Is there a difference between a $10 HDMI cable and a $100 HDMI cable? If yes, then what are they?

Question

Is there a difference between a $10 HDMI cable and a $100 HDMI cable? If yes, then what are they?

Answer 1

The cost and maybe signal degradation over distance.  If your application is less than 3 meters you should use the least expensive cable.

Answer 2

Cables make a diference. But how much depends on the application, media, equipment, etc.. More detail on your exact application, would help to determine what you need, or are you a fomenter?

Answer 3

I'm a little late, but I agree with Steveo

Answer 4

Many people say there is no differences but I have seen the difference and it is bandwidth.

The greater the bandwidth the more the cable is capable of handling. For lots of sources it hasn't mattered too much yet. Like hooking up a 1080i/p scaling DVD player or a 1080i source like a HD box which outputs 1080i. But now are more fully featured sources like Blu-Ray and HD DVD movies that are coming out in native 1080P and with uncompressed audio tracks like Dolby TrueHD and dts-HD. There are also devices that will send control codes between devices to make operations easier and you will need more bandwidth  to fully take advantage of it.

This of course becomes more exaggerated at longer lengths where it becomes more critical to have a better cable because of signal loss.

Monster has started "Speed Rating" cables and I wouldn't be surprised to see other cable manufacturers follow suit.

Incidentally Monster isn't the only premium cable out there. Key Digital makes a very good cable and Ethereal too.

Answer 5

Mostly the name.  Can I assume that the 100 buck cable is Monster Cable?  Monster Cable charges ridiculous amount of money for their cables.  They say it's better and lasts longer than other cables, but there's  a challenge out there that gives a reward to anyone who can correctly tell the difference between Monster Cables and ordinary cables in a series of tests.  The prize is still unclaimed.

There is also the materials that's used to make the cables.  Monster Cable uses gold plating which is supposed to last longer than copper, which is probably what the 10 buck cable uses.  Copper is a better signal carrier than gold.  The only reason that Monster Cable uses gold plating is that gold is less prone to corrosion than copper, and they can charge more because people think that gold is expensive.  Monster Cables are not made from gold, they're gold-plated.  

You don't need to spend 100 bucks on a HDMI cable.  You also don't want to spend that little on a cable because you do get what you pay for.

Answer 6

The High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a licensable audio/video connector interface for transmitting uncompressed, encrypted digital streams, this includes audio and video. There are different versions of HDMI cable 1.0, 1.1, 1.3, 1.3a and so on. Each subsequent version uses the same cable but increases the throughput and capabilities of what can be transmitted over that cable, basically bandwidth. The HDMI specification does not define a maximum cable length. As with all cables, signal attenuation becomes higher at longer lengths. Opportunistic cable manufacturers have marketed electrically identical 6-foot cables for as little as 10 dollars, all the way up to hundreds of dollars. Because the digital datastream is less susceptible to interference than its analog equivalent, the picture quality is 100% similar on properly functioning cables, regardless of price, especially for short cables.

In short ; 1) if you have short runs, any HDMI cable should suffice and 2) stay away from price gougers such as Monster who do not even advertise what gage wire they use but depend on fancy marketing schemes and pretty packaging.

I've included a couple links to where I buy all my cable from in addition to an article on The truth about Monster Cables.

Answer 7

Maybe.

Certainly the $100 cable should look prettier, but it may or may not perform appreciably different.

That said, it isn't price that matters so much as design and what certification the cable meets.

See the article here re how budget cables (monoprice) differ from a high priced brand (Monster) and why it doesn't matter for general use (and when it does matter).

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/hdmi-cable-ba...

Good advice .. buy Monoprice for general use, and Bluejean Cables for more demanding (e.g. longer distance at high res, in-wall installation) use.

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

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/hdmi...

Answer 8

The best judge would be your very own pair of ears. Do a small test. If you are using a $10 HDMI cable.... try borrowing a friend's $100 HDMI cable and see if you could feel the difference. If yes... go and get a $100 HDMI cable, if not... then, stick to your own. Hey! here's something that might shock all of you. The latest technology  in High Definition as we all know it, comes from the West. But ALL,  HDMI cables are made in China (we all know why - because its cheap labour).... then shipped to the U.S.A. and the various major cable makers in the States does the some final work on the HDMI cables and then label them under their respective company names and then sell these HDMI cables to the public at outrageous price. Only one cable maker in the US says theirs HDMI cables are made in the USA. Name of of the HDMI cable maker is "Blue Jeans Cable". Go to :

"www: BlueJeanscable.com" to read more on this. If what they claim is true , then all we consumers have been taken for a ride by all these famous cable manufacturers who sell their cables at monsterously, sky high price to the public.