# HDMI - what's the difference?



## jess (Jul 7, 2012)

I need some help. I have a Playstation 3 that I would like to hook up to my TV but I'm not sure what to believe about HDMI cables. I see them anywhere from $30 to $150. What is the difference? Thank you!


----------



## popalock (May 19, 2012)

jess said:


> I need some help. I have a Playstation 3 that I would like to hook up to my TV but I'm not sure what to believe about HDMI cables. I see them anywhere from $30 to $150. What is the difference? Thank you!


Marketing.

Go to Monoprice.com. High quality with low overhead = win for us.


----------



## GoNoles (Jul 7, 2012)

Yepp. I now use the Mediabridge cables off Amazon, but used Monoprice a lot in the past.


----------



## jess (Jul 7, 2012)

What are the differences between the cables? I have seen different speeds/gauges posted. Is there a good way to figure out what I need or are those numbers just for marketing? Thank you so much for your help!


----------



## wgmontgomery (Jun 9, 2011)

popalock said:


> Marketing.
> 
> Go to Monoprice.com. High quality with low overhead = win for us.


Get a quality v1.4 from Monoprice or Part Express, and you should be set!


----------



## popalock (May 19, 2012)

jess said:


> What are the differences between the cables? I have seen different speeds/gauges posted. Is there a good way to figure out what I need or are those numbers just for marketing? Thank you so much for your help!


How about this... The most expensive "highest quality" cables from monoprice will match or exceed ANY cables your local Best Buy will try to sell you and at a FRACTION of the price. 

Case in point... And I swear to the heavebs I am not making this up...

I just had some pretty signifigant upgrades done to my HT. I ordered about 15 HDMI cables of various lengths. I chose to get the largrst gauge highest rated (most expensive) cables Monoprice sold...

We'll I thought I had everything in order, but due to some "handshaking" issues between an HDMI splitter I purchased I decided I needed to do another 25ft run to my PJ just to be safe...

The inly place I could find a cable of that length was in fact at Best Buy.

That one xable cost $149!!!! Get this... Tgat is tge inly cable I am having problems with. The same (IMHO better) 25ft cable from monoprice cost like $28 and it is a thicker gauge....

I'm not making that up...


----------



## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

But there is a difference in HDMI cables, at least there has been in my experience. With S-Video, composite, component, DVI and speaker wire I have never had any issues, none,... no discernible difference in audible or visual quality and never had any of them fail. HDMI on the other hand I have had 3 failed cables and one failed HDMI adapter fail. So my advice, get a good quality cable as mentioned above. Personally I like Ram Electronics and Monoprice.


----------



## wgmontgomery (Jun 9, 2011)

In an earlier post, I added a link to HDMI.org to help explain the differences between the various versions; here it is again. I hope that it helps!


----------



## graphist83 (Jun 19, 2012)

Well digital cables like HDMI can't have differencies between them. Its digital data 0 and 1. If these data passes the cable the result will be one. The only difference is too high metre cables. Where the big length needs low resistor values so the data pass without loss.

Sorry for my English.


----------



## wgmontgomery (Jun 9, 2011)

graphist83 said:


> Well digital cables like HDMI can't have differencies between them. Its digital data 0 and 1. If these data passes the cable the result will be one. The only difference is too high metre cables. Where the big length needs low resistor values so the data pass without loss.
> 
> Sorry for my English.


Please do not take this the wrong way, but I must disagree with the statement, "Digital cables like HDMI can't have differences between them. Its digital data 0 and 1." There is A LOT more to the signal than a 1 or 0 (on/off or high/low). There can be timing errors like jitter, impedance mis-matching and a slew of other problems. Many people find HDMI to be a very harsh sounding connection for CD listening; I have A/B'ed coaxial and Toslink and found that- almost invariably- coaxial sounds better.

For people who only believe blind tests, I usually listen to SA-CDs via RCA out of my PS3*. I was a bit lazy one day and did not feel like changing from HDMI to RCA out in the menu, so I kept it on HDMI. My girlfriend walked into the room and- without _any_ prompting from me- asked, "What's wrong with your stereo? It doesn't sound right. It's too bright and harsh."

FWIW-you will probably find that _you_ are in the majority with your opinion and many people will disagree with me. :innocent: Everyone is entitled to their opinion; there are studies to support both sides. I believe what I hear. I intend no disrespect to you or anyone who may disagree with my statement.

BTW-your English is great! We are glad to have you here at HTS!! 

*I am currently looking to upgrade to an Oppo for SA-CD.


----------



## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

graphist83 said:


> Well digital cables like HDMI can't have differencies between them. Its digital data 0 and 1. If these data passes the cable the result will be one. The only difference is too high metre cables. Where the big length needs low resistor values so the data pass without loss.
> 
> Sorry for my English.


Gary is correct. There are differences in HDMI cables. What you ARE correct about is that if the 1s & 0s get from one end to the other as intended, the cable has no effect on the performance. The faulty assumption underlying your statement is that this occurs equally in all cables. High resolution digital signals are subject to the same effects that any other signal would be in a cable. Because of the encoding of the signal and transmission using TMDI, the effects would not be the same on an image as an analog signal. The effect of poor transmission (as in your example of length problems) is that some of the bits get dropped and the signal either has sparkly noise or no signal at all. There is a pretty sharp threshold, so most signals just drop out completely if there is a problem with the transmission in the cable. 

It is fair to say that there is essentially no difference in properly functioning HDMI cables. As you said, it is a digital signal.


----------



## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

Well the difference I was getting at is that based upon my experience, HDMI cables seem to be more fragile than other cables. As I said, I have never experienced cable failure until HDMI arrived on the scene. Whether it's the cable itself or the connections I cannot say.


----------



## graphist83 (Jun 19, 2012)

I agree with the most of your theory. I wanted to say for example, that a 20 dollar HDMI cable will not have any difference compared to a 150 dollar cable. I have tested many of them without any difference. Offcource 1 or 2 dollar cables without any shield could produce signal problems.


----------



## wgmontgomery (Jun 9, 2011)

nova said:


> Well the difference I was getting at is that based upon my experience, HDMI cables seem to be more fragile than other cables. As I said, I have never experienced cable failure until HDMI arrived on the scene. Whether it's the cable itself or the connections I cannot say.


I, too, have noticed that not all HDMI cables are created equal. I changed one a few days ago, and the outer metal "shield" popped right out! I was able to simply push it back into the cable, and it worked fine. It did not, however, inspire a great deal of confidence in the cable's build quality. FWIW- I believe that this cable was some generic cable that my girlfriend ordered off the net for ~$3.


----------



## RTS100x5 (Sep 12, 2009)

wgmontgomery said:


> Please do not take this the wrong way, but I must disagree with the statement, "Digital cables like HDMI can't have differences between them. Its digital data 0 and 1." There is A LOT more to the signal than a 1 or 0 (on/off or high/low). There can be timing errors like jitter, impedance mis-matching and a slew of other problems. Many people find HDMI to be a very harsh sounding connection for CD listening; I have A/B'ed coaxial and Toslink and found that- almost invariably- coaxial sounds better.
> 
> For people who only believe blind tests, I usually listen to SA-CDs via RCA out of my PS3*. I was a bit lazy one day and did not feel like changing from HDMI to RCA out in the menu, so I kept it on HDMI. My girlfriend walked into the room and- without _any_ prompting from me- asked, "What's wrong with your stereo? It doesn't sound right. It's too bright and harsh."
> 
> ...


And to your point I bet the MULTI CHANNEL ANALOG output of the OPPO sounds much better than the HDMI output....:T


----------



## wgmontgomery (Jun 9, 2011)

RTS100x5 said:


> And to your point I bet the MULTI CHANNEL ANALOG output of the OPPO sounds much better than the HDMI output....:T


+1!!  I hope to have an Oppo soon...


----------

