Ducati 916
Member
With the advent of 3D TV's and the new generation of 3D recievers. If you desire 5 or 7 channel pass thru, you will need a HDMI 1.4a cable. This is what I use to strem my movies from my computer to get the correct sound.
HDMI cables "all the same"?
- Thread starter whoaru99
- Start date
Good call.
Wigwam Jones
Caesar non supra grammati
I buy my HDMI cables from Newegg. Very cheap, work great. I did buy some more expensive cables from the local big yellow box store - the cat trod on one, bent the connector with his weight (yeah, he's a big boy, weighs 22 pounds) and that was the end of that cable.
By the way, I have to say being a computer guy, I have universally low esteem for every cable connector standard ever invented. They were all invented by low-grade booger-eatin' morons as far as I can tell. If you can't insert and remove by feel without looking, and if it does not click in positively and have a 'lock' feature that keeps the connector from falling out, it's worthless. It's like those morons that keep coming up with new one dollar coins that nobody will carry or use. How stupid do you have to be to get the job designing cable connector ends? Last one I saw that worked right was XLR connectors. HDMI is like the worst yet from a electrical/mechanical connector standpoint. Just sayin'.
By the way, I have to say being a computer guy, I have universally low esteem for every cable connector standard ever invented. They were all invented by low-grade booger-eatin' morons as far as I can tell. If you can't insert and remove by feel without looking, and if it does not click in positively and have a 'lock' feature that keeps the connector from falling out, it's worthless. It's like those morons that keep coming up with new one dollar coins that nobody will carry or use. How stupid do you have to be to get the job designing cable connector ends? Last one I saw that worked right was XLR connectors. HDMI is like the worst yet from a electrical/mechanical connector standpoint. Just sayin'.
newguy1
Super Member
Not to hijack, but I love my $1 coins....and my $2 coins.....I couldn't imagine going back to bills.
VinylHanger
Navigaret ex ironia
I agree. Especially with the older fat cables. They want to fall out before you even get the gear back in your rack.
I think I would rather carry a couple hundred in bills than a couple hundred in coins. :scratch2:
sniperdolan
Happy AK Member
HDMI cable quality isn't going to make a difference. A beefier cable will last longer that is about it. Its all digital you either get signal or you don't. Just like the new Digital over the Air TV. You either get a channel or you don't get it all. One cable doesn't have better one and zeros over another one.
I remember a guy at best buy tried to tell me that a certain HDMI cable was faster than another one. Another time someone tried to tell me there was more packet loss with a cheaper cable. Its only a 6ft cable how much data can it lose.
Maybe in long runs some issues could present themselves, but it is still going to end up coming back to the working or not working issue.
On monoprice.com you can get a thick gold plated hdmi cable with sheathing that doesn't like to bend for 6-7$. Save your money.
I remember a guy at best buy tried to tell me that a certain HDMI cable was faster than another one. Another time someone tried to tell me there was more packet loss with a cheaper cable. Its only a 6ft cable how much data can it lose.
Maybe in long runs some issues could present themselves, but it is still going to end up coming back to the working or not working issue.
On monoprice.com you can get a thick gold plated hdmi cable with sheathing that doesn't like to bend for 6-7$. Save your money.
newguy1
Super Member
Me too, but when I need to get a few buck for a cup of coffee, I don't need to break out the wallet, I just grab a handful of change. Generally works for most purchases under $5.
Wigwam Jones
Caesar non supra grammati
I like Canadian coins just fine, including the Loonie and the Twonie. No problem.
But the US has not had a decent dollar coin since the Eisenhower cartwheels. They keep inventing new ones - the Susan B. Anthony, the Sacajawea, and all of them are just about exactly the same size as a quarter and NOBODY wants them. Idiots just keep releasing new ones every couple years, and each one has all the same flaws as the last, and then adds some more. Dollar coins won't work in the USA unless they're bigger than quarters at the very least.
charles 1973
Super Member
I found a big difference in a video cable, the biggest difference possible. The expensive radio shack cable I had stoped working a shot time after I bought it. I went to wallmart and bought a $10 philips that not only worked, but did every bit as good a job as my $40 RS unit.
Personaly I'll pay a bit more, or wait for them to go on sale, for what appears to be a better cable, it may not actualy be, But I feel better about it.
Personaly I'll pay a bit more, or wait for them to go on sale, for what appears to be a better cable, it may not actualy be, But I feel better about it.
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madpioneer
Super Member
I feel the same way. With my personal introduction to HD just last year, when I was inserting my very first HDMI cable my first thought was does it lock in? I kept pressure on it expecting to here a quiet click.
Finally realizing it does not lock in.
I appreciate what the HDMI connections do, but I really hate the design.
I would have gone a different way myself, and it would have locked in place!
charles 1973
Super Member
Here are the measurments that show the differnces in speaker cables. I'm looking at a chart right now at Audioholic's online A/V magazine, I'd post the link but don't know how. Anyway, depending on the speaker/amp combination it could change the sound, in some extreme cases (typically very low impeadance speakers) some cables will produce noticably bad sound with some amps. These differences have nothing to to with the cost of the cable, or brand names, even the material has little efect. It's the laws of physic's and the cable's design that determin a cables properties. That being said, IMO 90% of us can use 16 gauge lampcord to 25' that would work just fine.
If you refered to HDMI cables specificaly, IMO you are correct.
HDMI cables can't be that different, they have standards that must be the same for all cables to work with the manufactures product's. All companies want their product's to perform well so they have no choice but to have a common standard. It's those very differences I discribed about speaker cables that has forced the industry to establish a standard for HDMI. There are no such standard's for speaker cables, If there were, there would be a lot of very unhappy speaker cable manufactures out there! There are Amp manufactures out there that specify the max capacitance of speaker cables, for that very reason.
I agree about the BS conectors, but once I work around the issues though, they're OK.
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SSBN 618
Active Member
A couple more links on HDMI cables:
"CNET strongly recommends cheap HDMI cables widely available from online retailers instead of the expensive counterparts sold in your local electronics store."
http://reviews.cnet.com/2719-11276_7-226-3.html?tag=page;page
"Slaying the Cable Monster: Why HDMI Brands Don't Matter
For the vast majority of HDTV owners, a $5 HDMI cable will provide the same performance as a $100 one."
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2385272,00.asp
"CNET strongly recommends cheap HDMI cables widely available from online retailers instead of the expensive counterparts sold in your local electronics store."
http://reviews.cnet.com/2719-11276_7-226-3.html?tag=page;page
"Slaying the Cable Monster: Why HDMI Brands Don't Matter
For the vast majority of HDTV owners, a $5 HDMI cable will provide the same performance as a $100 one."
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2385272,00.asp
ev13wt
Super Member
HDMI is a norm, and all "HDMI" cables comply to it. (like usb) So they will all work fine within their norm. I don't know the norms max cable length.
That said, if the information is passed digitally, it will either work or not. If it works, it will work just like the 500 dollar one. You have highs and lows in the analog spectrum, and they get read out by the other side. If a bit can't be read, it is requested again. And yes, there is enough "time" for that.
Else, all of us, with all of our analog cat5 internet cables, couldn't read this post. It woul$d have 3rro§s in it, , , making itt unrea4ble for pr0b3bl7 90% of all the user§"..
That said, if the information is passed digitally, it will either work or not. If it works, it will work just like the 500 dollar one. You have highs and lows in the analog spectrum, and they get read out by the other side. If a bit can't be read, it is requested again. And yes, there is enough "time" for that.
Else, all of us, with all of our analog cat5 internet cables, couldn't read this post. It woul$d have 3rro§s in it, , , making itt unrea4ble for pr0b3bl7 90% of all the user§"..
HDMI is a standard. I agree with the general notion that any cable will either function completely or fail. I second the suggestion for the monoprice or similar.
But I'm not sure that some of the blanket statements would actually stand up. The HDMI consortium themselves distinguish between cable capable of delivering different resolutions. Over the past couple months I've heard interviews with some big cheese at HDMI, the head tech guy at OPPO and a couple others. The answers they give aren't as straightforward as "they all work." Issues like jitter and handshakes and others were discussed.
I'm not technically savvy enough or motivated to collect the statements and engage in a back and forth discussion. I wouldn't be surprised though if people weren't able to use certain features like return audio or might actually be watching 720 rather than 1080p. No big deal if they only have to spend another 10 spot to get another though as long as they know what's happening.
I seem to recall the handling of the audio signal was presented as having issues different from the video in an interview or two. That seems counterintuitive to the "bits are bits" argument and the notion that perfect error correction is constant.
I say go cheap, but with eyes and ears open.
But I'm not sure that some of the blanket statements would actually stand up. The HDMI consortium themselves distinguish between cable capable of delivering different resolutions. Over the past couple months I've heard interviews with some big cheese at HDMI, the head tech guy at OPPO and a couple others. The answers they give aren't as straightforward as "they all work." Issues like jitter and handshakes and others were discussed.
I'm not technically savvy enough or motivated to collect the statements and engage in a back and forth discussion. I wouldn't be surprised though if people weren't able to use certain features like return audio or might actually be watching 720 rather than 1080p. No big deal if they only have to spend another 10 spot to get another though as long as they know what's happening.
I seem to recall the handling of the audio signal was presented as having issues different from the video in an interview or two. That seems counterintuitive to the "bits are bits" argument and the notion that perfect error correction is constant.
I say go cheap, but with eyes and ears open.
ev13wt
Super Member
I would say that is the start of the sales pitch. If the cable is to spec (Which many probably aren't) then it will work. But standards like HDMI or USB live and die with interaction. So you have people in the respective companies that really only do standards work. If they don't want to lose their useless job, then they must make it complicated right?
The idea of a standard is clear. Having a "universal" system of, in this thread, connections to another system.
If the cable is poorly constructed, you may (at high speeds like 10Gbit per sec) not be able to read the highs and lows (analog) to 1s and 0s. Usually what happens is that the system slows down overall to manage. There is usually enough overhead for that, so the picture or sound will not "stop".
The cable length max of the standard is 15 meters. Thats about 50 feet. Anything under 15 feet and the cheapest cable is fine.
The speed of the HDMI cable data transmission is about 3,96 Gbit/s for the home user and around 7 for the professional user. The HDMI 1.3 und 1.4 are up to 8,16 Gbit/s. Still less than some computer system PCIexpress cable links at 10. The new apple port is 10 as well.
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