HDMI cables - expensive better than cheap?

jamesy505

jamesy505

jamesy505

Associate
Joined
19 Mar 2011
Posts
2,344
Location
Glasgow
Are there some HDMI cables that improve picture quality over others?

A guy in Currys tried to sell me a HDMI to HDMI 1meter cable saying it was reduced from £70 to £35. While I didnt go for it, I wondered if his comments were true.

The make was Tech Link Wires CR, High speed with Ethernet (V1.4).

The guy says this will improve the quality of picture over, for example the ones provided by Sky as they are cheap and nasty.

Is this true, or was I right to suspect typical salesman jargon?

Main reason I ask is im about to buy a new LED tv and hook it up to a PS3 for Blu Ray.

Thanks
 
Complete rubbish. Apart from the length. Get better quality for long runs. Its digital, and as long as the cable is of decent size, decent wire, there will not be problems. Asda do them for £5, I would not spend more than that.
 
Ok cheers, I wouldn't need more than a 1meter cable so looks like it's off to Asda rather than back to Currys :)

Dodgy salemen at their best it seems
 
HAHA, cracks me up everytime I here this crud.
Expensive HDMI cables are for suckers ;)
Only time I would ever spend more than a fiver on a HDMI cable is for the new rainforest ones with the articulated plugs which IMO are well worth the extra.
 
Only time I ever had an expensive cable (Still in use) was when I first bought the TV with an HDMI cable and upscaling DVD player. Cheap ones were not available at the time, because I spent a lot of money, I got it for around £20. Was £80 IIRC.

It stems from 'quality' scart cables etc. People naturally assume because it costs a lot more than a normal one, it must be the best for quality etc.
 
Yep it's complete balls and it's shocking retailers can still get away with telling complete bs. The only difference in quality is in the build of the cables. It is advisible to seek decent build quality at long runs thou but if it's only a few metres just pick a cheap one up for less then a fiver.
 
I read somewhere that a new electronic retailer from Australia that's started up here is GIVING a free HDMI cable to anyone that buys a telly from some of the high street retailers, in order to prove a point that the HDMI cables they sell are overpriced.

Just google hdmi cable giveaway to see what I'm talking about.
 
jamesy505 said:
Are there some HDMI cables that improve picture quality over others?

A guy in Currys tried to sell me a HDMI to HDMI 1meter cable saying it was reduced from £70 to £35. While I didnt go for it, I wondered if his comments were true.

The make was Tech Link Wires CR, High speed with Ethernet (V1.4).

The guy says this will improve the quality of picture over, for example the ones provided by Sky as they are cheap and nasty.

Is this true, or was I right to suspect typical salesman jargon?

Main reason I ask is im about to buy a new LED tv and hook it up to a PS3 for Blu Ray.

Thanks
Click to expand...


You will need a high speed one if you plan on using the PS3 for 3D Blu Rays
 
I'm sure I have a 1.3 from PS3 to amp and a 10m (£14 cable) 1.4 from amp to tv (mainly for the back audio) and the 3d works fine. What's the min version number for high speed?
 
No, expensive is not better than cheap, it is marketing BS

HOWEVER

some cheap cables will fail at passing higher specification signals.
some expensive cables will fail at passing higher specification signals.
 
^

And it's a simple yes it's failing/no it's not failing thing, rather than any subtle difference is 'pop' or contrast.

Tesco's have some QED cables for £25 on the shelf near me, I almost want to leave a note there saying 'fraud!' but every time I've gone in it looks like nobody has touched them... probably because they don't have slimey salesmen trying to con you into purchasing them.
 
picnic said:
I'm sure I have a 1.3 from PS3 to amp and a 10m (£14 cable) 1.4 from amp to tv (mainly for the back audio) and the 3d works fine. What's the min version number for high speed?
Click to expand...

Not sure, but think the sales guy mentioned 1.4 as most recent, for 3D etc.
 
1's and 0's will be the same regardless of the cable used... unlike analogue cables, where there may be perceptible differences.

Agree that it is a big con
 
As most of said its all digital the over priced cables from currys/etc are a con, I picked up a load of Xenta Flat HDMI v1.4 Cable's for less than £5 each and as they are flat are really nice for wall mounted runs and the build quality is really good.
 
Not that I really want to get dragged into this but I beleive that HDMI doesn't have any error correction for video so if the cable is rubbish and transmitters signal doesn't adequlately reach the receiver then won't there be an issue ;) ?

HEADRAT
 
I'm running a 10m cable that cost £2.99 on a 50" Panasonic Viera Plasma, and there is a weird noise to the image when close. I'm sure it's the cable. I'm going to test it out one of these days.
 
personally i don't think you need to spend a fortune on a cable but i can certinately tell the difference in HD sound and picture quality on my set up when watching movies between a decent made 40 pound cable and a crappy £5 freebie my xbox is using


frosty03 said:
1's and 0's will be the same regardless of the cable used... unlike analogue cables, where there may be perceptible differences.
Click to expand...

and what happens when interference cause one of those 1's and 0's to be wrong just cause its digital doesnt mean it's flawless
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom