Difference between HDMI cables?

Question

http://www.target.com/HDMI-Cable-6-PCM229506/dp/B0007MWE2S/sr=1-1/qid=1199574014/ref=sr_1_1/601-7321991-8096906?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k%3AHDMI%20cable&page=1

its only 20 dollars, does it give the true HD experience? Or is it just close?

Answer 1

You will have to try it at home and take it back if you don't like it, there is no simple answer for the following reasons:

In theory, a digital signal is much more noise tolerant than analog because all it has to do is to be (and be recognised) as a "one" or a "zero". However as the frequencies go up, the digital pulses may not be as sharp and they may not reach the thresholds to be recognised properly. A bit of noise may throw the balance and a "1" maybe read as "0" and v.versa. Also HDMI doesn't have any kind of error correction. Therefore a poor quality HDMI cable may have an occasional glitch, that you may or may not see.

Also the thing with digital stuff is that when they work they give you exactly the same quality whether they are cheap ones or expensive. The same cannot be said for analog.

Answer 2

Don't fall for the BS of expensive HDMI cables.  You shouldn't pay more than $10 for a 6ft cable - the $100 monster cables are a total rip off.

I read a comparison by CNET, and there was no distinguishable difference between expensive and cheap cables.

Answer 3

I use HDMI cables in my work every day. Cheap cables can work the same as good cables, but they are more of a gamble.

Here's what you might get with cheap cables:

No picture

No sound

neither

Flashing picture

Purple picture

Evenly dispersed snow in picture

Flashing (if that's the right word) sound

HDMI cables must carry huge volumes of information, some of it back and forth between components. If the cable only drops one bit in the EDID data for example, your display won't set up to the right parameters and you will have overscan/underscan or worse.

HDMI is finicky to say the least. If your cable is poor quality and it builds up more than 400 picofarads of capacitance, your picture will simply shut off. HDMI is designed that way.

The ends of the better cables are gold. While gold is a great conductor of electricity, it's more important characteristic is that it will not oxydize. The cheap cables will be more likely to become problematic over time as their low grade connectors deteriorate.

Lastly, better cables are simply constructed better. They will withstand more stress and more handling.

This is by no means a complete list of the troubles you may experience. It's just the things I've seen on a regular basis, trying to use the cra* that people buy.

If you only have 10 bucks, the $100 cables aren't going to look very good to you. I use $59.00 2 meter (six foot) cables from Ethereal. Never have a problem.

Take this for what it's worth. I've learned this the hard way.

Answer 4

it depends on what you will use it for. HDMI Cables are not rated in different bandwiths for differnt things weither expensive or cheap makes no difference here. If your using for HDTV then just buy that one if your using it for blu ray or hd dvd look at the package before you buy it to make sure that it is rated at 10.2 GBPS so that you will be able to take full advantage of all of the features of your next gen player. Any cable rated less then that for use on a next gen player should not be bought. Also check out monoprice.com and blue jeans cables.

Answer 5

The difference in a single word is MONEY!

HDMI cable is 19 wires carrying audio and video in one cable. To be allowed to carry the HDMI logo the cable must be certified.

Monster cable will advertise and market their cable to no end but in reality they are extremely over priced and over rated. Fancy packaging, bright color insulation and a hard sell by BestBuy salesmen, (they get commission on Monster bty), doesn't make your system any better. Monster wont even tell you what gage wire they use.

Unlike an analog cable these signals are a digital uncompressed signal, 1's and 0's, either the signal is there or it is not. Cheaper cable will get the data from point A to point B as well as any other cable.

I purchase all my cable from either of the two links below.

Answer 6

well from what i understand, the cheap cables are not rated at 10.2 mbps and are not hdmi 1.3 spec. all hd electonics coming out are going to be 1.3 and you will need the right cable to take advantage of all the features. but if you need the cable anything 1080i or less, or hdmi 1.1 or 1.2 devices, then yes the cheaper cable would be the best. But no, all hdmi cables are not the same with different prices...

Answer 7

monsters are a rip off, the cheaper ones do the same thing