I need to get a HDMI cable and I've found that some are surprisingly expensive. I don't have bluray or a massive TV. Is it another case of Audiophile Lunacy and a cheap one will be fine or is there a good reason to but an expensive cable?
I guess a gold plated one won't lose quality over time as it won't corrode, but Gadget Show tested them a couple of years ago and there was no difference between a cheap one and an expensive one
HDMI is digital. As long as the cable works and the full signal is getting through it won't make any difference to the quality.
HDMI cables are great. Sound and HD video in one cable. They are however quite fragile and won't take much abuse. The pins bend if your not careful. The cheap ones are just less robust than the expensive ones. If your plugging it in your TV and just leaving it there then cheap is fine. If your constantly unplugging and plugging in as I do at work then more expensive is probably cheaper in the long run.
If you have Blu Ray and / or HD, then the data rate is higher, and a really cheap cable migh give problems.
I got some 5 metre cheap ones of Ebay and use them on HD and Blu Ray, They were stated to be Blu ray and HD spec.
They were less than a tenner each, (might have been £5.99 - but cant remember).
They work well, and I have had no problems so far.
For a short run, I think you should be OK with a cheap cable (but NOT the very cheap ones that dont say they meet the BR/HD spec). Just buy one that
says its for Blu-ray / HD. I think its V1.4 spec, but not sure.
So yes... IMHO this £60 HDMI cable thing is a bit of a hype, although I am sure they are a better quailty cable.
If you had a 20 metre run, then I would say check with a cheap cable, but expect to end up with something a bit more expensive.
Thats my Experience.
Its like.... Why pay out for a Ferrari just to get 0-60 in 4 Seconds, when a well built Kit car will do the same for a Tenth of the price or
less
quote:
Originally posted by Irony
HDMI cables are great. Sound and HD video in one cable. They are however quite fragile and won't take much abuse. The pins bend if your not careful. The cheap ones are just less robust than the expensive ones. If your plugging it in your TV and just leaving it there then cheap is fine. If your constantly unplugging and plugging in as I do at work then more expensive is probably cheaper in the long run.
Thanks! I'll get the cheapest of the half decent ones then.
I've bought a couple of ebay for using my raspberry pi.
99p each inc postage. They work, have been plugged in / out a dozen or so times.
I hate buying cheap tat, but for what I wanted it for 99p was perfect. £10 was not.
As with anything like this, the middle ground is best in terms of construction and performance quality.
I ordered a £3 gold plated V1.3 cable from eBay. The choice on the High Street was £22 or £50 and upwards. No wonder places like Comet are closing.
Cables are the biggest rip-off ever. 95% of the expensive high street ones are just the same as the stuff you get on eBay just shoved in some nice
packaging which you'll probably throw away.
Just buy the eBay ones! HDMI cable shouldn't be more than a few quid.
Chris
Just put a £4.99 Argos one on my PS3 And I can tell you its not all hype. The picture differrence is huge on COD MW3 at least. Great for a sniper ( not camper thank you) like myself.
The only benefits an expensive HDMI will give you is durability and possibly improved screening which will make it less likely to get glitches in transmission, but the image quality when it's not glitching will be identical to a £200 one. As said, it's either 100% or not with a digi cable.
quote:
Originally posted by omega 24 v6
Just put a £4.99 Argos one on my PS3 And I can tell you its not all hype. The picture differrence is huge on COD MW3 at least. Great for a sniper ( not camper thank you) like myself.
quote:
Originally posted by phelpsa
HDMI is digital. As long as the cable works and the full signal is getting through it won't make any difference to the quality.
quote:
Originally posted by roadrunner
quote:
Originally posted by omega 24 v6
Just put a £4.99 Argos one on my PS3 And I can tell you its not all hype. The picture differrence is huge on COD MW3 at least. Great for a sniper ( not camper thank you) like myself.
So it was you last night was it . This camper kept hiding in corners, shaking, waiting for me to come running past.
I'm sure he had a Scottish user name.
Brad. (roadrunner1-46)
I have poor hand eye control with the controller and got fed up getting killed 100 times per game sniping lets me at least get a kill streak LOL.
to be fair I do move about the maps a bit not just the one place. Snipe move, snipe move,etc.
Maybe we should have a locost clan tag???
Me i'm [SCO]"Grandpa_Gaz"
[Edited on 6/11/12 by omega 24 v6]
[Edited on 6/11/12 by omega 24 v6]
[Edited on 6/11/12 by omega 24 v6]
From my perspective, I usually use cables from Kramer which have proved faultless in commercial installations so far but only up to 10m TOTAL length (source device to display). Bends need to be as large as possible and try to separate HDMI from other cables. There are significant performance issues between manufacturers when using cables over 10m (Monster cables for all their hype and cost were the only solution for one difficult install needing a 15m cable) to the point where we dont bother using them anymore. Beyond 10m I use Cat5/6 converters and have no problems so far apart from cost.
quote:
Originally posted by omega 24 v6
I have poor hand eye control with the controller and got fed up getting killed 100 times per game sniping lets me at least get a kill streak LOL.
to be fair I do move about the maps a bit not just the one place. Snipe move, snipe move,etc.
Maybe we should have a locost clan tag???
Me i'm [SCO]"Grandpa_Gaz"
[Edited on 6/11/12 by omega 24 v6]
[Edited on 6/11/12 by omega 24 v6]
[Edited on 6/11/12 by omega 24 v6]
Sounds like a plan I'll change my SCO to LoCB now.
Yes and sorry for hijacking the thread as well.