Expensive or cheap HDMI cable for long runs?

Question

Will it make any difference if the quality of HDMI cable is excellent (the ones rated highly in home theater and stereophile kind of audio magazines) or average (usually available on internet or electronics shops)?

I understand that the signal is digital and so the dropped bits matter and also that the voltage differences that make 1 or 0 may get faint over long distances. When does this become significant ?

The screen size will be over 50 and picture will be usually 720p and at times 1080i or 1080p. I have to run a HDMI cable for about 10 metres and it'll carry only video signals.

Answer 1

cheap

Answer 2

As an engineer for products that use this type of transport, I can say that it really depends on the application. You indicate a application on the ragged edge of the transports capability. As the HDMI transport is a up to 5 differential TMDS layers with a discrete clock signal, the necessity for the transport to have good RF and EMI immunity is key, couple with that as it is a composite of TMDS (Transition Minimized Differential Signaling) layers the need for internal shielding for common mode coupled emissions.

I would challenge any one who uses the digital is digital argument to review the DDWG papers on DVI (granted not the same but it reveals the TMDS layer susceptibility to RF and EMI interference and self emissions.  

Your best bet is look at 10% of total system cost for cables. This will prevent overbuying for performance. Most performance cables have a satisfaction guarantee, I would recommend that you try both and decide for yourself. Those here will argue till blue in the face, but remember you are the one that needs to be happy with it.

Answer 3

A  10-meter cable is long enough to be sensitive to poor cable design.  It is not  true that because HDMI is digital, the cable quality does not matter.  The problem is you can spend anywhere from $50 to $250 for a 30' HDMI cable, and you really can't be sure if the low-priced cables will work well.   If the cable is not good enough, you will lose the picture either occasionally, in parts or totally, depending on the electrical noise environment.

I have bought cables from here

http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdep...

and they appear to be of high quality.  But my cables are only 3 m, and you can't tell electrical quality by the external appearance of the cable.  You might check with CNet for any cable reviews.

Answer 4

For short runs, inexpensive, thin-gauge HDMI cables work fine.

But people who used these in lengths approaching 5 meters/15 feet started to see errors.

It was found that using slightly thicker wires in the cable, changing the twisting and better inner-wire insulation solved the problems.

But you cannot just look at the wire gauge, or the price and tell how well the 30 ft cable will work.

What you DO get from a name-brand cable is a company that stands behind it's product, has sent 10 ft, 20 ft, 30 ft, samples out for testing.  

(Strange, but it's not really a better quality cable you are buying, but a better quality-controlled cable.)

My advice: Try a long cable from BlueJeans.  It's a single-guy shop, but the owner tests his cables, stands behind the product and has a good return policy.

His long-run cable for 30 ft will run about $85.

I bought my 12 ft cable from him for about $36 and it works great.

If I was burying the cable in a wall - I might be tempted to buy a name-brand cable.  While $100-$200 seems expensive, the labor to put the wire in the wall still swamps the cost of the wire.  In 5 years Deep Color televisions and DVD players may be available that need higher bandwidth. I dont want to shell out another $500 to install a better cable.

Yes - there are a lot of 'scams' out there about wires. But a little common sense can keep you from under or over buying.

Answer 5

Here is some good info on that subject:

http://www.abccables.com/info-hdmi-max-l...

50 feet is the maximum recommended distance for HDMI but you may be able to go farther.

10 meters is about 32 feet so you should be OK.   Try the cheaper cable first - it will probably be just fine.

Answer 6

This is the greatest scam in all of electronics.  There is absolutely no difference between a $25 dollar cable and a $125 dollar cable of the same length.