Comments on: And the HDMI cable manufacturers will cry over wireless HDMI

By: Salil Maniktahla

Salil Maniktahla — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 01:46:16 +0000

HT Pro,

let me be the first. I’ve done the homework, and I’ll tell you flat out: there’s no difference. I have some $60 Monster HDMI cables, and some no-name, got ‘em off the Internet, $15 HDMI cables. I use them interchangeably, and there is NO difference. You might feel better paying more for cables, but the thing with digital signalling is, it’s either a clean signal or it’s junk. There’s no “slight difference” because of the quality of cables. If the difference were marked enough to affect the picture quality, the picture quality would be no picture.

If you really want to spend more, by all means, go ahead.

Popular Mechanics backs me up on this one:

THEY tested ‘em. You decide.

By: HT PRO

HT PRO — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 23:02:50 +0000

There is a difference in cables. I have never had anyone who told me that an HDMIcable is an HDMI cable actually to the homework to find out. I have. I have used identical TVs and identical Blu ray players withthe same scene side by side. One might show a great picture of a fence the other will show a great picture of that same fence, but you can see the grain in the wood. That is one of dozens of examples I can give. If you have a TV that won’t handle the data it does not matter what cable you are using you still won’t see the wood grain. If you get a good TV, get the cable that will deliver the performance you already paid for. That is my professional opinion. In the end, just do what makes you happy.

By: j. kanders

j. kanders — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:07:56 +0000

no viewable difference between cheap and pricy.

watch http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/packing_the_deal/ and then decide.

By: Fred T. Coffmqn

Fred T. Coffmqn — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 02:17:46 +0000

I found a 10 foot HDMI to HDMI for $8.99 and $4.95 shipping via USPS Priority Mail at
http://www.mycablemart.com/store/cart.php?m=product_list&c=58&gclid=CMWp7bGmwYwCFR6AWAodih7OaQ. If that sounds too expensive I found it for $6.99 Plus $4.92 S&H at,
http://www.m2cables.com/index.html
I also found a 10 foot for $12.99 and higher and I have only scratched the ads on Ask. I’m going with the $6.99

By: Mark Shearing

Mark Shearing — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 19:19:52 +0000

HDMI cables from Monoprice - 3ft less than $20
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10240&style=

Monster 300 - 3ft $80
http://www.amazon.com/Monster-300-HDMI-length-HDMI300-1M/dp/B000I2CPAI/sr=8-1/qid=1159989028/ref=sr_1_1/103-7593087-8798204?ie=UTF8&s=electronics

Monster cable 4x better, I don’t think so!

By: Salil Maniktahla

Salil Maniktahla — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 00:01:21 +0000

And if you believe that, then I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

No, there’s no difference between an HDMI cable of one brand or another. That is, not so you’d notice. There may be differences in cable construction (insulation, cladding, the core, etc), but not in the bandwidth they carry. There’s a minimum, which the HDMI protocol specifies, and that’s it.

But you’d be very hard pressed to determine any kind of signal quality difference between a low-priced and a high-priced cable. First, unlike analog signalling, with digital signalling a cruddy cable doesn’t mean a poor picture. It means no picture, or horrible artifacts, or errors in the rendering, audio garbling, etc.

Also, most HDMI cables (cheap and expensive) have gold contacts. Take a look. The quantity of gold doesn’t make a cable expensive, nor does the process involved in plating them. Gold in these quantities is very cheap. You’re certainly not getting $20 or $50 of gold in each cable. It’s a layer a few molecules thick.

And no, “cheap HDTV” does not equate to poor signal quality. I have a “cheap” 37″ LCD monitor that displays an absolutely amazing 1080p picture. You don’t need to spend $5000 to get a beautiful picture, and you definitely don’t need to spend $150 a cable for HDMI, either.

By: TDavid

TDavid — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 19:36:20 +0000

That’s the pitch, Forser, but I’ve seen the same thing with expensive outlets that claim to clean dirty AC power. Their might be something to these claims, but I remain curious how much is reality and how much is hype.

I wonder if the local Best Buy folks would show me the difference between the two cables on one of their highend LCD TVs. That would be an inexpensive way to take an expensive test. They should put two different cables for sale next to the display. If I owned a retail store that’s exactly what I’d do, letting people use their eyes to make the decision for the extra hundred bones.

By: Forser

Forser — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 18:33:21 +0000

Yes, there are difference in a $50 dollar cable and a $150 dollar cable.
Of course, if you have a cheap HDTV then you won’t see the difference since it sucks to much.

And often the more expensive cables are gold yes, the contacts, it is high quality stuff.
So just buy the cheap ones for your cheap tv and the expensive ones for your expensive tv.