HDMI cable importance

[Zeebedy]

Hey guys,

loving my new tv, but through my Sky Q mini box, not often, but now and again, there is a slight (don’t know how to describe it well) distortion on screen for about one second..

now, I haven’t properly configured the settings yet, and also running to the tv the standard HDMI cable, I have just ordered two coming tomorrow, one for Sky and the other for my series X.

can older / sub standard cables affect your setup significantly or not really?

 

[BinnsY]

In my experience there is really very little difference made by HDMI cables. The only real impact they have is making sure the cables are capable of supporting whatever content you are sending through them. This is generally done in their "speed naming". The kind of thing I came across with mine is I had one of the oldest standard cables in my setup I hadn't clocked. When enabling my TV's 4:4:4 colour mode everything through that cable went purple. The instant it was changed to a "high speed" cable everything was fine.

You can generally tell the speed of the cable in it's specs. If it's listed as 10Gbps its high speed. This is fine for anything TV related and can do 4k / high colour / 24fps. If you want it for gaming you need the newer 18Gbps cables. These can do 4k at 60fps. It sounds advanced but even Amazons basic £6 cable now offers this! Speaking of which the bulk of mine are Amazon Basics and they have never given me any issues so they are what I tend to recommend.

In short, as long as they are rated for the full bandwidth you need, at the length your buying, there's no reason to buy expensive ones imo.

 

[bigfoot4616]

having just got a 4k tv i noticed the connection on the sky q supplied hdmi lead was a bit loose so got a new one, went with a premium certified high speed cable just to make sure it was a decent quality cable.(18Gbps as its a premium high speed) think it was about £8.
thing is though the q mini box can only do 1080 so any cable should do if its working fine, which your old one may not be although i would have thought it would either just work or not work

 

[lucid]

Hey guys,

loving my new tv, but through my Sky Q mini box, not often, but now and again, there is a slight (don’t know how to describe it well) distortion on screen for about one second..

now, I haven’t properly configured the settings yet, and also running to the tv the standard HDMI cable, I have just ordered two coming tomorrow, one for Sky and the other for my series X.

can older / sub standard cables affect your setup significantly or not really?

The mini doesn't output anything better than 1080i/p. It's not 4K UHD. This means any regular high speed HDMI cable will do just fine.

What's more likely to be happening is a brief glitch in the wireless signal between the main Q box and the mini.

Minis have no big internal hard drive storage. In PC terms, there a bit like a thin client. Most of the power if you will is in the server end, and that's the main Q box itself. This is the device with the signal cables and the hard drive. This does the recording and live channel tuning for itself and any connected minis.

The mini gets its signal from one of the tuners in the main Q box. The signal is streamed via wireless to the mini which unpacks it and buffers some to help bridge any interruptions in the wireless signal.

Where you have glitches in playback its likely to be because the wireless signal between the boxes isn't great.

You can test this for yourself if you wish. Buy a long Ethernet cable and hook up the mini to the same router thatbthe Q main box is attached to. You'll need to go in to the service menus to disable wi-fi so that only Ethernet is used.

Once you have your connection then try playback and see if its still glitchy. My guess is it will be just fine.

Switch everything back to Wi-Fi and repeat the test. If the glitches are back then you have your answer.

The only other sneaky problem is interference from dirty power supplies affecting a poorly shielded HDMI cables. However, that would manifest as continual interruptions rather than just at the start of playback.

 

[Rroff]

Probably not the case but a few random TVs and some AOC monitors (mostly circa 2014) have a glitch in the audio power saving circuitry where if you aren't using the internal speakers will cause the image to wobble for half a second every 5 to 15 minutes depending on the display unless the volume is set to 0 and/or the audio disabled in the display OSD.

 

[Zeebedy]

The mini doesn't output anything better than 1080i/p. It's not 4K UHD. This means any regular high speed HDMI cable will do just fine.

What's more likely to be happening is a brief glitch in the wireless signal between the main Q box and the mini.

Minis have no big internal hard drive storage. In PC terms, there a bit like a thin client. Most of the power if you will is in the server end, and that's the main Q box itself. This is the device with the signal cables and the hard drive. This does the recording and live channel tuning for itself and any connected minis.

The mini gets its signal from one of the tuners in the main Q box. The signal is streamed via wireless to the mini which unpacks it and buffers some to help bridge any interruptions in the wireless signal.

Where you have glitches in playback its likely to be because the wireless signal between the boxes isn't great.

You can test this for yourself if you wish. Buy a long Ethernet cable and hook up the mini to the same router thatbthe Q main box is attached to. You'll need to go in to the service menus to disable wi-fi so that only Ethernet is used.

Once you have your connection then try playback and see if its still glitchy. My guess is it will be just fine.

Switch everything back to Wi-Fi and repeat the test. If the glitches are back then you have your answer.

The only other sneaky problem is interference from dirty power supplies affecting a poorly shielded HDMI cables. However, that would manifest as continual interruptions rather than just at the start of playback.

I have my mini box connected via Ethernet to my sky router, I will connect up my main sky q box today so it’s all intertwined.

Probably not the case but a few random TVs and some AOC monitors (mostly circa 2014) have a glitch in the audio power saving circuitry where if you aren't using the internal speakers will cause the image to wobble for half a second every 5 to 15 minutes depending on the display unless the volume is set to 0 and/or the audio disabled in the display OSD.

Hmm, interesting, I don’t use the internal speakers I have some bookshelf speakers and have disabled the internal speakers on the tv.

 

[Zeebedy]

Quick question,

if I disable WiFi on the sky Q for Ethernet only..does this disable the WiFi boosting features on the sky mini box in the back room?

meaning, I need the router connection to get WiFi for the phone and iPad etc..?

 

[Zeebedy]

Well, since the new HDMI cable and Ethernet connections on the sky Q boxes..it seems to have rid (so far) the glitching, and I still get a good wireless signal..

if anything my internet on my iPad seems faster? Is that because the Q boxes are no longer hogging the WiFi bandwidth?

also, I don’t know if it’s me, but the menu navigation seems snappier compared to before.

 

[lucid]

Well, since the new HDMI cable and Ethernet connections on the sky Q boxes..it seems to have rid (so far) the glitching, and I still get a good wireless signal..

if anything my internet on my iPad seems faster? Is that because the Q boxes are no longer hogging the WiFi bandwidth?

Quite possible. That and (depending on your router) maybe now your router connection can make better use of the more advanced Wi-Fi features such as MIMO that the iPad probably supports.

also, I don’t know if it’s me, but the menu navigation seems snappier compared to before.

Can't comment directly on that. It could be a bit placebo or real. You'd need to go back to your previous set-up to do a proper comparison. Would be interesting and useful knowledge to find out if there was a benefit though.

 

[Dominic-Toretto]

Hey guys,

loving my new tv, but through my Sky Q mini box, not often, but now and again, there is a slight (don’t know how to describe it well) distortion on screen for about one second..

now, I haven’t properly configured the settings yet, and also running to the tv the standard HDMI cable, I have just ordered two coming tomorrow, one for Sky and the other for my series X.

can older / sub standard cables affect your setup significantly or not really?

Just make sure your HDMI cables support the relevant standards and you will be fine. Don't be one of those people running a HDMI 1.3 cable on a 4K setup lol.

 

[Zeebedy]

Quite possible. That and (depending on your router) maybe now your router connection can make better use of the more advanced Wi-Fi features such as MIMO that the iPad probably supports.


Can't comment directly on that. It could be a bit placebo or real. You'd need to go back to your previous set-up to do a proper comparison. Would be interesting and useful knowledge to find out if there was a benefit though.

it’s the latest iPad Air, so hopefully has the technology you speak about. And regarding the speed of menus, it deffo feels faster, but I will leave as is, because if it is a bit speedier it’s not night and day really..

Just make sure your HDMI cables support the relevant standards and you will be fine. Don't be one of those people running a HDMI 1.3 cable on a 4K setup lol.

I was using the standard HDMI cable that cable with, it didn’t look up to much quality wise, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it was 1.3 or something!

 

[lucid]

Just make sure your HDMI cables support the relevant standards and you will be fine. Don't be one of those people running a HDMI 1.3 cable on a 4K setup lol.

Your comment "support the relevant standards" is fine, but there is no 'HDMI 1.3' as a cable spec, though sometimes I wish there were because it might help to clear up a lot of consumer confusion.

If we ignore the daft 'with Ethernet' versions which is tech that has yet to be implemented in any meaningful way despite being available for years, then really there are just four cable standards:

Standard Speed
High Speed
Premium Certified High Speed
Ultra High Speed

https://www.hdmi.org/resource/cables

In the context of this thread, for connecting a Sky Mini box to telly, your notion of a "HDMI 1.3 cable" would work just fine.

This is mainly because a Mini box doesn't output UHD 4K. This information was already given in the thread if you'd bothered to read. However, now I has addressed your point specifically you have the opportunity to update your knowledge.

The HDMI 1.3 port standard has 1080p covered up to 120Hz. That's more than sufficient for a Sky Q Mini box, which is exactly what this thread is about.

IOW, where its a Mini box, there's no need to worry about special or higher-spec HDMI cables. A High Speed rated cable from 2007 will work just as well as any of the latest generation cables.

 

[lucid]

it’s the latest iPad Air, so hopefully has the technology you speak about. And regarding the speed of menus, it deffo feels faster, but I will leave as is, because if it is a bit speedier it’s not night and day really..

Like I said before, it depends on the wireless router too. Advanced features have to be supported in both the wireless device AND the router to be of any benefit.

If this is a "free with the Internet services" router, then the chances are it will be very basic. Any speed improvements will come almost by accident rather than deliberate planning, i.e. just by reducing the number of wireless devices.

It can pay big dividends to understand your wireless router's capabilities, and maybe even change to something better equipped to handle the demands of all your
wireless devices.

I was using the standard HDMI cable that cable with, it didn’t look up to much quality wise, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it was 1.3 or something!

(see post above.) There is no HDMI 1.3 cable. But even if there were, it would still be absolutely fine for your needs.

 

[Zeebedy]

Like I said before, it depends on the wireless router too. Advanced features have to be supported in both the wireless device AND the router to be of any benefit.

If this is a "free with the Internet services" router, then the chances are it will be very basic. Any speed improvements will come almost by accident rather than deliberate planning, i.e. just by reducing the number of wireless devices.

It can pay big dividends to understand your wireless router's capabilities, and maybe even change to something better equipped to handle the demands of all your
wireless devices.

(see post above.) There is no HDMI 1.3 cable. But even if there were, it would still be absolutely fine for your needs.

How good is the SKY router? I’m guessing not that great?

whatever was changed has so far helped with the picture on my TV.

 

[matt100]

Sky routers and miniboxes are hot garbage.

We moved in June and since we got here with sky Q, broadband and 2 miniboxes I had constant dropouts on the miniboxes. You don't so much get interference you just get a black screen and "unable to connect" messaging, bearing in mind this is a very modest 3 bed house.

I was using BT whole home discs for the wifi but if if you did a power cycle on thee router (which considering we were having work done which required the power to be off occasionally/moving things around as you do when things are new) it would take maybe 2-3 hours for the internet to work at all, wired into the router/wireless whatever..

Weirdly it said it was connected and would go to "new" sites, like if I searched for a random string of text I got a result but got nothing if I went here or bbc etc..

Totally impossible with working from home and then the awful patchiness off the miniboxes.

We had SKY engineers round 3 times, they changed the router, installed a booster, changed miniboxes, speculated about metal joists in an extension, interference from the washing machine or neighbours etc.

Eventually I decided to throw money at the problem and ended up buying a TP Link archer modem/router and then putting a bt disc next to each minibox hardwired in and then switched off the whole sky wifi/network etc.

Absolutely 100% flawless since then, not missed a beat once in maybe 4 months, perhaps more.

Obviously no thanks to SKY as this solution is unofficial but switching out their router is easy enough, the difficulty comes with having to then basically ethernet the miniboxes and they won't play nice on powerlines etc.

 

[lucid]

Useful first-hand user experience there, thanks @matt100

 

[lucid]

How good is the SKY router? I’m guessing not that great?

whatever was changed has so far helped with the picture on my TV.

As ISP wireless routers go, the Sky Q Hub (if that's what you have) isn't bad compared to its peer group of other ISP-supplied routers. It's also a massive step up compared to the previous Sky Hub (non-Q / pre-Q) Wi-Fi router.

It's possible to search out reviews on the Q Hub, and I'm going to point you at one which not only gives an overview of the product but also some test results and very some useful set-up tip. [Make sure you click on the link to the second page. That's where the goodies are, so don't miss out.]
Sky Q Hub review: Finally, Sky makes a router that doesn’t suck (alphr.com)


What you'll gather though from @matt100 and other Q users if you search the Sky Help Forum is that the performance of the whole system varies from home to home.

Read a few posts and you'll see reference to 'Sky engineers' calling to try and remedy bad wireless. Firstly, they're not engineers, they're installers. Secondly, you'll see references to wireless boosters and powerline networking and swapping things out, but not always being able to improve the situation. That's because they're not really engineering anything; just working from a limited range of products, and all Wi-Fi setups are very susceptible to competing signals and interference.

The other part of the equation is the customer's own knowledge.

For the uninitiated, Wi-Fi is this mysterious thing that they hang more and more devices off without really understanding what's going on. It's one of the bigger conversations I have with customers looking AV as part of a house refurbishment or major extension. When suggesting that they spring for Ethernet cabling to certain key points, the comments I often hear back are "... but my Wi-Fi is fine" or "... can't we do this with Wi-Fi?" until I start pointing out the places where the coverage drops, or the service interruptions and lack of speed. That's not surprising. Wi-Fi is invisible, and so it takes some desire to learn about what's going on, and then quite a bit of imagination to visualise what that might look like if you could see the various Wi-Fi signals, their range and speed, and all the competing signals that try to get in the way.

Bringing this back to your system, you mentioned now the Mini is on Ethernet that the Wi-Fi speed has improved in that room. Without being on-site to check first hand it's impossible to say 100%, but I would suspect that using the wireless repeater function in the Mini is what caused the speed drop. All wireless repeaters have a speed penalty compared to the main router signal that they're trying to extend.


Try the performance tips for your Q Hub first; particularly separating the 2.4 and 5GHz bands. See how you get on.

 

[Zeebedy]

@lucid

wow, thanks for the detailed info, I will look into that, see what I can take from it!

 

[matt100]

I had q with miniboxes in my previous house which was a newish (ie plasterboard and wood) townhouse with the main Q box in the middle floor and a mini box above and below.

The WiFi was.. fine. Until I introduced a ring doorbell on the front door. That could never get a stable connection so eventually I went with the BT triple disc setup which is technically the same amount of repeaters as the sky system and the difference was ridiculous.

Ring doorbell just fine, full coverage in the garden etc etc.

When we moved we ended up will new equipment (because sky... Obviously I had to leave and rejoin) and all I wound up with was additional signal issues. At least in the old house when I left the miniboxes to their own mesh just for themselves they worked. Here which is arguably smaller than the last house they couldn't. 1 of the miniboxes is about 10m from the main box and the engineer confirmed the signal was completely unstable.

I hear what you're saying @lucid that it works for some. I would argue there are far too many reports of similar situations to mine to not brand the sky system... Hot garbage.

 

[lucid]

I'm not here to defend Sky's Wi-Fi devices, and I do hear what you're saying @matt100. I'm simply pointing out that in response to the specific question "How good is the SKY router?", and presuming that we're talking about a Sky Q Hub, then in the context of other ISP-supplied wireless routers the device itself isn't bad. It's a million miles better than the joke of the router that Plusnet supplies, and that's coming from a longstanding Plusnet customer.

I think a lot of the problems with Sky Q Wi-Fi are down to the Mini boxes.