HDMI cables - price/quality payoff?
Discussion
I recently bought a PS3 and am hoping to get my hands on a new HDTV soonish. I will need a HDMI cable to connect the two. Now the cables seem to vary in price - from the bargain basement Ebay jobbies to the official PS3 cable, right up to £40-50 items from some websites.
Is there going to be a noticeable difference from buying an uber-expensive one?
Is there going to be a noticeable difference from buying an uber-expensive one?
IMHO there is little difference in them until you go up to longer runs.
For longer runs to get cables that are rated for 1080p it costs more.
As to quality between the vast cost I am not 100% convinced. When I had my TV installed, I spent £250 on an HDMI cable as I needed a 5M cable and I didn't have the time to do any kind of scientific test as I was getting a £5,000 plasma and the cables fitted into the wall.
I have heard reviews that say that better quality cables convey the signal more accurately which means the screen needs to perform less error correction, which means a more accurate picture.
That said, I would suggest the only time that any kind of difference could be seen would be on HD content and on a very big screen, and then the difference would be very marginal from any decent cable up to the very expensive ones.
For longer runs to get cables that are rated for 1080p it costs more.
As to quality between the vast cost I am not 100% convinced. When I had my TV installed, I spent £250 on an HDMI cable as I needed a 5M cable and I didn't have the time to do any kind of scientific test as I was getting a £5,000 plasma and the cables fitted into the wall.
I have heard reviews that say that better quality cables convey the signal more accurately which means the screen needs to perform less error correction, which means a more accurate picture.
That said, I would suggest the only time that any kind of difference could be seen would be on HD content and on a very big screen, and then the difference would be very marginal from any decent cable up to the very expensive ones.
Dr JonboyG said:
How much do you pay for USB cables? How about FireWire cables? What about the DVI lead from your computer to your monitor? HDMI is a digital spec, don't fall for any audiophile bulls
t. It's either a 1 or 0. Go to monoprice.com or the UK equivalent and don't get ripped off.
Thats not actually correct.t. It's either a 1 or 0. Go to monoprice.com or the UK equivalent and don't get ripped off.With digital cables there is less scope for signal loss than with analogue, but it still happens and still has an effect.
With usb and firewire cables there is a lot of error correction involved so any inaccuracies which may take place are masked, and in any case, the two way structure of them acts very quickly to ensure that the data at the end is the same as the source.
If it is a one way digital lead that is having data taken from it and used in real time, anything that is not 100% accurate forces error correction to be used in real time in the unit which degrades the data, or can cause dropouts.
Different standards of cable are able to carry the signal better than others. This is why although short cheap HDMI cables are fine for 1080p, you will find that the cheaper manufacturers cable is not rated for 1080p for longer lengths as the signal degrades so much not even the error correction at the end can cope to approximate the signal and you get dropouts.
depends how piccy you are. if you notice the little out of place pixel then you want the topdog. but if you fine with it go for the ps3 standard. thats what we have and its perfect. i like to brand hence why we have it otherwise £15 jobbie will do.
just brought a vga to hdmi from here. waiting for it atm but it seemed cheap enough.
http://www.cabling4less.co.uk/
just brought a vga to hdmi from here. waiting for it atm but it seemed cheap enough.
http://www.cabling4less.co.uk/
After many years of discussing this, I decided to prove once and for all this week. I am currently running my Sony Bravia X2000 LCD 40" off 5m flat HDMI cables I got from eBay for £8 each and very happy with them.
Today arrived my QED Perfromance HDMI - the latest incarnation of the award winning cable @ £63.
I cannot see *any* difference in the picture or sound quality whatsoever from the Sky HD output using this cable.
Conclusion is the £8 must be good quality cables. Sending the QED back today!
Today arrived my QED Perfromance HDMI - the latest incarnation of the award winning cable @ £63.
I cannot see *any* difference in the picture or sound quality whatsoever from the Sky HD output using this cable.
Conclusion is the £8 must be good quality cables. Sending the QED back today!
Goochie said:
HDMI cables transmit a digital signal. It either gets to the display or it doesnt - there is no in-between.
If there was an in-between you would get bad pixelation ala Sky TV in a thunderstorm.
Exactly right, HDMI signals send data in 101010101 format so it either works or it doesn't. To that end there is absolutely no point in spending mega money on a HDMI cable. The only difference that you'd notice would be in construction quality but if a cheap one fails then its not "fit for purpose" so you take it back to be swapped.If there was an in-between you would get bad pixelation ala Sky TV in a thunderstorm.
Goochie said:
Plotloss said:
:sigh:
Can you offer a good explanation as to why people should spend more than a few quid on an HDMI cable ?Digital signals do not simply work or dont work that is a massively over simplistic view, just as jitter occurs with digital audio interconnects which affects performance the same thing occurs on video, this is particularly acute with high bandwidth HDMI signals such as the latest 1.3a equipment.
The effect is significantly less noticeable on short cable runs than it is on longer ones but the effect is plain using cheap cables on long runs.
I'm sure you'll refute this but such is life.
Plotloss said:
Goochie said:
Plotloss said:
:sigh:
Can you offer a good explanation as to why people should spend more than a few quid on an HDMI cable ?Digital signals do not simply work or dont work that is a massively over simplistic view, just as jitter occurs with digital audio interconnects which affects performance the same thing occurs on video, this is particularly acute with high bandwidth HDMI signals such as the latest 1.3a equipment.
The effect is significantly less noticeable on short cable runs than it is on longer ones but the effect is plain using cheap cables on long runs.
I'm sure you'll refute this but such is life.
Have you ever witnessed faults caused by a poor cable? If so, how do such problems present themselves on screen ?
I've seen issues with lengths over 5m, in that you may get a lot of very definate and obvious interference in the picture. It usually shows especially in dark colours, a bit difficult to describe really.
However, when I've seen it it's been bad enough to make the picture unwatchable. In these case a more expensive cable will more than likely remove this effect. It's often the case a cable will perform fine for 720p then someone upgrades to a 1080 source and suddenly the cable isn't up to the job.
So, while I agree that there is a point at which more money spent on a cable can yield benefits, in my experience it either works or it doesn't. Once you get a picture that displays at 1080 over your 10m run, I've never seen any further improvement from using a more expensive HDMI lead.
However, when I've seen it it's been bad enough to make the picture unwatchable. In these case a more expensive cable will more than likely remove this effect. It's often the case a cable will perform fine for 720p then someone upgrades to a 1080 source and suddenly the cable isn't up to the job.
So, while I agree that there is a point at which more money spent on a cable can yield benefits, in my experience it either works or it doesn't. Once you get a picture that displays at 1080 over your 10m run, I've never seen any further improvement from using a more expensive HDMI lead.
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