HDMI. Do brands really matter?

[pentatonic]

Originally Posted by DerrellB

Hey I totally understand. I am in the crowd that if you invest a nice chuck of money in quality equpiment then whats wrong with a few extra bucks for some nice cables. When I first got into this hobby, I used monoprice. Well they had some of the worst built cables I have ever scene. The HDMI connectors always broke off. Just a bad experience. I moved up to dayton audio HDMI from parts express. Never had an issue with any of their cables. I will be honest. I felt like my TV had a little more pop to it with the dayton cables over the monoprice cables. Maybe placebo effect, maybe not but the construction of the cable was alot better. Now I own audioquest and no I did not see a difference between the dayton and audioquest cables but honestly, I never looked for a difference.

I have read that thicker shielding helps the cable conduct better. Not sure how true that is but I have read it mulitple places.

This is a fair answer that I can respect, you don't do it for better AQ/PQ but for build quality and self satisfaction. And if I were wealthy I might just spend on expensive cables if just for the fact that they look nice. I'd probably get expensive cabling all around. But for people on normal budgets, there is no real need for it as long (as stated before) as the build quality, but even more important, the connector quality is there.

[pentatonic]

Originally Posted by roar

Agreed... but the thread was moving well past that and getting more personal than anything else. I should keep my mouth shut, was trying to curb something I should have stayed out of.

Oh I get you and it's the never ending story all over again. Oh well, all in all if he does see an improvement all the power to him after all.

[shovelware69]

The guy ruins nearly every damn thread he posts in.

[arrow61095]

HDMI -- Do brands really matter? --- No (and yes)

HDMI is digital, so either you get a signal or you don't (unlike analog). So, if a particular brand does not use a good enough conductor and you have a very long cable, you could get signal attenuation.

That being said, A cable of about 5 meters (16 ft) can be manufactured to Category 1 specifications easily and inexpensively by using 28 AWG (0.081 mm²) conductors. (How many people really need a cable that is more than 16 feet long?) With better quality construction and materials, including 24 AWG (0.205 mm²) conductors, an HDMI cable can reach lengths of up to 15 meters (49 ft).

What really matters is what the particular cable is rated for and which HDMI versions its the cable tested for.

As of the HDMI 1.4 specification, these are the following cable types defined for HDMI in general:

Standard HDMI Cable – up to 1080i and 720p
Standard HDMI Cable with Ethernet
Automotive HDMI Cable
High Speed HDMI Cable – 1080p, 4K, 3D and deep color
High Speed HDMI Cable with Ethernet

An HDMI cable is usually composed of four shielded twisted pairs, with impedance of the order of 100 Ω, plus several separate conductors. So, it doesn't matter if they are in wall or not. You may want a heavier cable in wall to stand up to the rats or bugs chewing on the cable and increase the ease of you finding the cable when fishing it through the wall, but it isn't a quality of signal thing.

So, if you have a 24 AWG Monster High Speed HDMI Cable with Ethernet HDMI v1.4 cable and a 24 AWG Monoprice or Blu Jeans Cable or Amazon High Speed HDMI Cable with Ethernet HDMI v1.4 cable they will perform exactly the same.

So, if you have a 24 AWG Monster High Speed HDMI Cable with Ethernet HDMI v1.4 cable and a 28 AWG Monoprice or Blu Jeans Cable or Amazon High Speed HDMI Cable with Ethernet HDMI v1.4 cable and the length of the cable is less than 16 feet they will perform exactly the same.

IF you have a 24 AWG Monster High Speed HDMI Cable HDMI v1.3 cable and a 28 AWG Monoprice or Blu Jeans Cable or Amazon High Speed HDMI Cable with Ethernet HDMI v1.4 cable and the length of the cable is less than 16 feet the Monster Cable will deliver less maximum resolution over single link, and you wont be able to get features like 3D over HDMI, Audio return channel (ARC), or an Ethernet channel.

You can get a version comparison here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI#Version_comparison

So.... in general, the brand doesn't matter, the HDMI version and what specific cable type is manufactured does. There are some cable companies (Monster) that are notorious for charging extra because of their brand name and the marketing that they do. That being said, if you are willing to pay the extra dough or get one on sale does it really matter?
(I personally own 1 set of monster cables (that I got on sale) and 9 sets of various cables that I got from monoprice)


Source: My degree is in Computer Science, and I actually taught an Introduction to Electronics class for a year where I taught kids how to make various cables (not HDMI but the idea is the same).

[arrow61095]

Now the cables I bought from monoprice were not the lowest quality/cheapest cables and were rated for high speed HDMI v1.4.

[Remo]

I buy a "generic" brand high speed HDMI cable 10 footer at a whopping $7 shipped to my house, heck it even has a 2 toned braided sleeve on it. Works just fine.

Every thing that can be seen or heard is measurable, but not everything measurable can be seen or heard.

[crackinhedz]

IF you have a 24 AWG Monster High Speed HDMI Cable HDMI v1.3 cable and a 28 AWG Monoprice or Blu Jeans Cable or Amazon High Speed HDMI Cable with Ethernet HDMI v1.4 cable and the length of the cable is less than 16 feet the Monster Cable will deliver less maximum resolution over single link, and you wont be able to get features like 3D over HDMI, Audio return channel (ARC), or an Ethernet channel.

HDMI versions have absolutely zero to do with HDMI cables. (well not absolute zero as ethernet requires a cable with ethernet)

As you mentioned, the types of cables (for HT use) are:

Standard
High Speed

(Ethernet is optional)

That's it. Has nothing to do with HDMI versions.

The HDMI version refers to the features of the HDMI transmit/receive chip used in the actual device. The cable does not dictate what features are available with the various HDMI versions...they simply pass electrons.


HDMI.org

All High Speed HDMI cables will support 3D when connected to 3D devices. You can use your existing High Speed HDMI cables

HDMI.org

All High Speed HDMI cables will support 4K functionality when connected to 4K devices. You can use your existing High Speed HDMI cables

HDMI.org

All HDMI cables will support Audio Return Channel functionality when connected to Audio Return Channel-enabled devices. You can use your existing HDMI cables

There is an HDMI sticky here that has all the necessary reading...guess nobody looks at it anymore.

To debate the HDMI cable giving better PQ/AQ is simply ridiculous...and has been beaten to death.

If you have the money and prefer to waste it, more power to that individual.

[Falconer]

I just buy the $0.10 ones on eBay. Never had a problem and the picture and sound are both fantastic.

[kuatolives]

Originally Posted by pentatonic

This is a fair answer that I can respect, you don't do it for better AQ/PQ but for build quality and self satisfaction.

I'll reiterate that this is exactly why I use Audioquest cabling. Love the way they look/feel, etc. I honestly don't perceive any difference between them and the cheap cables I used before although it's nice to imagine they perform better.

It's kinda like buying a high-end blu-ray player like an Oppo or another premium brand. If all you're doing is watching blu-rays on it, then it really won't perform noticeably better during playback vs. say, a $100 Sony player.

[Canada]

Monoprice

The cables with the RedMere technology are more advanced and can be thinner and go farther than other HDMI cables on the site.

[oldgame]

What's the difference between 24bit and 48bit color depth? Will blu-rays look better with 48?

[laie_techie]

There are difference in quality of HDMI cables. Look at the rated bandwidth for the length you need and the wire gauge.

HDMI is used to transmit digital information. Either the bit is read as a zero or a one. The higher the bandwidth, the more information you can send / receive - but the cable doesn't care what that information is. A higher bandwidth lets you transmit a higher frame rate, more channels or lossless audio, higher resolution, better color bit depth, or 3D. Each feature adds to your bandwidth needs.

The longer your cable, the more opportunity there is for the signal to be affected by interference. A thicker wire (lower AWG) prevents signal loss. Having braided or solid wires also influence how much signal loss you may experience.

As per the 24 vs 48 bit color question, since we're talking digital, colors are represented by a series of 1s and 0s. The color bit depth indicates how many distinct colors can be by produced (24 bits allow for over 16 million; 48 bits allow for 281 trillion). The average human eye cannot distinguish all these distinct colors. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_depth