it can make a difference.

Of course, if you're going to be unplugging it a lot, or putting it in a wall or similar inaccessable place you may want to pay more to get a more robust cable, but robust in itself doesn't mean it's any better at carrying the data in normal use :)
 
Nexus said:
Similarly I bought a PS3 a couple of years ago from the other big high-street chain. I asked for the cheapest HDMI cable they had, which was about £14, however, this isn't kept with all the HDMI cables, you know the ones which you can buy made with snake oil and stardust.... no, the cheap HDMI cable is found hidden at the back of the store with a bunch of unassuming other cables where you won't find it unless you ask nicely.
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I found this when I needed an A-B USB Cable. Found the Belkin cables straight away but they were all £29.99 so I asked where the cheaper generic cables were. After they tried to convince me the Belkin cable would give a faster data rate they took me to the other end of the store, next to the TV's where a selection of £5.99 cables lived.
 
When i was in richer sounds getting my tv the guy was telling me that "because the hdmi cable carries so much data and the cheap ones can't carry it all, so really any cable under £40 isn't going to be looking the best......"

Quick look behind him and all their hdmi cables are price marked with large stickers £20-40 quid. I couldn't tell if he done this on purpose or not, i just thought idiot on two counts :p

Went in a few shops next day and found a nice boxed one for £6.99, grabbed it as cba walking and it seems to fit the job.

I've heard the arguments before over cable quality. I stay away from hardcore audio arguments about it, as I don't really know that much :p
 
robgmun said:
Yeah my ballpark figure is £10-20, i want some build quaility. But more than £20 then you're being mugged
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I've tested a QED Silver Anniversary (£80) and a competitors budget £3.99 for AVForums on an 60" ISF Calibrated Pioneer Kuro.

I still have the £3.99 lead :o
 
EVH said:
I've tested a QED Silver Anniversary (£80) and a competitors budget £3.99 for AVForums on an 60" ISF Calibrated Pioneer Kuro.

I still have the £3.99 lead :o
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I use QED silver anniversary speaker cable (got it free). Costs 97p a metre for the shops; £4.50-£5.50 per m to the customer :eek:
 
Raikiri said:
I use QED silver anniversary speaker cable (got it free). Costs 97p a metre for the shops; £4.50-£5.50 per m to the customer :eek:
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I meant the silver reference HDMI, not the speaker cable.

Just to clarify :p:)
 
Wish someone would explain this to my uncle, who is by no means short of money...has enough of it to last him a lifetime ie runs his own construction company but when he was re-doing his house a few summers ago...he made a nice room for all his HI-FI and TV/cinema stuff...asked him how much he spent on cables and he said something like close to £25k:eek:...why i just do not know tbqh.

He got a blu ray player, again spent over £5k for one:eek: and bought some fancy new HDMI cable which cost him big bucks...cant remember how much he spent but suffice to say i couldnt see a difference between my £10 hdmi cable and his stupidlyexpensivebutillbuyitbecauseihavetoomuchmoneytospend HDMI cable:p
 
Vanquish-Storm said:
that was my main aim of the thread, although i failed on pointing it out properly.

I think its good to see the BBC pointing the finger out at the purple shirt brigade for the rip off merchants that they are. The staff might as well wear a mask and hold a gun to you at the till as some people with limited knowledge still fall for their cheap tricks. I only blamed the staff partly on this as they are trained to drain as much money out of the customers.
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I work for an electrical retailer, and i have to rip people off, otherwise i lose my job :(

Does make me sick at times tbh......
 
Spawn said:
He got a blu ray player, again spent over £5k for one:eek: and bought some fancy new HDMI cable which cost him big bucks...cant remember how much he spent but suffice to say i couldnt see a difference between my £10 hdmi cable and his stupidlyexpensivebutillbuyitbecauseihavetoomuchmoneytospend HDMI cable:p
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Swap his cable for a £5 one, stick his on eBay; buy a car.
 
i tried to buy a hdmi cable on the highstreet last week and cheapest one i could find was £30

bought one for 4quid delivered off the internet in the end

i reckon the 26 quid was mostly packaging costs judging by the 'fancy' packets the ones on highstreet where in :/
 
I'm going to admit here, i am quite a cable whore. i like having fancy cables behind my set so that i get amazed by how pretty they look if ever i need to go behind the screen.

However i do understand the workings of the cable and so never spend more than around £5-6. Might spend around £8 if it's really smart looking.

The one i like most is an XO platinum one that i bought for around £4 off some jersey site or an auction. Can't recall which. Looks smart though, the cable heads look very classy in silver and gold and the cable is very solidly built. It works so in that respect the image/audio is faultless. Got a flat hdmi cable in the 360 however that one isn't very flexible and puts a lot of stress on the 360 hdmi socket so i'm not very impressed with that one.

I do enjoy having a good old debate with shop staff over the cable quality if they try and flog me one though. They always look surprised when someone actually knows what they are on about.
 
shame the troll who was on ere a few months ago isnt still here, he got ripped a new 1 for calling us all after we said cheap HDMI is the same as expensive for a normal home system .. the tard had a cheap setup compared to most of the people on ere too
 
"andy" said:
i tried to buy a hdmi cable on the highstreet last week and cheapest one i could find was £30

bought one for 4quid delivered off the internet in the end

i reckon the 26 quid was mostly packaging costs judging by the 'fancy' packets the ones on highstreet where in :/
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I managed to find one near me for £8, but it was a little independent computer shop, and I was still begrudged spending that.

--

And at the guy who said Bluray and DVD havent a noticable difference on the first page....
"Should have gone to specsavers" Comes to mind :p
 
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