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Old 07-30-2010, 12:38 AM   #1
JimShaw JimShaw is offline
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Default My personal HDMI shoot out

Why am I doing this? My surround sound and watching movies is my hobby and I am continually trying to improve. I am about as far as I can go with everything in my system except, maybe, my HDMI cables. The cable I use is Monoprice's High Speed, Cat. 2, rated 1.4, six foot cable with a cost of $3.04. If there is a weak link in my system, the possibility is that link is the HDMI cable. Plus I have time on my hands and it sounded like fun.

Up front, I want to state that this is not a test backed by science. There was not one meter, scope or any other electronic measuring device in the room except for my eyes. My viewing was all I was concerned about. I didn't care whether the color saturation was one point lower on a meter gauge on one HDMI cable verses another. All I cared about was the best picture quality that is possible while sitting in my home theater watching Blu-ray movies.

Do I have an agenda against high priced or low priced HDMI cables? In away I do. I have used Monoprice cables for years and I like them BUT my real agenda was to get the best picture quality possible. So, my bias would be with the high-end cables in hopes that they will give me something better than what I have been viewing. If an expensive HDMI cable did give me a better picture, I would be happy and purchase that cable. So, yes I do have a bias towards any HDMI cable if it produced a better quality picture. If the cost of that quality cost $3.00 or $1,500.00, I would purchase. I am a strange video fanatic.

PARAMATERS:
Many high-end HDMI cables used to see how my $3.00 Monoprice cable stood up in video quality.

All cables are 6-6 ½ feet long. Plugged into a Marantz BD8002 Blu-ray player and ran directly to one of four HDMI inputs on a Samsung UN55B8000 LED/LCD TV.

The Samsung has four HDMI input connections. I used each TV HDMI input by plugging in four different HDMI cables at once so that all I had to do was change out and pop in one cable at a time into the player for an easy viewing comparison.

I sat 13 feet from my TV, all the shutters were closed, lights off, my wife playing cards at a neighbors while I tested each day. Viewing was in the afternoons so that even if all the shutters were closed that room was not totally dark.

Blu-rays and scene sections:
Knowing: because of a strange jitter/floating from the Blu movie while watching in the past. Scene selections 3, 4, 5, 6.

BARAKA: for sharpness, color and clarity. Watched fifteen minutes into the film from the beginning for each test.

Super Speedway: for speed, trailing, etc. Scene selections 5, 7, 11

After watching the selected Blu and its sections with an HDMI cable, the Blu was backed to its starting point, the HDMI cable switched and the Blu started again while taking notes on the color, clarity and sharpness for each test.

CABLES:
Visual:
All cables tested looked similar except for Wireworld Ultraviolet 6 and Monoprice.

All the cables were the typical round cable except for Wireworld which was flat. Wireworld says their exclusive flat design provides lower loss and higher precision than the conventional round HDMI.

The Monoprice cable is different in that on each end of the cable, just before the connectors, is a large knob. That knob is called a ferrite core. Monoprice stated that the purpose of the ferrite core is to filter noise and frequency interference.

Cable Specs:
All cables tested were high speed and supported the highest approved HDMI data rate of the 1.4.

HDMI Cables Tested:
Monoprice
High Speed 28AWG, $3.04
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

Audioquest
Cinnamon, $89.00
Chocolate, $150.00
Carbon, $250.00
*Coffee, $700.00
*Diamond, $1,500.00
I tested a number of Audioquest's cables because of the silver content that was used from their Cinnamon cable to their Diamond.
http://www.audioquest.com/

Monster
THX Ultimate 1000, $150.00
http://www.monstercable.com/productdisplay.asp?pin=5328

Wireworld
Ultraviolet 6, $150.00
http://www.wireworldcable.com/products/100.html

*I have tried to locate Audioquest's $1,500.00 Diamond HDMI cable along with their $700.00 Coffee HDMI for testing but I was unable to find the cables anywhere. Through the Internet, I discovered the Audioquest Corporation was about 75 miles from my home. On Tuesday, July the 10th, I decided to drive to Audioquest to see if I could take a look at the cables or have them tell where one could be purchased.

I walked up the the front door of Audioquest to discover that it was locked. I pushed the red button on the intercom that was posted on the wall and a young woman answered and told me that this was not a retail store and she would not be able to help.

I told her I was trying to locate where I can pickup their Diamond HDMI cable. She asked me to please hold. Within a few minutes, a gentleman unlocked and opened the front door. He introduced himself as Dennis Miller, President of Audioquest. I told Mr. Miller what I wanted and was told the Diamond HDMI cable had just had its final approved for sales and won't be on the market for 60 days.

I informed Mr. Miller that I wanted to test the Diamond and Coffee HDMIs for their video quality. Mr. Miller replied that the video section of the cables will not be any different then their Chocolate or Carbon. Where the difference lies between the Diamond and Coffee vs their other cables is in audio. The wires that run the length of the Diamond cable are 100% silver and Coffee are 10% silver and that is where the major leap is, in audio not video. Since I am testing HDMI cables for video and not audio, working with the Diamond or Coffee HDMIs would be a waste of time since I have already tested their Chocolate and Carbon HDMI cables.

Mr. Miller than asked me to tour the facility with him which I found extremely interesting. I was amazed watching all the VERY expensive cables and power cords being hand-put-together and what went into each high-end product.

THE DIFFERENCES:
Regarding the jittering/floating in Knowing that I have previously viewed: That phenomena maintained throughout all the cables tested leaving me to believe it was the film versus any HDMI cable.

While sitting on my couch meticulously watching a Blu-ray movie and the chosen scenes for testing, I discerened there was no way I could determine if one cable was better in video quality than another even when I froze-framed a scene and switched cables. They all looked virtually the same.

CONCLUSION:
99.99% of HD watchers that enjoy their movies, television, etc., would not see any differences between a decent HDMI cable, which makes Monoprice's $3.00 HD cable perfect, versus the more expensive cables on my test list. The other .01% are fanatics that think there could be a difference and then spend a lot of money just in case.

This testing is not definitive because I used my system and my eyes. Someone else might find a completely different result using their eyes and system but I would bet my findings are pretty accurate.

My conclusion is: Save your money and buy a good $3.50 HDMI cable.

Last edited by JimShaw; 02-19-2012 at 05:25 AM.
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Old 07-30-2010, 12:54 AM   #2
crackinhedz crackinhedz is offline
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jim, have a friend change out the cables for you...without you knowing which ones are being used.

(eliminate as much bias as possible)
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Old 07-30-2010, 01:02 AM   #3
Big Daddy Big Daddy is offline
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These are the conclusions of a comparison test that was done by Audioholics a while ago.
http://www.audioholics.com/education...le-bench-tests
Quote:
Conclusion

Well, what started out as a quest to prove the fact that longer HDMI cables really matter ended up schooling me in the fact that real world performance differs very much from lab results. It also demonstrated that not all manufacturers' cables are created equal - nor will all of the cables labeled as "HDMI 1.3-ready" likely pass all of the potential aspects of category 2 (3.4 Gbps) cables without help.

I have to come away saying that most cables under 4-5 meters will pass just about anything in today's arsenal of 1080p - and that's likely to include Deep Color if and when it ever makes an appearance (not likely soon due to current Blu-ray limitations). For cables over 5 meters it's a good bet that you'll want to stick with trusted manufacturers who deliver on their specs. For long cables, Blue Jeans Cable, DVIGear, MonoPrice, Monster Cable 800HD, and WireWorld seem to be the best bets of the cables we tested - however the price variance between these cables is revealing. We're sure there are also other cables we didn't test which are also likely to perform well. Some of the other manufacturers, such as NGHP, RAM Electronics, Sewell Direct, and Tributaries also showed themselves to be great performers at <7.5 meters, however they either didn't have longer length cables or they didn't supply them in ~10 meter lengths for our testing.

Your take-away from all this should be the following:
  • At lengths less than 4 meters you can just about use silly string (OK, not really) and get HDMI to pass at any current resolution. At less than 3 meters you'll even extend that to 12-bit color and possibly the next crazy idea HDMI Licensing decides to throw at consumers. Don't spend a lot on these cables and if you want to save money you won't let anyone at a big box store talk you into buying from them.
  • At long lengths (over 10 meters) you really need to pay attention to the manufacturer if you don't want to risk running into potential problems with 1080p and future formats such as Deep Color. With that said, just about any cable at or under 10 meters will pass 720p/1080i and nearly everyone will pass 1080p at 8-bit color as well.
  • If you have an existing HDMI cable and are running into problems, we'd suggest at least attempting the insertion of an active component at the sink (display) side. This is going to be far cheaper than ripping out your walls and re-running new cables - and likely just as effective.
    HDMI has proven to be a moving target and there is no telling what crazy (likely unnecessary) format they will try to push down the cable next. Due to this, it's always good to "overbuild" your cable install, especially if it's a longer distance and going to end up behind drywall.
  • If you're not prone to upgraditis and think 1080p will be your maximum resolution for the life of your install, don't sweat it...
There are going to be exceptions to all these "rules" but in the end I'd have to say that I really thought I'd see more differences in the real-world performances of longer-length cables. Since we're all basically pinned at 8-bit 1080p, I didn't. It's likely you won't either. So all those people saying "buy any cable you want, it doesn't matter" are, for the most part, correct - at least until manufacturers advance to 12-bit software and signal transmission. Where they are not accurate is in assuming HDMI (since it is digital) is either "on" or "off" (it either works or doesn’t). HDMI signals can be partially corrupted as you saw above. The other area in which they are off concerns the future. If and when 12-bit "Deep Color" video truly comes to market (as more than just a listed spec) individual cable situations can (and likely will) change. For this reason take all of the above measurements and principles into account and make sure you build your installation wisely.
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Old 07-30-2010, 01:06 AM   #4
JimShaw JimShaw is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by crackinhedz View Post
jim, have a friend change out the cables for you...without you knowing which ones are being used.

(eliminate as much bias as possible)
I could do that. But what I found was when I froze framed the Baraka logo and I got use to viewing the frame and familiar with it. I got so I could easily tell when the Monoprice and the Audioquest Cinnamon cable was used.

Infact when I tested the Cinnamon on the Baraka logo, I plugged it in for the first time, took a quick look and unplugged it without going back and forth. I could tell it was about the same picture as Monoprice's.

I would not be able to tell the differences on the Baraka logo between the expensive cables or I would not be able to discern between Mono and Cinnamon but I could tell easily between the two and the others.
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Old 07-30-2010, 01:13 AM   #5
crackinhedz crackinhedz is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JimShaw View Post
So, my bias would be with the high-end cables in hopes that they will give me something better than what I have been viewing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JimShaw View Post
...but I could tell easily between the two and the others.


this is why you have to eliminate bias.

If you expect a difference, your mind will find a difference.

Last edited by crackinhedz; 07-30-2010 at 01:23 AM.
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Old 07-30-2010, 01:21 AM   #6
crackinhedz crackinhedz is offline
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Quote:
The Samsung has four HDMI input connections. I used each TV HDMI input by plugging in four different HDMI cables at once
is each hdmi input calibrated or set identical to each other? is each input set for 1:1 pixel? (no stretch or overscan being applied?)

...did you try using the same hdmi input for every cable?
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Old 07-30-2010, 01:26 AM   #7
JimShaw JimShaw is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by crackinhedz View Post
this is why you have to eliminate bias.

If you expect a difference, your mind will find a difference.
No, testing the Cinnamon, I could easily tell it was comparable to Mono on the frozen Baraka logo frame.

But other than that, I would not have been able to tell the name of the cable from any other areas I used for testing.

Only the Baraka frame was I able to tell:

1) It was either Mono or Cinnamom

Or

2) It was one of the other 6 cables.
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Old 07-30-2010, 01:28 AM   #8
JimShaw JimShaw is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by crackinhedz View Post
is each hdmi input calibrated or set identical to each other? is each input set for 1:1 pixel? (no stretch or overscan being applied?)

...did you try using the same hdmi input for every cable?
When I first started, I set everything at same visual setting and used 4 inputs.

But when I discovered the slight difference on one frozen frame, I did start to input into the forth HDMI input only.

When I was doing the final testing, I even changed out my Mono cable for a new one just to see if that made any difference.

The bottom line is: No one could tell the difference in cables on my system while watching a movie

Last edited by JimShaw; 07-30-2010 at 04:26 AM.
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Old 07-30-2010, 01:33 AM   #9
crackinhedz crackinhedz is offline
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Jim, the fact that you "know" which cable you are connecting introduces bias...even if you think you could tell them apart blindfolded...

again, have a random friend who knows nothing about cables or what may be expected...and have them do the connecting for you...without you seeing what cable is being used.



...and would you really spend more money on a cable because you notice a single frozen frame, while you also state that on any other part of your testing you saw no difference?

I can understand being a videophile/audiophile but that's really splitting hairs!
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Old 07-30-2010, 01:35 AM   #10
crackinhedz crackinhedz is offline
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Interesting read, thanks for your view.

Have a good night, I'm off to watch the Jersey Shore season 2.
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Old 07-30-2010, 01:43 AM   #11
JimShaw JimShaw is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by crackinhedz View Post
Jim, the fact that you "know" which cable you are connecting introduces bias...even if you think you could tell them apart blindfolded...
again, have a random friend who knows nothing about cables or what may be expected...and have them do the connecting for you...without you seeing what cable is being used.



...and would you really spend more money on a cable because you notice a single frozen frame, while you also state that on any other part of your testing you saw no difference?

I can understand being a videophile/audiophile but that's really splitting hairs!
No, I did not say I could tell them apart blindfolded. What I said on one frozen frame I could distingush whether it was either Mono's or Cinnamon

OR

One of the others

I can understand being a videophile/audiophile but that's really splitting hairs!

Absolutely. There is almost no difference between them all. But it kept me busy and now I know whthout always wondering.

Last edited by JimShaw; 07-30-2010 at 01:46 AM.
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Old 07-30-2010, 03:47 AM   #12
eric oc eric oc is offline
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This post reminds me I have to put in an order to monoprice. Thanks
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Old 07-30-2010, 04:10 AM   #13
ManUtd ManUtd is offline
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I appreciate your effort in doing this. I am and always have been very satisfied with my Monoprice HDMI cables.
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Old 07-30-2010, 07:37 PM   #14
JimShaw JimShaw is offline
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Yesterday, I ordered three RCA/Coaxiale cables from Mono. I hope they get here fast so I can plug in my new amp.

Starting to see if I can get a better sound. I don't think I will do any testing. The HDMI testing and writing took too long.
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Old 07-30-2010, 09:13 PM   #15
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The gold connector on this cable is one of the most pure looking golds I have seen.

I don't care what anybody says, I noticed an improvement when I bought a sony high speed hdmi. If your tv supports the refresh rates, you can tell a difference, and I noticed more color saturation and sharpness.

I saw the biggest improvement in sound. No harsh sounds come through the tweeter on agressive tracks. The sound seems to come out effortlessly and natural with a much higher resolution and clarity. Nothing sounds strained, even when turning the volume up. I remember tracks and parts in movies that came throught the tweeter sharp enough to hurt your ears, now that is no longer.

The improvement was that dramitic for me. I no longer feel like I have to listen to the sound, the sound comes to my ears with a lot a life and authority.

Last edited by dewey79; 07-30-2010 at 09:36 PM.
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Old 07-30-2010, 09:44 PM   #16
Big Daddy Big Daddy is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dewey79 View Post


The gold connector on this cable is one of the most pure looking golds I have seen.
Dewey,

I have no intention of engaging in a debate with you. However, I just want to remind you that gold is not as good of a conductor as silver and copper. The only reason manufacturers use gold plating for their cable connectors is to prevent oxidation. That is the only advantage that gold has over silver and copper. Also, it is important to remember that oxidized copper, for example, continues to conduct electricity.
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Old 07-30-2010, 09:50 PM   #17
ManUtd ManUtd is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JimShaw View Post
Yesterday, I ordered three RCA/Coaxiale cables from Mono. I hope they get here fast so I can plug in my new amp.

Starting to see if I can get a better sound. I don't think I will do any testing. The HDMI testing and writing took too long.
Which amp did you get? Btw, I also use Monoprice coax cables.
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Old 07-31-2010, 01:06 AM   #18
JimShaw JimShaw is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ManUtd View Post
Which amp did you get? Btw, I also use Monoprice coax cables.
Picked up an Emotiva XPA-3. I wasn't but Big Daddy convenienced me that my receiver really couldn't pull 4Ohms all the time.
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Old 07-31-2010, 02:17 AM   #19
ManUtd ManUtd is offline
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Quote:
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Picked up an Emotiva XPA-3. I wasn't but Big Daddy convenienced me that my receiver really couldn't pull 4Ohms all the time.
Good choice, did you get it during the sale?
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Old 07-31-2010, 03:00 AM   #20
JimShaw JimShaw is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ManUtd View Post
Good choice, did you get it during the sale?
Missed it by that much. I called Emotiva and got a "B" stock which has the same warranty and looks like an "A" stock for $100 less.

It just arrived about 4 hours ago. It is heavy.
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