Good HDMI cable

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Vashypooh

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Last night my family bought a 46" Samsung DLP television. We were going to use HDMI to connect our comcast box, but it doesn't have HDMI anyways so we are exchanging it.

But anyways, i'm not paying 100 dollars for a HDMI cable that i KNEW i could get cheaper elsewhere. Where would you all recommend a nice quality HDMI cable for a reasonable price.

Btw i am aware that there was a topic about this before, however search was unable to bring it up for me with the phrases i used, so I apologies if this is wrong^^
 
AWG is "american wire gauge". It applies to the thickness of the wires that transmit the signal/data. I'm in the process of building a home theater starting tomorrow, and I just made a pretty big purchase from monoprice. I got mostly the 24AWG high quality cables. My order arrives Wednesday.
 
just remember that it is a digital signal, it's all going to be the same as long as the 1's and 0's get across. The signal quality isn't so dependant on the cable quality as analog. I dare you to tell the difference between a $15 and $100 hdmi cable. Not that the recommendations weren't decently priced, just be forewarned when comparing products and their advertisements.
 
Baker_God said:
just remember that it is a digital signal, it's all going to be the same as long as the 1's and 0's get across. The signal quality isn't so dependant on the cable quality as analog. I dare you to tell the difference between a $15 and $100 hdmi cable. Not that the recommendations weren't decently priced, just be forewarned when comparing products and their advertisements.
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Exactly what I was thinking. How much does quality the HDMI cable matter as long as the signals aren't distorted enough so that the receiver doesn't read the incorrect bit.

But this raises another question, if a poor quality cable is used and the signal is distorted enough, what would it appear on the screen as? Would it show up as scattering bad pixels, distorted colors or a variety of other things?

I'm not sure how the data is sent through the HDMI cable. Someone more familiar might be able to answer this.
 
Baker_God said:
just remember that it is a digital signal, it's all going to be the same as long as the 1's and 0's get across. The signal quality isn't so dependant on the cable quality as analog. I dare you to tell the difference between a $15 and $100 hdmi cable. Not that the recommendations weren't decently priced, just be forewarned when comparing products and their advertisements.
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Where do you hear this nonsense? Digital is prone to EMI just as analog is. If anything, it is worse with digital because the information gets completely lost from outside interferences. Please, stop spreading bs and infecting people who don't know better.

Get a good cable, don't get a crumby skinny cable unless you are running 1.5 to 6 feet. Anything above 6 feet, get a higher gauge cable with better shielding.
 
CoW]8(0);1031161594 said:
Exactly what I was thinking. How much does quality the HDMI cable matter as long as the signals aren't distorted enough so that the receiver doesn't read the incorrect bit.

But this raises another question, if a poor quality cable is used and the signal is distorted enough, what would it appear on the screen as? Would it show up as scattering bad pixels, distorted colors or a variety of other things?

I'm not sure how the data is sent through the HDMI cable. Someone more familiar might be able to answer this.
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The distortions are mostly macroblocking/pixelation and messed up colors along edges or in contrast areas.
 
w1retap said:
Where do you hear this nonsense? Digital is prone to EMI just as analog is. If anything, it is worse with digital because the information gets completely lost from outside interferences. Please, stop spreading bs and infecting people who don't know better.

Get a good cable, don't get a crumby skinny cable unless you are running 1.5 to 6 feet. Anything above 6 feet, get a higher gauge cable with better shielding.
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I'm not saying their isn't ever going to be interference, just that the short distances that most people use signal degradation isn't really an issue. I would wholly recommend getting a nice higher gage premium cable if he was running something at distance, but he's not.
 
w1retap said:
Where do you hear this nonsense? Digital is prone to EMI just as analog is. If anything, it is worse with digital because the information gets completely lost from outside interferences. Please, stop spreading bs and infecting people who don't know better.

Get a good cable, don't get a crumby skinny cable unless you are running 1.5 to 6 feet. Anything above 6 feet, get a higher gauge cable with better shielding.
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Well I'm not sure if digital is just as prone as analog is. But I would say that digital is discrete in terms of interference whereas analog is continuous. With digital, either the value is right or its wrong, there's no middleground like there is with analog.
 
yea, im just going from the set top box up to the tv, i figure 3ft is probably all id need, maybe id concider like 5 or 6ft just incase i ever need longer. Thanks everyone tho^^ Helpfull as always
 
CoW]8(0);1031162335 said:
Well I'm not sure if digital is just as prone as analog is. But I would say that digital is discrete in terms of interference whereas analog is continuous. With digital, either the value is right or its wrong, there's no middleground like there is with analog.
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I calibrate digital signals and gauges hooked up with digital signals in a nuclear powerplant. Digital is very prone to interference.
 
w1retap said:
I calibrate digital signals and gauges hooked up with digital signals in a nuclear powerplant. Digital is very prone to interference.
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Not to completely bust your balls, but I am an EMI engineer by trade. Amongst a variety of things, we take a very analytical look at cable coupling. Differential digital signals (like those used in HDMI signals) are of the most robust interfaces in use today. I hate to generalize the last two years of our work into a single sentance, but if you're using twisted shielded pair cabling (as almost all HDMI cabling is,) at trivial lengths (<30 meters,) EMI is a nonissue in a typical environment. Bit errors due to attenuation typically become significant above the 10-15 meter lengths (which is why you should use larger gauge wiring for longer runs,) but unless you're laying wires on top of high power generators, EMI really isn't an issue.
 
You can get a 6ft one from Target for around $50 (maybe less) that should work just fine (mine dies) if your cablebox, DVD player, etc is located under your TV like most peoples. Check to see if your cable box has DVI. I got an open box DVI-to-HDMI cable at Best Buy for my Mediacom DVR cablebox for about $40. I don't even use the audio path on the HDMI cables since I use Optical and Coaxial for my surround sound. There is no way in hell I am paying more than $50 for a cable to go 2ft between devices.
 
disc said:
Not to completely bust your balls, but I am an EMI engineer by trade. Amongst a variety of things, we take a very analytical look at cable coupling. Differential digital signals (like those used in HDMI signals) are of the most robust interfaces in use today. I hate to generalize the last two years of our work into a single sentance, but if you're using twisted shielded pair cabling (as almost all HDMI cabling is,) at trivial lengths (<30 meters,) EMI is a nonissue in a typical environment. Bit errors due to attenuation typically become significant above the 10-15 meter lengths (which is why you should use larger gauge wiring for longer runs,) but unless you're laying wires on top of high power generators, EMI really isn't an issue.
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With these chincey Chinese cables, it is an issue. I've done HDMI cable runs at 25 feet that have had EMI issues. It is especially apparent when doing in wall installation of cables, or running through ceilings, mostly in offices. Twisted pair makes it even worse. I don't know who approved the final designs of the cable standard, but its horrible.
 
I got a 6 foot HDMI cable at Game Crazy for $30. It's a Mad Catz cable and HDMI is digital so I don't give a rats ass about interference. It either works or it doesn't, and it works for me.
 
Home Depot actualy has 2 HDMI cables , I think 1 is about $ 40 and the other was $60. In the row with all the cable splitters and such.
 
Zinn said:
I got a 6 foot HDMI cable at Game Crazy for $30. It's a Mad Catz cable and HDMI is digital so I don't give a rats ass about interference. It either works or it doesn't, and it works for me.
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That is a fallacy. Bits of information are lost, and never recovered. Its not the whole cable that loses signal. Of course if you don't care, buy the cheapest cables possible. For people who do care about picture quality (which you should if you have equipment good enough that runs HDMI or other digital interfaces), you will want good quality shielded cables so you get the best picture quality with very little dropout. This arguement is actually very silly. I don't know why its still perpetuating. :eek:
 
Another vote for monoprice.com, they have quality cables without the media hype surcharge that your local electronics store pushes with the Monster Cable brand etc. I have ordered several times from monoprice, everything from HDMI, DVI, component and optical cables and have been very impressed with the build quality and picture quality. This is coming from someone who used to believe the hype and bought Monster cables before I got educated. So, YMMV, but I've been extremely pleased with monoprice.
 
I have bought and used monoprice cables for the past 3 years after using Acoustic Research and Monster Cable. Monoprice has been stellar in their quality and service. I haven't had a single issue with any cables from speaker wire to HDMI cables. I would definitely give one of their 28 or 26 gauge hdmi cables a shot if you only need a couple feet. I have all of my cables routed together behind the home theater setup and suffer from no noticeable distortions.
 
SJetski71 said:
Depending on length and shielding i'd say those are a complete ripoff. In the ballpark i'd say those cables probably costed $1-$5 to produce.

Take a closer look at some of these: http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10240&style=
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I agree. Just throwing out a little FYI , for the guy who wants one at 2AM and can drive 5 minutes or so and have one in thier hand . No big thing.

Those monoprice deals are definitly the best Ive seen though.:cool:
 
w1retap said:
With these chincey Chinese cables, it is an issue. I've done HDMI cable runs at 25 feet that have had EMI issues. It is especially apparent when doing in wall installation of cables, or running through ceilings, mostly in offices. Twisted pair makes it even worse. I don't know who approved the final designs of the cable standard, but its horrible.
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I'm absolutely positive at this point you have trouble discerning a signal integrity issue vs an EMI issue. The DVI/HDMI specifications are just fine...actually they are more than fine. They meet their intended requirements with significant margin. The fact that people can make runs longer than 15 ft is a tribute to the margin and flexibility that was designed into HDMI/DVI specifications. The eye diagram is completely amazing to me. I rarely ever get to see such a large window in the applications I work with. The smartest thing they ever did was use TDMS.
 
w1retap said:
The distortions are mostly macroblocking/pixelation...
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Errors in DVI / HDMI cables generally appear as seemingly random pixel errors. Macroblocking / pixelation has nothing to do with the HDMI cable used. Those are MPEG-2 artifacts and a HDMI cable can't change them.
 
Stereodude said:
Errors in DVI / HDMI cables generally appear as seemingly random pixel errors. Macroblocking / pixelation has nothing to do with the HDMI cable used. Those are MPEG-2 artifacts and a HDMI cable can't change them.
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I was posting my experience with a cheap HDMI cable. I swapped out cables for a better CL2 rated cable and the macroblocking and pixelation went away. The source was pure, coming from a computer.
 
w1retap said:
I was posting my experience with a cheap HDMI cable. I swapped out cables for a better CL2 rated cable and the macroblocking and pixelation went away. The source was pure, coming from a computer.
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Why is every one disagreeing with you? It's hard to believe what you say when nobody has yet to agree. :confused:
 
Most people don't experience EMI for one, then it gets into a huge knowledge battle to further enlarge internet egos, then it escalades further and further. Its an internet thing, and people are out to 'disprove' something even if they haven't had it happen before. Most people just don't know, or they talk big to make themselves happy.
 
I bought my First HDMI Cable from E-Bay for $8 (Actually 7.98 .99+6.99 S+H). the Damn thing works fine, I cant see any problems with it. Picture quality is better than Composite. For less than $10 it really feels like a quality cable, even has gold plated contacts.
i have bought alot of other ables from E-bay as well, right now I am useing a DVI-VGA cable on my secondayr monitor, I got 5 of them for less than $20, picture quality on that monitor is perfect. Plus I don't have a huge adapter hanging off my video card adding stress to the port.

However I have bought one cable from E-bay that I didn't like the quality of, it was a HDTV cable for an Xbox. The wires were ungodly small. Each RCA plug had a wire going to it that was probably smaller than .050 Inches in diameter. The video quality with it was great, I was more worried about durability and it never did fail, but it did look fragile.

I for one don't think a Cable costing more means better quality, there are alot of cables out there that are simply over priced. But do agree that under some conditions that cable quality does make a differance, but that most people would never be able to tell the differance in a blind test.

I am sure theres a improvement over that cheap Xbox HDTV cable I bought and a Microsoft branded one that cost $30, but that theres no noticable differance in video quality between the Microsoft brand cable and a $100 Monster brand cable to the average person. A trained professional/videophile might be able to see the differance, and I am sure that there will be a differance when tested on high end testing equipment. but for most people in most conditins the middle ground cable will do just fine.
 
no, the points that he made have merit. Just for the application that this thread is about they are a non-issue.
 
Stereodude said:
That's easy... Because he's wrong.
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Digital signals are immune to EMI in your mind? You have a lot to learn. After all, that pretty much was the focus of the thread. Cable quality. Why would you need cable quality? To control EMI issues and get a good quality picture.
 
w1retap said:
Digital signals are immune to EMI in your mind? You have a lot to learn. After all, that pretty much was the focus of the thread. Cable quality. Why would you need cable quality? To control EMI issues and get a good quality picture.
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Of course they're not immune to EMI. However 6-10' HDMI cables aren't affected enough by EMI to worry about it. A "cheapo" cable from monoprice will work just fine.
 
Baker_God said:
no, the points that he made have merit. Just for the application that this thread is about they are a non-issue.
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Of course they have merit in completely unrelated uses. It is completely erroneous to use those same arguments when talking about 6-10' HDMI cables.
 
Indeeed. Digital gauges in nuclear power plants and a 3 ft HDMI cable are a bit different circumstances........
 
MrFace said:
Why is every one disagreeing with you? It's hard to believe what you say when nobody has yet to agree. :confused:
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I agree with him :)

Just because HDMI is a digital signal doesn't mean it won't degrade. For low resolutions and short distances you can get away with using cheap quality cables but for 1080p, longer distances, or in wall installations you'll definitely want higher quality cables (not necessarily monster cables but you get the idea ;) )

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/field-notes/the-truth-about-monster-cable-266616.php
 
w1retap said:
Digital signals are immune to EMI in your mind? You have a lot to learn. After all, that pretty much was the focus of the thread. Cable quality. Why would you need cable quality? To control EMI issues and get a good quality picture.
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I think you're done here. You did your part by trying to be helpful but no one wants to listen to your opinion. If people want to be ignorant then let them be.
 
i use a 35fter from monoprice, works great.. (this was an in-wall installation)..
 
This is very, very simple....

If you only need an HDMI cable smaller than 30 feet, then the www.monoprice.com cable will suffice.
If you need something 30 feet and above, then go with www.bluejeanscable.com (they work with 1080p up to 50 feet).
Above 50feet, well you'll need to spend some major bucks.

Also, the information I provided applies to 1080p signals. 720p only needs half the bandwidth, and any monoprice cable should suffice for 40-50ft lengths.

At home, I have a 40ft BlueJeans HDMI cable connecting my Denon3930CI / PS3 / HDTV STB to my projector. (no HDMI ports on my Anthem D1)
 
WOW I laugh at this. I had monster 600 series cables before and just the other day i moved to monster 1000 and the difference in my PS3 and HD DVD player is huge. It was kind of like moving from vga to dvi. the quality in certain images is great displayed.
 
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