This just confirms what we already know!

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › This just confirms what we already know!

corksta

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#31325 13-Mar-2009 07:51

A report showing that there really is no difference between buying a cheap HDMI cable compared with a so-called high end cable.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/2256956/Expensive-TV-cables-are-a-rip-off

When I splashed out a heap of money recently for a TV and home theatre system from Harvey Norman I was told I absolutely needed a Monster HDMI cable to "get the best picture". The cables were $299 each and I supposedly needed three of them based on the equipment I was buying. I told him I could get my own cables, but how many people fall into that trap thinking they should be spending that much to go with their new TV or Blu-ray player?!

I bet you still won't see these companies actively advertising what this report shows, or even changing their sales pitch to customers.

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#200953 13-Mar-2009 08:36

Harvey Norman in Wellington city used to have a "Monster cable" demonstration unit showing how "superior" their cables were to the competition. One screen was hooked up with "Monster" brand component cables, the other was hooked up with a generic composite cable.

They are an evil, evil company. But there's enough of the uninformed general public who will buy their snake oil that they survive quite happily.

Check this out if you need further evidence:

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/legal/mcp/index.htm

A good write-up of the "coat-hanger comparision" at http://tinyurl.com/2yywfk too.

Cable-snobbery is one of my pet peeves.

mjb

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#200954 13-Mar-2009 08:45

Considering the signal over HDMI is digital, the cable's going to be largely irrelevant isn't it? I'd let people away with cable snobbery for analog audio lines..

Correct me if I'm wrong, I know nothing about HDMI.

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stevenz

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#200961 13-Mar-2009 09:20

mjb: Considering the signal over HDMI is digital, the cable's going to be largely irrelevant isn't it? I'd let people away with cable snobbery for analog audio lines..

Correct me if I'm wrong, I know nothing about HDMI.

You're dead right, digital is digital. It is possible over either extremely long runs or in areas of extreme interference (or indeed, a faulty cable/connection) to get bit-errors in a digital signal which can result in "sparkling" in an HDMI-derived signal. But as long as the cable is compliant (HDMI 1.2, 1.3 etc) with all the hardware you're using, then a $400 digital cable shouldn't perform any differently than a $40 one.

gehenna

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#200962 13-Mar-2009 09:27

Yep I said this to my un-father-in-law who was going to buy a gold plated HDMI cable for $250 or something ridiculous like that. He ended up buying it anyway cos he didn't believe me. Thinking of forwarding this to him in an "i told you so" email LOL

Nety

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#200964 13-Mar-2009 09:41

Very good review/test here

http://www.audioholics.com/education/cables/long-hdmi-cable-bench-tests

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mjb

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#200966 13-Mar-2009 09:58

stevenz: You're dead right, digital is digital. It is possible over either extremely long runs or in areas of extreme interference (or indeed, a faulty cable/connection) to get bit-errors in a digital signal which can result in "sparkling" in an HDMI-derived signal. But as long as the cable is compliant (HDMI 1.2, 1.3 etc) with all the hardware you're using, then a $400 digital cable shouldn't perform any differently than a $40 one.

Cheers, that's exactly as I understood it. Not being an AV freak... which of the RCA connections are digital and which aren't? or are they all analog? I have a (mis)understanding that component is digital and composite is analog?

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Jaxson

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#200968 13-Mar-2009 10:25

All RCA video is analogue sorry.
Only digital RCA connection is the digital coax audio out.

Digital is paint by numbers, if you get the right info you can reconstruct the exact picture.

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mjb

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#200972 13-Mar-2009 11:01

Jaxson: All RCA video is analogue sorry.
Only digital RCA connection is the digital coax audio out.

Yep, I did say it was a misunderstanding :) thanks for the clarification.

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richms

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#200981 13-Mar-2009 11:48

HDMI will drop out entirely if there are errors since the HDCP encryption falls over. Its only unprotected DVI that will get sparkles over the picture.

HDMI is fundimentally flawed in many ways with respect to expecting signals to go long distance, so its not fair that they mention that things start to fall apart at 30 meters in those articles (same one was in consumer last or this month)

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#200993 13-Mar-2009 12:11

The last time I purchased my TV at HN I didn't get any cables but but the salesperson said to stick with Monster & Belkin PureAV and that Pudney & Lee Premium HDMI cables where rubbish.....haha.

All this argument is soon going to die anyway with the introduction of Wireless HDMI

corksta

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#201064 13-Mar-2009 16:28

James Bond: The last time I purchased my TV at HN I didn't get any cables but but the salesperson said to stick with Monster & Belkin PureAV and that Pudney & Lee Premium HDMI cables where rubbish.....haha.

Yeah I was told to stick with Monster and that the Pudney & Lee cables were just "ok"!

paradoxsm

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#201110 13-Mar-2009 21:16

Something I have said in many of these forums for years.

Standard OFC (oxygen free copper) that all but the $2 shop cables are made from is more than suitable.

I had the guy try to sell me a "Monster" HDMI cable and a whole bunch of other stuff when I bought the plasma, at $299.99 each, 3 cables was almost as much as another whole plasma Television!!!
The HDMI cable that came with my $66 DVD player could not be faulted, funny that.

I like the blurb on the CHOICE site about the marking on one cable:

One company claims its product "eliminates digital-to-analog conversion between your video source and display for the most accurate high definition picture"
In other words, it’s an HDMI cable that does what it’s designed to do.

corksta

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#201148 14-Mar-2009 07:48

I like the blurb on the CHOICE site about the marking on one cable:

One company claims its product "eliminates digital-to-analog conversion between your video source and display for the most accurate high definition picture"
In other words, it’s an HDMI cable that does what it’s designed to do.

Yeah I had to laugh at that as well! Classic!!!

stuzzo

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#201239 14-Mar-2009 21:53

richms: HDMI will drop out entirely if there are errors since the HDCP encryption falls over. Its only unprotected DVI that will get sparkles over the picture.

HDMI is fundimentally flawed in many ways with respect to expecting signals to go long distance, so its not fair that they mention that things start to fall apart at 30 meters in those articles (same one was in consumer last or this month)

Sparklies can occur with HDMI by all accounts and in fact in the Choice article the testers observed them in some cases.

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#203176 25-Mar-2009 07:48

http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/23/monster-hdmi-difference-scam-still-kickin-in-frys-electronic/

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