HDMI reliability

[Chevypower]

guys I have been having reliability issues with HDMI cables - not picture quality variations. We are doing an outdoor movie for a school and the picture cut out half way through the movie. I went HDMI out the blu ray into onkyo pre-amp then into Sony projector. I couldn't get it going again so had to go straight from player to projector and stereo line out in to active speakers. I don't know for sure if it was a bad quality cable or an issue with the Onkyo PR-SC885p. Should I upgrade to monster or go with monoprice for reliability? Any thoughts muchly appreciated!

[brett_day]

no need to buy monstor. you can get better quality cables at monoprice for 10x less

[Chevypower]

Cool thanks Brett, I really hope it was just a HDMI cable issue, not a receiver problem. I noticed the plug wasn't as tight fit as I expected it to be.

[allstar780]

Originally Posted by brett_day

no need to buy monstor. you can get better quality cables at monoprice for 10x less

I wouldnt say monoprice cables are better than monster... they're on par for the most part... some monster HDMI cables are rated (by independent testing) for outrageous speeds that we will likely not see used before a new connection comes out, monster doesn't make a bad product at all, just an overpriced one

[jdc115]

One thing I have not seen mentioned here that I recall, but be careful of connecting HDMI cables. I would recommend to unplug components before connecting the wires. I spend a fair amount of time on AVS equipment forums and have read of people that fried the HDMI board by connecting the cable while the equipment was on.

Probably a rare thing but I have been advised to to connect or disconnect HDMI cables while the equipment is turned on

[My_Two_Cents]

Connect both cables (one-by-one) directly from your BD player to your projector. If you get a signal both times, then it's not your cables.

As others have said, and as what's been posted all over this forum, there is NO need to purchase Monster Cables over other high-quality (and less expensive) cables such as those from Monoprice.

Good luck!

[Deadset]

I can't find a monoprice 1.3a cable rated for in wall longer than 25' ... ? is that the longest they make?

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by Chevypower

guys I have been having reliability issues with HDMI cables - not picture quality variations. We are doing an outdoor movie for a school and the picture cut out half way through the movie. I went HDMI out the blu ray into onkyo pre-amp then into Sony projector. I couldn't get it going again so had to go straight from player to projector and stereo line out in to active speakers. I don't know for sure if it was a bad quality cable or an issue with the Onkyo PR-SC885p. Should I upgrade to monster or go with monoprice for reliability? Any thoughts muchly appreciated!

There are two types of cables: "Standard" and "High-Speed."

Standard cables (referred to as Category 1 cables in the HDMI specification) are those tested to perform at speeds of 75Mhz, which is the equivalent of an uncompressed 1080i signal.

High Speed cables (referred to as Category 2 cables in the HDMI specification), are those tested to perform at speeds of 340Mhz, which is the highest bandwidth currently available over an HDMI cable and can successfully handle 1080p signals including those at increased color depths (e.g. greater than eight bits per color) and/or increased refresh rates (e.g. 120Hz). High Speed cables are also able to accommodate higher resolution displays, such as those at the latest 1440p and WQXGA resolutions (e.g. cinema monitors with a resolution of 2560 x 1600).

All Monoprice.com cables are category 2. Remember that their in-wall cables are too thick and inflexible. If they are accidentally yanked out of your player or projector, they can damage their HDMI input or output. This actually happened to me and I had to send my projector for repairs.

The other issue is interoperability or handshake issues. First generation HDMI devices had a hard time communicationg with other HDMI devices. Make sure your BD player and your pre/pro have the latest firmware update.

HDMI.org has tons of useful information.