HDMI cables, do they matter?

[Schadenfroh]

Situation: PS3 (HDMI 1.3a) and Samsung LN-T5271F (due to arrive next week) HDMI 1.3
I have a gold plated HDMI cable (picked up moths ago for nearly free at a salvage store), but it does not say what level of HDMI it is, so I assume the worse case scenario.

Question: Will an unknown spec HDMI cable made before HDMI 1.3 ever existed work without any problems and with the full feature set of HDMI 1.3 when just the devices (PS3 & TV) that it connects are HDMI 1.3?

I feel so embarrassed to ask this question, but I am more familiar with the older hookups than these new fancy ones😱

Thanks

 

[montypythizzle]

All HDMI cables are compatible with all spec versions.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: montypythizzle
All HDMI cables are compatible with all spec versions.

not true... a simple check of the official FAQ tells you the difference.

While it may be possible for a v1.1 cable to do 1080p it is not guaranteed to be accepted by the TV or receiver as having the capability. Also v1.3 is the only spec that has the ability to bitstream TrueHD and DTS-HD. However, every other cable has the ability to do uncompressed PCM which offers no quality loss...just a different way it needs to be done.

You can buy 1.3a cables for about $8 from monoprice.com, why not just buy the v1.3a if in doubt?

 

[montypythizzle]

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd

Originally posted by: montypythizzle
All HDMI cables are compatible with all spec versions.

not true... a simple check of the official FAQ tells you the difference.

While it may be possible for a v1.1 cable to do 1080p it is not guaranteed to be accepted by the TV or receiver as having the capability. Also v1.3 is the only spec that has the ability to bitstream TrueHD and DTS-HD. However, every other cable has the ability to do uncompressed PCM which offers no quality loss...just a different way it needs to be done.

You can buy 1.3a cables for about $8 from monoprice.com, why not just buy the v1.3a if in doubt?

But if they have the same wiring diagram is shouldn't matter, which AFAIK they do.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Thanks for the replies, audio will not be an issue for I will be using the optical digital out (on the PS3) to transmit the audio to my pioneer receiver (which does not have HDMI support) and I will just use the HDMI port for the video. But, when I upgrade my receiver, it would be something good to know.

 

[Slick5150]

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd

Originally posted by: montypythizzle
All HDMI cables are compatible with all spec versions.

not true... a simple check of the official FAQ tells you the difference.

While it may be possible for a v1.1 cable to do 1080p it is not guaranteed to be accepted by the TV or receiver as having the capability. Also v1.3 is the only spec that has the ability to bitstream TrueHD and DTS-HD. However, every other cable has the ability to do uncompressed PCM which offers no quality loss...just a different way it needs to be done.

You can buy 1.3a cables for about $8 from monoprice.com, why not just buy the v1.3a if in doubt?

The 1.3a spec is on the equipment, not the cable. Any HDMI cable (assuming you're not running long lengths or through walls) can pass the TrueHD and DTS-HD if the equipment is capable of doing so.

 

[montypythizzle]

Originally posted by: Slick5150

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd

Originally posted by: montypythizzle
All HDMI cables are compatible with all spec versions.

not true... a simple check of the official FAQ tells you the difference.

While it may be possible for a v1.1 cable to do 1080p it is not guaranteed to be accepted by the TV or receiver as having the capability. Also v1.3 is the only spec that has the ability to bitstream TrueHD and DTS-HD. However, every other cable has the ability to do uncompressed PCM which offers no quality loss...just a different way it needs to be done.

You can buy 1.3a cables for about $8 from monoprice.com, why not just buy the v1.3a if in doubt?

The 1.3a spec is on the equipment, not the cable. Any HDMI cable (assuming you're not running long lengths or through walls) can pass the TrueHD and DTS-HD if the equipment is capable of doing so.

That is what I thought.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: Slick5150

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd

Originally posted by: montypythizzle
All HDMI cables are compatible with all spec versions.

not true... a simple check of the official FAQ tells you the difference.

While it may be possible for a v1.1 cable to do 1080p it is not guaranteed to be accepted by the TV or receiver as having the capability. Also v1.3 is the only spec that has the ability to bitstream TrueHD and DTS-HD. However, every other cable has the ability to do uncompressed PCM which offers no quality loss...just a different way it needs to be done.

You can buy 1.3a cables for about $8 from monoprice.com, why not just buy the v1.3a if in doubt?

The 1.3a spec is on the equipment, not the cable. Any HDMI cable (assuming you're not running long lengths or through walls) can pass the TrueHD and DTS-HD if the equipment is capable of doing so.

http://www.hdmi.org/learningce...spx#hdmi_specification
The difference is the bandwidth supported. v1.2 cables are tested to 165Mhz and 1.3a cables are tested to 340Mhz. There is no guarantee that you will get the full TrueHD signal with a cable that isn't tested to comply with the latter spec.

Will it work? Sure it can, a good quality cable can possibly. v1.2 supports 1080p which in the OP's case is the issue. So yes his cable will be fine. If however, he wanted to do TrueHD it may or may not work. I would encourage him to try it and see. If it works he saved $8. If not, then it's not alot of money.