Spec Me a HDMI Cable

just read an article on anandtech about a conference monster did recently upon the release of the new HDMI labelling on their new range of leads and the CEO was quoted saying that the lowest end monster cable at 2m length will do around 12gbps throughput on it when the packaging labels 1.95gbps or something equally daft.

Bit silly him saying that really as that just proves theres literally no point in buying a monster cable over a £3 lead at a small distance. 6m+ is another story mind
 
^TANK^ said:
Bloody hell give it a rest you lot i brought a decent cable im happy with it stop making such an issue about it lol.:p
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Well that £80 cable does nothing that my PS3 HDMI does not not do, and you could spent that on a better model TV, more dvds etc etc.

I for one believe and can hear a difference between some analogue cables, but expensive digital cables really do crack me up. Right im off to drink my tea from my Chord mug, im sure it tastes better than the tesco 'value' mug i have :p
 
I really wish people would base their judgement on experience. I know a few people who have spent between £150 and £300 for a 10m+ HDMI lead to a projector. There is not alternative on long distances.
 
I have actually seen analogue-like interference with a customers' cheapo HDMI switch (2-1) which I was unable to explain.

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Hamish said:
You do realise that spending more money on HDMI cables because of it carrying the signal better is no different to spending more money on SATA cables because the video will lose less quality going along the cables.
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I made a similar analogy to a mate of mine.
He was DETERMINED that he was going to go out that day, and buy a £100 HDMI cable to make the best of his bluray and TV.

I was nearly crying! ;)

Begging him not to do it.
It's not my money, but hell fire, WASTE!

He has a USB2 HDD that he has media files on.
I plugged it into my PC, and played the files over usb.

I asked him what he thought of the Pic Quality.

He said fine.

I copied it to an internal HDD.

What do you think of the Pic Quality?

Fine!

I then said, you're using a cheap ass usb cable, yet the pic quality is fine.
I then asked, if he thought he'd get a better PQ if he went out and bought the same length USB cable, but spent £100 on it.

No.

Ahhh, success, basically same thing with HDMI.
He bought one for a fiver, and has been happy since! ;)

On the other hand, I must look into the longer length ones soon.
I read with interest the £30 40m cable.
I did assume signal dropout would occur at such a length?
In a similar way that I have a 5m USB extension lead, which is active.

I really want to upgrade my projector to a 1080p one next year, so I can watch bluray on the BIG screen again, as the 40" 40w2000 is great, but I'm used to watching DVDs on a 108" screen. So was thinking I'd need a 10m HDMI cable for that, which would be a tad expensive.
If a 40m one can be had for £30 though, I've no need to worry too much :)

V1N.

EDIT: The problem is, of course, people are use to, and have got it in their heads, that because with their analogue component, or even RGB Scart connections, if you don't get decent quality, shielded cables, then your PQ drops off, and is susceptible to interference. HDMI is of course digital. 1s and 0s. So long as the 1s and 0s can get through, it makes no difference what price the cable is, the quality will be identical. A £5 cable will look identical to a £100 cable.
 
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You have to watch comparisons like that because there may be different error correction mechanisms in each case.

The thing about digital A/V transmission is that it doesn't degrade gracefully like analogue, so if you did somehow have a HDMI cable that wasn't up to the job, then the corruption would be right in your face and easily proven with a photograph.
 
Agreed wush, sparklies such as when you overcook a GFX card overclock or clicks and blips in the audio are apparent when the HDMI signal deteriorates too much.

However, you may get no picture at all with HDCP involved.
 
Man this one comes up every week.

The only quality difference between HDMI cables will be very obvious (sparkles or no sparkles). There is NO contrast, detail, colour differences.

Buy the CHEAPEST cable for the length required. I've bought 5 of the 1m HDMI cables at around £1.49 each, and every single one has worked a treat. If you have a long run of 10m, then splash out and spend £10.

Anyone playing upwards of £75 for any length of HDMI is either blind or gullible. Save the money and put it towards cables that do make a difference... power cables for your sub woofer.. it'll make the rumbles deeper :p
 
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If your digital cable will be of a short run (under 3m), then I strongly believe that any cheapo HDMI cable will do the job fine. However, when the digital cable is long (eg. 10m and over), then, from what I have read, it is better to pay a little more.

My own situation is that I have a projector and the cables will be built into the ceiling and walls. This means that once the cables are installed, they will not be replaced for at least the next 10-15yrs. I bought some long HDMI cables a while back (over year ago) and I think I spent around £45/cable. I dont regret this.

If however, I was going for a short distance or the cables could easily be replaced (should they malfunction or turn out to be inadequate) then I would definitely buy the cheaper cable.

Analogue cables are different, whereby the signal will degenerate throughout the length of the cable. This means that its best to buy a good quality (not necessarily the most expensive) analogue cable to maintain the integrity of the information being passed through the cable. The longer cables especially, should be of high quality (shielded), especially if they are being run past items that might emit interference.

That 40m cable for £30 seems like an interesting deal to me.
 
Tesla said:
I have actually seen analogue-like interference with a customers' cheapo HDMI switch (2-1) which I was unable to explain.

Dark vertical scrolling lines.
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That sounds more like a faulty switch than a by-product of not using an oxygen free gold plated switch, though.
 
lol £80 on a cable, but if it makes you feel better about yourself then its obviously a great purchase...not
 
Is the general consensus that a normal HDMI cable will do the trick then?

I've picked up an upscaling Sony DVD player for my Bravia and was sort of going to stick with the brand name for the cables as well - although I think it's £29.99 for a 1m cable and £39.99 for a 2m cable - which obviously put me off.

At the same time, I wouldn't want a cable holding back the quality, which I suppose is the biggest fear when you see such elevated costs for cables.
 
Slogan said:
At the same time, I wouldn't want a cable holding back the quality, which I suppose is the biggest fear when you see such elevated costs for cables.
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There is absolutely, totally, utterly and completely zero, null, nada, no difference whatsoever.

Hope that clarifies the situation :D
 
Beansprout said:
There is absolutely, totally, utterly and completely zero, null, nada, no difference whatsoever.

Hope that clarifies the situation :D
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Unless he is going for a long cable run.

If he is going for a 1m or 2m cable, then go with the cheapest you can find. Does the DVD player not come with a free HDMI cable?
 
I'm looking at 1m, 2m max.

Unfortunately it's only an upscaler so it comes with a free SCART and the HDMI cable has to be supplied by myself.

Thanks by the way. :)
 
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