HDMI cable

[p8ntblr]

Anyone know if brand/model makes a big difference here? If so which is best and why? Any good deals?

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Argument will ensue, however IMHO the answer is NO. We are talking about a digital signal which basically either works or doesn't work. There is generally no "quality" involved in digital transmission. No cable should result in data loss.
I bought a Esoteric on eBay for $10 I think.

[Otter]

I agree with Jeffery

[FL Buckeye]

I don't think there's much difference either, as long as there is some quality control. I buy most of my cables online from Monoprice.com. You can get different lengths from 1.5 ft to 100ft, 22ga, 24 ga or 28 ga. If everything is close, you can get a 3 ft or 6ft 28awg HDMI for under $10 including shipping.

[plarval]

Everything I have read seems to be in line with Jeffrey's comments. It's a digital signal, so there shouldn't be much difference.

[Tequila]

As long as it's not a piece of junk, any cable will do. Go with monoprice.com.

[LCHIEN]

You should be OK with any of those vendors on eBay that have 1000's of feedbacks.
Their HDMI and other cables are usually suitable for the job.
HDMI probably does have bit clocks running in the hundreds of MHz so suitably twisted transmission line pairs are required but its well known technology and the wires are easily available and the techniques are mass producible.

It doesn't take the $100 HDMI cables that Best Buy and the specialty A/V H/T stores are trying to push.

[dbarnett]

Home Depot has them for $19

I almost made the mistake of buying an HDMI cable from Best Buy for $75, when I went to HD and saw them by accident for $19. I love the picture quality and could not imagine that $55 extra would make a big difference.

[ragswl4]

Don' Waste Your Money

I spoke with an honest young man at my local Best Buy about the Monster HDMI cable vs the one that came with my Samsung DVD player. His response was that the Monster cable "might" improve the picture by 3%. I asked him how I could tell if the picture was improved and he said, "the human eye cannot detect a 3% improvement in a video picture, so I might want to think about not purchasing the cable". I was astounded that he said this, but grateful.

[scorrpio]

Overpriced cables are snake oil, and add as much quality as gold-plated exhaust pipes add to car performance. They are pure bling. (Gold-plated cable connetors DO make a difference, but you can easily find gold-plated for $15 instead of $100) However, they have MASSIVE profit margin for stores, hence they are being pushed so much on the uninformed customer.

Pro audio/video guys working for rich clients also tend to use those 'high-end' cables. Reasons:
1. Client has money to spend, and it feels 'right' to have $500 cables connecting $20,000 pieces of equipment.
2. There is an excellent kickback for A/V pros.

Us budget-minded guys? Get that $20 cable from Amazon, and laugh at the gullible simpleton who thinks his $1000 worth of Monster cables makes a difference.

[Rob R]

i would try the monoprice cables.

i had an s-video for my sat dish going 26 ft to my projector. it was a monster cable and cost 65$ it was just a little short, after moving my componets a bit.

i bought a 50ft from monoprice, for about 8 bucks, the picture is the same. that's with a cable that lenth does matter.

for HDMI, as long as it's connected, you're good. i'd go with monoprice.

i also bought a component cable from them for my dvd player, superb.


happy viewing

rob

[p8ntblr]

I checked out monoprice. They have different gauges. Do you think that will make any difference. Also what is Ferrite Cores?

[Tequila]

If the price is comparable, a larger wire (smaller gauge #) will generally be better.

Ferrite cores are chunks of ferrite encased in plastic that clip on over the cable. You may have seen something like them on the ends of a computer monitor cable. They act as a magnetic shunt, reducing the interference between cables.

Most likely, you don't need them. If you happen to have a cable that's plugged in right next to a power cord, or a very long cable, they can give some improvement in the signal.

[LCHIEN]

I checked out monoprice. They have different gauges. Do you think that will make any difference. Also what is Ferrite Cores?

I have never seen a HDMI cable with wire gauge as a variable.
usually for transmission line cables (high frequency digital) the gauge is fixed. I think you are confused. Maybe you are confusing length or number of pins. A link would help.

Ferrites are the cylindrical blobs near the connectors that are used to reduce interference. They do not reduce power line interference, they are to kill conducted EMI and RFI at very high frequencies.

[p8ntblr]

From the link. They have 24AWG and 28AWG.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/se...+cable&x=0&y=0