If you’re planning to buy a upconverting DVD player, PlayStation 3 or high def tuner for your HDTV this holiday, expect the salesman to say you’ll need an HDMI cable to make the connection. The upconverting DVD player will cost as little as $70, but the six to eight foot HDMI cable he’ll be pushing will cost around $100 to $120. Why is the cable so expensive? So the retailer can make a greater profit on the sale. The fact is, you can purchase an HDMI cable for less than one tenth the price and get the same great picture. Here’s what you need to know.
HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is generally the best connection between a source component and a high definition display. The cable carries digital audio and video with a copy protection. These wires are available in lengths from one and a half feet to over fifty feet. What the store salesmen will not tell you: no matter how much or how little you pay for a cable, you can only see one of two types of pictures –Perfect or Bad.
Perfect means no artifacts such as sparkles. Bad means artifacts or no image. Electronics store salesmen will tout you on gold plated connectors, thicker shielding, heavy-duty construction, name brands and so on, but it really wouldn’t make an iota of difference in picture or sound quality. It’s that simple. The signal running through an HDMI is digital, just a series of ones and zeros. No matter what anyone tells you, getting all the ones and zeros from one end of the cable to the other is all an HDMI cable is supposed to do. No matter how expensive and fancy the HDMI cable, the image can’t improve! The cable can only be good or bad.
So how much should you pay for an HDMI cable? As little as you can. A quick search of online retailers, found the lowest price at monoprice.com where a 6 foot HDMI cables start at $9.29 including shipping and handling, in single lot quantities. (This is informational only we have not sampled their cables). Wal-mart sells a 6ft. Philips HDMI cable in-store for $26.85. Monoprice and other retailers also sell heavier duty cables with thicker gauge wires, though as stated above, an HDMI cable either works perfectly or doesn’t. Paying more will not provide any improvement, if your present HDMI cable functions properly. Save your money for more important things, like HD movie discs and video games.
Just a quick note on the interesting read. Just make sure to change “your” to “you’re” in the first sentence and it makes me feel like you know what you’re talking about (which I do already).
Oops. Thanks for pointing it out.ÂÂ
The HD GuruÂÂ
I have a Panasonic plasma TH-42px6u and a philips home theather/dvd. Both have HDMI. Everything looks and sounds good when I play a dvd. The problem I have is when I try to play my tv sound through the surround sound it will not work. I have to attach red/white audio cables from the tv to the surround sound(this is mentioned in the manual). Now I am back up to 3 cables. I can get the same picture and sound with the red/blue/green cable. Any benefit to using HDMI? Why does the Audio seem to travel only one way in this case(dvd sound plays through the tv but tv sound does not play through surround without adding extra cables)?
You do not mention the signal source. I will assume it is the built in HD tuner in the plasma. You should be connecting a digital audio cable from the digital audio output on the TV to the surround sound philips home theater audio system not the analog connecton. Its in the Panasoic owner’s manual.
The HD GuruÂÂ
I have a sharp LC-37D90U. The tv does not recongize single of the cable box and the cable hooked up independently.It will not play the dvd player also. only happens when turning it on.The tv has to be un pluged and pluged back in to work.please help
The TV appears to be defective. Contact the dealer or Sharp for repair.
The HD Guru
I just recently had my Zenith ED 42 plasma hooked up to Dish Network HD. The installer gave me a HDMI cable with an adapter to DVI for FREE. Thats right, all I had to do was ask for it.
I agree 100% about the cheaper HDMI cable. I use two of the Philips models from Walmart. One for my HD Cable box, and one for my upconvert DVD player with a Panasonic plasma and they both work flawlessly. I paid about $30 each for them compared to 65+ at electronics stores.
I agree with the HD Guru concerning HDMI and think the same applies to Audio Fiber Optical Cable. I needed Optical Cables and was amazed at the pricing. BTW, the best priced I found at B&M stores were Xbox 360′s Optical Cables, 9′ manufactrer be either MadCatz or Game Shark for less than $10.
HDMI Cable nuts: I spent good money to buy 46″Sony XBR3 LCD and then bought 3 different HDMI cables to test. Geffen (more than $150), Monster ($90+) and then CHEAP Phillips (less than $25) and the viewed results showing a group of 6 adults was: NO Difference in picture, resolution, sound, on and on yada yada yada. The GURU is right. Save your money or blow it if it makes you feel better!
Another version of the cable rip off is in HDMI-DVI adapters or (short) cable adapters. Brilliant salesmen at Jerkit City tried to sell me a $75, 2 ft. cable to go from my DVD’s HDMI output to the TV’s DVI! I walked across the parking lot to a “used computer” store and bought an HDMI-DVI adapter (plug style) for $4.95. Of course it worked! (Yes, I had to run some RCA audio cables to the TV for sound, but I would have had to do that for the $75 adapter too!) Shades of the very early days of the PC where you could get ripped off paying $50 for a $6.95 printer cable!
Great site. Keep it up. you should also get into politics. The country needs you to debunk Congress, then the WH, and then the courts.
A fantastic website for ALL electronic purchases – specifically computer hardware – but the cable selection & prices are excellent.
http://www.newegg.com
Are you guys listening to yourselves?? Who is to say that a $200 cable is better than a $30 cable?I cannot believe that some of you guys believe that a cable is better because you pay more for it.
Sure MONSTER CABLE, the most advertised and popular bad a** cable company out there is more expensive because they have been blown up as the most popular bad a** company out there.
Folks, just because a TV, Car, Boat, and in this case wire is more expensive doesn’t make it better. It becomes an ego thing when you say “Well I purchased a 5K TV and there is no way in hell I am putting a $9 cable on it”. Its just plain ignorant.
Tyson: Many consumers have been experiencing problems with HDMI cables “not communicating” properly with thier equipment. The new 1.3 format is designed to address those issues as well as to improve color and sound. TV manufactures are set to introduce the new format in 2007. You will probably here more about this at CES (consumer electronic show) in January. I know,one more thing to confuse us all. With the hopefull kind permission of HD Guru,take a look at this…
With the launch of HDMI version 1.3, HDMI continues to increase its overall functionality to meet the needs of the High-Definition marketplace.
HDMI 1.3 will include the following new features:
Higher speed: HDMI 1.3 increases its single-link bandwidth from 165MHz (4.95 gigabits per second) to 340 MHz (10.2 Gbps) to support the demands of future high definition display devices, such as higher resolutions, Deep Color and high frame rates. In addition, built into the HDMI 1.3 specification is the technical foundation that will let future versions of HDMI reach significantly higher speeds.
Deep Color: HDMI 1.3 supports 30-bit, 36-bit and 48-bit (RGB or YCbCr) color depths, up from the 24-bit depths in previous versions of the HDMI specification.
Lets HDTVs and other displays go from million of colors to billions of colors.
Eliminates on-screen color banding, for smooth tonal transitions and subtle gradations between colors.
Enables increased contrast ratio
Can represent many times more shades of gray between black and white
At 30-bit pixel depth, a four times improvement would be the minimum, and the typical improvement would be eight times or more.
Broader color space: HDMI 1.3 removes all limits on color selection
Next-generation “xvYCC†color space supports 1.8 times as many colors as existing HDTV signals
Lets HDTVs display colors more accurately
Enables displays with natural, vivid colors
New mini connector: With small portable devices such as HD camcorders and still cameras demanding seamless connectivity to HDTVs, HDMI 1.3 offers a new, smaller form factor connector option.
Lip Sync: Because consumer electronics devices are using increasingly complex digital signal processing to enhance the clarity and detail of the content, synchronization of video and audio in user devices has become a greater challenge and could potentially require complex end-user adjustments. HDMI 1.3 incorporates an automatic video/audio synching capability that allows devices to perform this synchronization automatically with total accuracy.
New lossless audio formats: In addition to HDMI’s current ability to support high-bandwidth uncompressed digital audio and all currently-available compressed formats (such as Dolby Digital and DTS), HDMI 1.3 adds additional support for new, lossless compressed digital audio formats Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD.
Related Links
Download the 1.3 specification
1.3 Press Release
1.3 FAQ
View new Mini Connector
I can’t find any comments on cable cards on your fine web site. Are you planning to discuss this?
I have a samsung 50″ plasma from 2005 and comcast cable. I can not use the motorola cable card comcast furnishes; they all blame each other for not working. Any one else had a problem?-and better yet, a solution. Geo.
There are some exciting things happening with CableCARD right now and the HD Guru has been waiting for all the dust to settle before posting his report. Let me state one item (it is a sore point with the HD Guru).
The Cable providers are required to supply working CableCARDs. All CableCARD HDTVs have been certified to work properly by CableLabs a testing company owned by the a group of cable providers. Don’t fall for you cable companies excuses. Call your cable provider, ask for a manager and tell him/her their CableCARD doesn’t work and they should send over to your home a competent technician to make it work with your TV. If they tell you they won’t, please tell your provider (Comcast in this case) that you are filing a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission for its violation FCC CableCARD regulations. Next, go to FCC.gov website and file the complaint.
The HD Guru has been assured by FCC staff, that the Federal Communications Commission takes these complaints very seriously and will respond within 60 days. The FCC also is now requiring the cable providers to make periodic reports to the commission all CableCARD issues including complaints.
In the HD Guru’s opinion, a number cable providers have been getting away with non-complience of the CableCARD regulations for too long. If your provider still will not supply a properly functional CableCARD, file the FCC complaint. I am quite confident you will get satisfactory resolution by taking these actions.
The HD GuruÂÂ
ÂÂ
All most forgot one more good website for a example
http://tinyurl.com/gdupo
Great website!!
I’m wondering if anyone else in from this website is having a problem with Time Warner with allowing the HDMI connection to work on the 8300hd DVR’s in certain area’s they service or if this website can help make it work? These websites show samples others are and are not happy and what may help to make it work.
http://tinyurl.com/yc4foc
http://tinyurl.com/yh789q
Functional HDMI or DVI on HD cableboxes is an FCC regulation. If your provider does not comply, the HD Guru suggests filing a complaint with the FCC. Instructions for filing and on-line complaint can be found at fcc.gov website .
The HD GuruÂÂ
sir: u hve the best colmn about hdtv that i hve seen todate thanx much spottswood
I’d like to thank Hdguru, Gwolfman, and Peeder for their semi technical explanations on the differences between analog and digital cabling.
if, like me, anyone is interested in researching this further, USE YOUR GOOGLE!!!
as for all you “bragging rights” types, get serious! learn as much as you can about the technologies you are using, then and only then will you be able to make informed decisions, instead of relying on sales hype designed to separate you from your money.
I found a new cable company off of Fatwallet.com and they have really cool HDMI cables. They are doing a cable promotion for $6 shipped and their other cables are cheap too. Check them out.
Cable promotion: http://www.tendonusa.com/afreecable
Store: http://www.tendonusa.com/shop/home.php
Yeah, Googling reveals HDMI’s an unbalanced consumer format (compared to the SDI professional balanced format), much like S/PDIF is to AES/EBU digital. So yeah, interference problems will occur in certain (somewhat common) situations. However, if the format was balanced, there’s no way the cables get down to $10 (just too many strands) and the connectors are also more expensive (have to “encode” and “decode” on both ends).
If you do experience interference with HDMI equipment, try moving the cable around and see if that does something. Antennas are made from cable, and your cable will pick up RF (radio frequency noise). Broadcast antennas are made from coiled powered cable…so don’t coil your power cables all neat-like (you’ll broadcast my least favorite radio station, which plays 60-cycle hum all day long)!
Normally, the voltage differential in digital formats is great enough to overcome these problems, but there are so many tradeoffs at work here I’d be surprised if the format is effectively immune to them.
Now the $100 cable is probably only going to get you 10% or so better resistance to noise…it’s the format that’s the problem, this is cheap consumer crap. But that 10% may cover a fair amount of gray area in practice.
On one hand, you can’t get better than “perfect” digital transmission. On the other, there’s plenty of opportunities for a cable to be responsible for imperfections. These imperfections won’t necessarily break the connection entirely…they can show up as periodic noise etc.
The digital transfer is designed to minimize that, although I’m not sure if HDMI uses balanced signals as high-end audio cables do. Balanced signals require twice as many strands but can go 1000′s of feet, so if there are length limits that would tip you off. In an unbalanced connection that runs near power lines and transformers etc. you can get interference and this will degreade the signal at some point.
Then there is always the issue of longevity of the cable itself. HDMI looks to be a standard for a long time to come, so you might view the cables as a 10+ year investment. HDMI 1.3 doubles the bandwidth, although I’m not sure if it will require a new cable format to go with that (yes, some cable formulations can carry more bandwidth than others).
So under good conditions, your $10 cable will perform equally well to your $100 cable, at least in its youth. In an electrically noisy environment, or having to deal with wear and tear, or even over a long cable run (if the format is indeed unbalanced), your $100 cable may indeed pay off some of its investment in a picture with less interference noise and dropouts.
There’s also the issue of connectors being the same metal because reactions can tarnish the connectors in humid environments if they aren’t the same metal. So nickel should go with nickel and gold with gold. If your device has nickel connectors, gold won’t be as good! (and the cable is less valuable than the device, one would guess…) Of course you can clean or replace your connectors should that become a problem after many humid years.
But overall, no, you can’t get more vivid color! or something out of a digital cable. In double-blind testing most people will express a sharp preference for one out of two completely identical things, so ignore most of these stupid subjective assessments. In the lab, the cables will test as “working” or “not” unless stress tested, and most guys in white coats just shake their head at people who stress such products. In real life, stress happens…
Please read this, I feel it’s important for many of us looking for the best picture. I have a lot I want to say but I’ll try to keep it as short as I can.
I agree with you 100%. Anyone can disagree with me if you want and correct me if I’m wrong, but I think many people are stuck back in the analog days. Let me explain analog and digital as I see it.
ANALOG:
Remember ghosting, shadows, static, snow on your old TV? With digital television, these do not exist unless it was filmed/mastered that way (and who in their right mind would do that). The only quality loss will/should be within the wall of your home. (Don’t argue with me yet, wait till I’m done. My main focus is what is said after this sentence.) Having said that, the only instance where more expensive and/or more clean/pure cables would make a difference is with analog connections. For example, monster cable, compared to “cheap†cable manufacturers, usually uses higher gauge wires and a more pure/clean metal for those wires (the wires that make up the cable internally) to eliminate interference and dissipation/loss of the signal caused by the impurities in the metal that makes up the wires. I think in cases of analog connections (Component, S-Video, RCA/Composite) a more expensive cable “might†make a difference and your picture quality “can†vary depending on the cable used (not guaranteed that it will with brand x cable compared to brand y, but it might). People stuck in analog mode think this way, and why not? Prior to digital television, we’ve been watching TV the same way since its invention in the early 1900’s.
Before a digital video signal is transmitted over an analog cable (Component, S-Video, RCA/Composite) it must be “translated†into an analog signal. To illustrate, it’s like your old 56K dial-up: analog phone lines & a digital computer. I know translated isn’t the technical term, but I’ll use it for those who aren’t technically minded so they can better understand. When the signal reaches the destination, it must then be “retranslated†from analog back into a digital signal to be displayed on the screen. If something happened to the analog signal as it traveled down the cable then the translation back to digital would result in a different signal than what was originally sent since it was translated from an “altered†analog signal.
Let me use a child’s game to illustrate my point. Have you ever played the game “telephone� The one where you get multiple people sitting in a line or circle (analogous to our analog cable) and one person makes up a short sentence and whispers it into the ear of the person to the left. If the person listening didn’t hear something quite right or missed a word, the speaker cannot repeat the message. The listener must try their best to repeat what was heard, no second chances of hearing the message. They in turn whisper what they think the message is into the ear of the next person and so on until it reaches the last person who then tells everyone aloud the message he or she received. The person who made up the message then tells everyone the original message and everyone gets a laugh because the message is almost always different. You can also compare the messages everyone sent along to find out where the changes occurred. This is analogous to all HDTV video and audio signals: the signals get sent once and the television tries its best to recreate the original or intended signals. If something happened between the source and destination then you’re loosing/altering the intended signal, or picture in this case.
DIGITAL:
First off, I am only talking about cables that are manufactured according to specification. I imagine there are a few cables that are manufactured incorrectly due to automation (something went wrong with that particular cable or design from the start).
What many people forget to think about is the technology used. No matter the cable used (to transport digital signals) and what salesmen say, your picture can’t get any better than the digital technology used. For example: here’s an outrageous salesman claim I read on the internet:
Some guy in Japan (or around there) invented a way to make a CD (which is a digital source) using glass instead of the plastics used to make CDs today. His first glass CD was, I believe, one of Beethoven’s or Bach’s symphonies. His claim of it lasting longer than plastic CDs is true, but it ends there. He claimed that his $1,000 CD would sound better, as if you were there at the concert hall listening to the live symphony.
This is the salesman gig, trying to sell more expensive items that gets ooh’s and aah’s but only for its media “type†(glass vs. plastic, OR in our case, fancy monster cables vs. cheaper cables). The sound quality of the glass CD cannot exceed its technology. Both plastic CDs and glass CDs are both digital and share the same technology: 16-bit PCM at 44.1 kHz. That’s the best it can get. To get better sound you need a new technology such as DVD-Audio: up to 24-bit at 192 kHz. (I know that better analog speakers could sound better, but it’s not the digital technology that’s making the difference.)
The glass CD example is like comparing our fancy HDMI monster cables and cheaper HDMI cables: they share the exact same digital technology. The reason why I keep saying digital is because of my claim above: analog signals are subject to loss/interference. I don’t know the specific voltage levels of the HDMI specification, but digital bits are represented as higher or lower voltage level (can be positive vs. negative voltages). If we use 24K gold wires or cheap copper wires to transport digital bits the picture on the other end will look exactly the same. I admit that, with the cheaper copper wire, the voltage level at the destination might be a tenth (an extreme circumstance) or a hundredth of a percent lower than the gold wire because of the impurities in the copper cable. An example: if the HDMI specifications stated that it must send its digital bits with voltage levels of +1.0 and -1.0 for the 1’s and 0’s, a very cheap copper cable might diminish the signal to voltages of +0.9 and -0.9 by the time it reached the destination. Both of the bits are just as discernable as the intended signal.
If you played the same telephone game by passing a bit (maybe if someone’s hand were open for 1 or closed for 0) instead of analog signal (sounds/words as we speak) then it would be almost guaranteed that there would be no mistake in the transition from start to end. Digital signals are subject to the same problems analog signals are.
Please leave comments!
-GWolfman
While I do agree that digital is not analog, and impedance doesn’t lower the quality of the picture in digital transmission as it does in analog transmission, it may still be worth it to buy a higher quality cable (not necessarily more expensive, as the two don’t always go together). While in a 3 foot length, a cheap cable will work fine for more people, if you need a longer length, the greater impedance and increased interference allowed by a cheap cable may be enough to degrade the digital transmission enough to where you will lose enough of the signal.
Another question I have- I know for a compressed digital signal, it’s easy to spot data loss- large macroblocking and pixelation. However, in an uncompressed HDMI signal, how would a low percentage of lost bits manifest itself?
—————————————————————————————————————
Lost bits will produce dropouts (sparkles) or the image will go black.
The HD GuruÂÂ
ÂÂ
ÂÂ
ÂÂ
ÂÂ
Let me start out by saying i like your site with the exception of this post!!! It is absolutely ridiculous to tell all of these poor people that a $20.00 wal-mart cable is going to perform the same as a monster cable and for everyone that talks about bigger gauges monster is in a gauge each cable is individually shielded within a single cable therefore allowing minimal interference through out the cable.
I have hooked up numerous cheap HDMI cables from the same source to the same T.V.’s side by side and the monster cable has the better picture EVERYTIME!!! Also if you want to hookup your dvd player and tv with a HDMI cable that has 5gbps (Cheap wal-mart cable) and wait 7 minutes when u switch fro tv to dvd be my guest…
If you’d like to discuss more on this topic ill go into the advantages of having a Nitrogen-injected cable!!!
————————————————————————————————————–
Please direct your comments to all the manufacturers that pack those “cheap” HDMI cables with their Blu-ray players, HD DVD players, HD TiVos and other HD devices. :)
 The HD Guru
ÂÂ
ÂÂ
ÂÂ
ÂÂ
I recently purchased a Sony KDL-46XBR3 which has 3 HDMI ports. I plan to hook up a DVD, Cable and Satellite to each of them. I temporally hooked up a HDMI cable to my SAT box to test the set. I got no sound on HD channels but fine sound on the others. I tried a DVD player with HDMI to the same port and the sound came through fine. Any ideas on why the sound is not coming through the SAT box in HD? Video is fine.
Check in your sat box owner’s manual for audio options using HDMI output on the sat box. You may be using a wrong setting. Ditto for the Sony manual HDMI input settings.
HD GuruÂÂ
This Ia all very true. I use the 26 dollar Phillips cable mentioned above to connect my Mac to my 42” LG LCD and the pic is amazing!!!
Hello!!
I noticed on some of the articles on this website that you talk about D-interlacing when receiving the signal from cablebox/satellite. MY question is: is it really important to get an hdtv that handles this well,does it really make a difference,would a non-technical person be able to notice the difference? I’m asking cause I noticed that this is the first website that talks about D-interlacing at all. What other not talked about feature if at all, should I look for when buying an hdtv? Does a brand make a difference or is similar to the HDMI concept of paying more unnecessarily? finally if the gap between LCd and Plasma is really small, why are guys like me that watch sports and movies recommended to get a plasma instead of an LCD; is respond time on plasma really that better than on LCd’s? Thanks for your time and insight!!
—————————————————————————————————————-
The scaling and deinterlacing chips with an HDTV are very important with regard to overall image quality and freedom of nasty looking conversion artifacts. Since most televsions sold today are progressive and most high defintion brodcasts are interlaced 1080i you need a deinterlacer that will properly reconstruct all the detail within the original video or film frames. Almost all scripted series are shot of fim or 24fps video so they also need to properly perform what is called 3:2 pulldown. For a complete explaination see my linked articles in Home Theater magzine.
Motion lag is inherent in 99% of the LCD flat panels sold today. The three models with little or no motion blur are the Hitachi, Philips and JVC listed in my top picks. Read the post. Unless you are in a very bright room, or aren’t looking for a screen 37″ or larger, Plasma makes a better image today with faster response time. My plasma choices in the article are the best of the best, they’re really fine looking HDTV displays.
The HD GuruÂÂ
just ordered a hdmi/dvi cable from monoprice.com. They didnt ahve the 6ft in stock, so got the 11ft for $5.81. The shipping was a tiny bit more then the price of the cable lol but for $12 its worth a shot.
Question – since I currently have my TV/Cable from “input 2″ which is connected via monster component cables with RCA audio (red/white) cables, can I leave those connected and also then just connect the cable box hdmi to tv dvi and then switch my tv to view from “input 2″ to “hdmi” without a problem, or do I need to disconnect the “input 2″ cables from the tv and cable box?
The “input 2″ is only used for tv viewing. I use “input 4″ for dvd player. Thanks.
I agree with the hi end cable fallacy… After shopping a big box store for a new TV and necessary components/cables… I became leary about what I was being told. After reading info like this on HDGuru.com, I probably saved hundreds of dollars.. my tip.. Overstock.com for TVs, cables, audio.. etc.
D,
I did save for a while and spend a good chunk of change on the TV and i should give a $50-60 cable a try. However if the difference isn’t visible with the naked eye, its going right back. I must say i am very satisfied with the image and sound quality of the $17 cable. Last night’s broncos-sea hawk game was very clear and so where the other HD channels.
I’ll keep you posted.
I am following this debate closely, and I stand by my opinion, and what i dont get is why, after spending crazy money for a good TV and a good HD receiver, you’d want to get a crappy cable, and not get the best video/audio possible???????. I am not saying ” go out and buy the most expensive cable there is”, but try a better cable and compare, what do you have to loose? some time to return an item?
HD GURU,
Love your site, have a question about one of your links,secret satelite, is this for real.
Thanks for your response,
Bob
——————————————————————————————
I don’t know much about it other than what I gathered by going to the website. It appears to be a software package with much of the content aquired from out of the USA. May I suggest doing a Google on them for more information.
The HD Guru
Hey guys, well i picked up a Phillips 42″ LCD HD screen last week and had Direct TV install the new dish and HD receiver today. The images on the HD channels are breathtaking. The HD receiver included a component (Red/Green/Blue) cable for high def. However i sure HDMI was the way to go to get the best viewing experience. As posted by many of the good folks on here, some retailers sell these cables for as high as $150 depending on lengths. I picked up a cable from a local Tiger Direct Store in Miami and i was very satisfied with it, especially that i only paid $16 for a 6ft cable. Do yourself a favor and don’t give in to pushy sales people at the store. Here is a link: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1214056&CatId=1638
They are even cheaper on eBay, however i wanted instant gratification.
Take care.
I just bought a sony 46 inch Bravia(kdl 46s2000) I am not all that impressed with the picture. I also purchased a new home theatre system with upconverting
dvd player. My movies are ok, not that impressive.
Got HD service with my cable provider. Some of the HD channels are good some also ok. However, the rest of
the channels are horrible! My old 36 inch tube tv was better. I fell for the “Expensive cables are better gig). I bought an hdmi cable, and component cables. I could tell the difference between my component cables and the hdmi. But I didnt test the hdmi on my regular digital channels. Would the HDMI cable help this? Should
I call sony about the quality of my picture? I took the tv back to best buy for them to check it they said it was fine. Anything would help thanks. JVM
————————————————————————————————–
It could be anumber of factors, overcompression by the cable company, poor signal level, hard to say without seeing it.
Things you can change that might improve the image the image: take it out of vivid mode and put it into movie or cinema and lower the sharpness control, I don’t think there are any DRC settings to play with on the S20000, but other Sonys have them and they need to be adjusted with a standerd def signal to get the best picture. Bottom line, it is possible that the the combination of poor signal quality, Sonys upconversion and how close you sit to the screen combine to make the picture unacceptable to you.
This is not uncommon, the quality of the scalling (upconversion) has a lot to do with how good or bad SD content looks on a large screen HDTV, I have been preaching about poor scalers for years to the set makers. Regardless, all things equal, native display (using an analog TV) will usually look better.
One last suggestion, have you tried the local digital and analog stations via an antenna, if you do and the picture is better, the problem lies with your cable provider.
The HD GuruÂÂ
ÂÂ
ÂÂ
ÂÂ
ÂÂ
Hi Guru,
Chuckle, you are… to my mind… 1000% correct. I’ve been working digital electronics… (computers and interfaces)… since back in the tube days… ;) Yes, I also did component lever repair…
As long as the Termination is correct (eliminating reflectance) – the low levels of digital signal current demand… mean little to *no* signal loss. Gold plating… you’re just improving the termination… Eliminating resistance in the connection… For those who’ve disagreed with you – I would just ask… did the TV and other equipment have *gold plated* connections??… ;) If not… errr… ;) Oxidation on the pins/contacts is also a concern… There’s always the perception that ‘if it costs more… it is better…’ – read this as *Bragging Rights* around the water cooler… I prefer to spend my money more *wisely* – and then *toast* at the bar… with the money I’ve saved…
My partner is an audiophile… Vacuum tube amps, etc… He thinks nothing of spending $15,000 on speakers… etc… He came into my home once… we were listening to some music… He look funny, diddled with the controls… and told me… “You’ve got a flat spot in the left speaker at about 300 Hz… He’s got educated ears… Me, I can’t tell the difference… – however, on stuff like that… you’re carrying AMPS of current… so cables size DOES make a difference…
Digital signals – are going from one interface chip to another… the actual current created by the switching – is miniscule… you’re only driving the input to a single gate… The capacitance of the cable – which will affect the switching time… (time it takes for the driver to bleed electrons out of the cable… for a *low/gound*… and to drive them into the cable… for a *high*/positive… – connections & wires act as mini-capacitors – bad solder joints & differing metals in connections can cause this inter-electrode capacitance to increase…) Switching time… means the time it takes for the signal to reach the high-threshold voltage of the receiving chip… or to get down to the low-threshold voltage… Faster changes… means a *cleaner* signal… less noise (good shielding or differential connections are necessary here)… – yielding… in the simplest terms… (to use your terminology…) good or BAD… ;)
Monster Cables… started for speakers… driving High ‘AMP’ speakers… the bigger the cable the better and multi-stranded is optimum… working off Ohm’s Law… E = I * R… Larger cables of the same material have lower resistance… meaning that you can drive more amps/current more easily… So, connecting your stereo… What we use for truly optimum cables are Welder cables… multi-stranded wire… You know… with 300 or 400 amp cabability… ;) Those are truly… *Monster* cables… ;) Chuckle… and while not as attractive as Monster Brand cables… eminently more economical… ;)
In the digital world… with very small current requirements… They’re just places to waste money… In the HD area… since these are bit streams… and high frequency… Well, take a look at the *runs* on a PC board… The only place you’ll see heavier lans… is on the power pins… and that’s to reduce switching noise… ;)
I just moved to component video – on my Pioneer Elite lashup… PRO 700HD, VSX 59txi, DV-O9etc… – unfortunately, HDMI is not an option for me and the PRO 700 seems to only be capable of processing 480i :( ( I bought it in 2000)…
Monster Cables for 6 meters… well, I went to Amazon… and 6 meter component video… for $22 a set… was much more attractive than Monsters and such…
So, for those who wish to have *Bragging Rights* at the water-cooler… There’s no arguing with them… To me… the quality of the equipment… and the results I achieve… is much more important to me… than the amount of money I give to the retailer… ;)
I find the information you put out… cogent… and informative… Wonderful site…
Thank You!… and All the Best!,
Carl…
I apologize as this doesnt truly fit this HDMI category, but would really like to know more about my comcast HD cable box menu settings (when cable box is off and you hit menu), the following choices are:
TV Type: 16:9 (correct)
YPbpr Output: 1080I (correct)
4:3 override: 480I, but there also is 480P and Stretch and Off.
Is 480I for the 4:3 override better then the 480P setting for this? I did a little test with each setting and cant seem to notice any difference on some channels (HD broadcast channel, non-HD channel and non-HD broadcast channel). Thank you!
First of all HDMI does not carry digital audio it is only stero it is however digital video. Also, Monster does make a difference. I can seee a ton of difference. Now maybe I am more of a videophile but if you want HD you obiviously want the best picture quality…why would you sell your self short??? If that is the case have fun with your awful looking Visio tvs.
————————————————————————————————————-
HDMI carries MULTI channel audio and video (go to HDMI.org to see) If you like a certain brand, the HD Guru says “whatever floats your boat.”
The HD Guru
ÂÂ
(Will it make an improvement in the image? Probably, but can’t be certain, depends on the circuit design of source and display. Give it a try.)
Thanks, but what I meant, is now everything is connected with monster component cables (audio, video, cable box, dvd/vhs combo player). If I use the HDMI/DVI connection in place of the component connection, will that make any difference. According to your article above, its the highest possible video with HDMI/DVI. Thanks alot for the help and great info!
I have a pioneer elite 60 inch rear projection hdtv. The best output is rgb and my sat. receiver only has component and hdmi. Do they make a rgb to hdmi adapter?
—————————————————————————————
You need a transcoder for component to RGB. Key Digital makes one that I use. There is no component or RGB> HDMI transcoder that I am aware of.
The HD GuruÂÂ
ÂÂ
ÂÂ
REVISED (if possible, disregard previous comment).
I have 56″ RCA HDTV (rear proejection HDTV) with Comcast HD Cable Box. The cable box has a DVI connection only (no HDMI). My TV has HDMI/DVI connector. Would it be best to buy a HDMI/DVI cable (HDMI on one end and DVI on other end), OR, should I get a HDMI cable and a separate DVI adapter for it? Or would this be basically the same result? Also, either way, would I still get the true results using this instead of my current monster cable component connections? Thank you very much!
—————————————————————————————
You can use an adapter or a DVI to HDMI cable (which I prefer, its physically more secure, can’t be pulled off) Remember you will need to make sure your display has an  audio input for the HDMI connection (not all HDTVs do) and you’ll need to connect an RCA audio cable between the cable box and the display and may have to change the setting on the TV for separate audio on HDMI .
Will it make an improvement in the image? Probably, but can’t be certain, depends on the circuit design of source and display. Give it a try.
The HD GuruÂÂ
ÂÂ
ÂÂ
ÂÂ
Guru, Excellent site full of great information. I hope that maybe on this subject of HDMI cables, you could possibly provide some information on HDMI cable switching boxes out there. I only have one HDMI hookup on the back of my LCD TV and have multiple devices to hook up. Just like cables, I see a huge difference in prices of cable switching boxes out there. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Keep up the great work.
David
—————————————————————————————————————
There are a number of HDMI switchers coming to market now. I have not had an opportunity to test them. All HDMI switchers need quite a bit of electronics to function thanks in part to the HDCP copy restriction aspects of the standard, hence they are pricey. Gefen makes a 2 way switcher available now for $249.
The HD GuruÂÂ
ÂÂ
ÂÂ
The HD Guru
ÂÂ
I wanted to get an HDMI cable for my Playstation 3. I was going to pick up the sony branded cables that said it was HDMI 1.3 ready. After reading this article, I was wondering if any HDMI cables will work with the new spec. or does it even matter? Does the 1.3 spec only matter with the equipment, or do the cables matter too?
————————————————————————————————————
1.3 requires a higher bit rate/bandwidth. However there are no 1.3 HDTVs available yet, and you need both source and display to be 1.3 to possibly make higher demands on the cable. Regardless, my good/bad rule applies.  You can learn more about 1.3 by going to HDMI.orgÂÂ
The HD GuruÂÂ
ÂÂ
ÂÂ
I picked up a 10 foot HDMI cable from monoprice.com for $20 and the picture looks great. A retailer tired to sell me a 3 foot monster cable for $150.00. I wish I’d done more research about cables when I bought my surround system cables a few years ago.
To all know-it-all experts, a “cheap” or an expensive cable must get approved and certified under the IEEE committee. Is a Monster cable can be a better choice? I really doubt that. All cables with respect of quality must meet specific requirements needed to be used with their respectable electronic devices no matter what you pay for. In my opinion, it is all about customer preference. For the expensive cables, you are paying for the brand, plated golden connectors, and maybe extra shielding. If you like to get suckered up, be my guest.
You state that a cable is either good or bad, that the picture quality can not get any better. I can see how this could confuse consumers. Most people would see that the cable is “bad” only if they get no image on the TV. However, according to your statements, even if the image is coming up on the screen if there are any artifacts, discoloring, blurs, or any other video issues then the cable is actually a “bad” cable.
You state that there is no good, better, best in digital cables; that this is not analog audio, but I would argue against this as well.
A cable, whether it is an analog or digital cable is simply a conduit; an electrical conductor. You can pass either a digital or analog signal down any cable (aside from fiber). What makes it digital or analog is the source. Cables are subject to interference and signal loss. What makes one cable better then another is it’s ability to shield interference and carry the signal at full strength from beginning to end. A 10.00 cable from Radio Shack will NOT shield the signal from as much interference as a 200 monster cable.
Let me create an example. Say a hi-fi guy like myself has a high powered amp sitting under my cable box; and tons of other electrical and audio equipment all around the cable box. The HDMI cable has to run amongst all of these other audio and power cables from my cable box to my TV directly above. The 10.00 cable from Radio Shack may not have enough shielding to block out the interference; I will end up with a very nice HDTV screen on my TV; it will look far better then SDTV; but it may have artifacts in it. Then I switch to the 200.00 cable with it’s extra shielding; my screen now has no artifacts, it is perfect. Does this mean the 10.00 cable was bad? Not necessarily. Did the 200.00 cable improve my picture quality? Yes. Say I now take that 10.00 cable in use it in my spare bedroom where I only have a cable box and a single HDTV. The cable works perfect here. So the cable was not bad, but the more expensive cable did offer a better picture quality.
Another side of this is to take a 100′ cable and plug it in; and compare the results with your 6′ cable. A digital signal is more susceptible to signal loss. Does this mean that the TV will simply black out; no, the TV will try to work with what it has. The screen on the 100′ cable may look more washed out; softer colors, etc…
Does every consumer need the 200.00 cables that the retailers push; no. But are the 200.00 cables better then the cheap ones, YES. Will a 200.00 cable improve the picture quality? That depends.
These same issues are seen with Digital PCM audio cables.
——————————————————————————————————————-
I think we are writing past each other. Yes, poor shielding, too thin a gauge of copper, and a myriad of other factors will affect HDMI performance. That said let me restate my point below
Artifacts = Bad Picture=Bad Cable regardless of causation for the given connection.
Freedom from Artifacts= Good Picture= Good Cable
Nuf said.
The HD Guru
I just received my DirecTV HD box, and also just bought my 40″ Sony Bravia LCD TV(KDL-40S2000) with HDMI. I bought the HDMI cable from Wal-Mart, hooked it up to my TV/satellite, and am receiving no picture or sound on that input. A friend of mine told me he had the same problem with his, and he had to go into his TV settings through his HD box, turn off the selection for 480i, and then he received the picture/sound through his HDMI input. Well, I did this and still have nothing.
What in the world is going on? I’m having to use the component hook-ups for the time being.
I have to disagree with the cheaper HDMI cable .The $25 one has a much smaller thickness wire in it and will not be near as insullated as say,the gold plated Monster cable, which is twice as thick.
I have both types and can see and hear a differance! Your call but, why settle when it is not the best connection possible.
When it comes to shooting a digital image over a wire…….BIGGER is BETTER !!
HDMI vs. Component: Apparently, I have been unable to get my HDMI to work properly and was advised by the Dish installer that Component cables were just as good…that w/ HD there is very little difference between the two. Plus, he said that the resoulution between the two is so minimal that I would never be able to tell the difference. Is this so? Would it benefit me that much to incur the cost of a technician coming out to check the HDMI problem on my set? Thanks.
I just picked up a DVI-D cable for my HDTV. I used to use components. But now the picture is worse. The cable box says DVI-D out and the TV has a DVI/HDCP input. Also if you all digital signal are just 1 and 0`s than how can a HDMI “look and sound” better than components and an optical cable. You even say some where on this site that a coaxial cable sounds better than a optical how can that be if all the cables use 1`s and 0`s they should all work just as good. Last you cant tell me the cheaper cables work as good. It is all in the connection gold plating and thick gauge wire have a better connection and less resistance. A monster cable sounds and looks better than Radio Shack brand. They are more expensive but they are worth it. If you buy it at bestbuy or curiut city you deserve to pay all the extra. It is called Ebay. I got a 120.00 buck optical cable for 18.00 and it sounds better than my old one. Even more you are confusing people a lot of people dont know the difference between digital and analog. So now some might think if i buy cheap multi-channel cables it will sound just as good. look i am not saying you are not a HD guru but better cables work better
If I have an HD digital cable box connected to the wall through coax (as I think most cable boxes are), do I really help my picture quality by using HDMI to connect the HD digital cable box to my HDTV? In other words, if coax is carrying my HD signal to the cable box, then why can’t I use coax from the cable box to the HDTV? I would think the picture is only going to be as good as the weakest link in the signal chain, and so the HDMI shouldn’t really add any value. I understand why I need HDMI for HD-DVD and Blu-ray players.
I disagree with you on the “good or bad” theory. Granted that these types of cables only carry digital signal, it does make a difference on the type of materials used to make that cable, hence the cost associated with it. Reading your posts, leaves me very confused. How do you explain the need for thicker cables for a longer cable run???? It’s all digital, right??? Ahh, that’s right, signal loss. Well guess what, same goes for the short cables, using ” cheap ” cables gives a very good possibility that: a) copper used to make that cable is of poor quality( making it difficult for electrons to pass through that copper) which leads to signal loss, 2) cable is thin = leads to faster signal loss ( think of two pipes of different diameters, the larger the diameter, the more water you can pass through it and more likely you will spill less water when you pour it into that pipe). The shielding that goes with that cable is very important too, remember, every electric device emits some level of a) radiation, and b) radio signal, therefore using a well shielded cable only works to your advantage. Now there are many other reasons why a thicker more expensive cable is better, but to keep it simple I will leave it at this. Don’t think that I have something to gain by sharing this information with you, but I have tested several HDMI cables myself, connecting the same equipment, and there is a difference between the cables. Remember this, most stores let you bring your cables back if you are not happy with them, so you can try the better cable and see if there is a difference.