Not all HDMI cables are created equally

[JackBurton]

This is a good read for anyone that is under the impression that all HDMI cables are created equally.

http://www.cepro.com/article/why_2_short_hdmi_cables_yield_different_results/

 

[Mopetar]

Someone making a substandard cable that doesn't work is a lot different than someone claiming that their $60 cable will provide better quality, blah blah, etc. Moral of the story: Don't buy shady products that appear as if they've been pulled out of a factory fire.

 

[StrangerGuy]

I got a $10000 Ethernet cable to sell you...Makes your bittorrent faster!

Not interested? How about my $20000 audiophile hard drive...

 

[CubanlB]

I setup a Mits LCD that would fail to connect to a Panasonic BluRay player using a monster cable(actually 2), but worked fine with a cheap ass GE cable I had bouncing around in a tool bag for a week. I think it was because the CEC pin was not included on the GE HDMI connector. (not sure about this as it was around 3 years ago, but the GE cable was indeed missing a pin in the connector. And yes, I disabled all CEC options on the TV and player.)

Most issues I have encountered with HDMI come from one or more of the components not complying with some HDMI spec, not the cable itself. This is the main reason I won't ever buy a Yamaha receiver, god damn the entry level ones were awful.

Also, every 50ft GE HDMI I ever installed worked perfectly, this wasn't the case with with monster or Monoprice cables. That may be a function of how many more monster cables and Monoprice cables VS. GE cables I installed though.

Anyway, I think what we should take away from the article is that Cheap HDMI's don't always "Just work" but neither do expensive ones. Base your cabling purchases on your installation requirements. Same reasoning for not installing the cheapest Cat5e cabling you can possibly find as it may not be in spec or might be the copper clad aluminum garbage... I don't need monster cat5e, I just need it to be in or above spec for as little money as possible.

 

[funboy6942]

I love mono price. I got some 50 foot hdmi cables and work great. Thick suckers too. Best part is I didnt pay all that much for them.

 

[Binky]

This is a story for AV installers. The point is that a $5 cable can cost you much more in return trip fees if it breaks (the writer describes a cable that broke because it was bent...duh). So don't break your cables.

And now for a peeve of mine - the writer uses idiotic language that is commonly used by people who have terrible math skills:
"The HDCP/EDID wires within the cable that failed are at least two times smaller in diameter than the one that worked."

Come on, something cannot be "2x smaller" than something else!! Anything that is 1x smaller (-100&#37 than anything else is essentially not there! If its 200% less, than the result is -100%. How can it be 2x (-200%) smaller?!?!?!? I think he/she is trying to say 50% smaller but the technical and math understanding is a little lacking.

 

[CubanlB]

Come on, something cannot be "2x smaller" than something else!! Anything that is 1x smaller (-100%) than anything else is essentially not there! If its 200% less, than the result is -100%. How can it be 2x (-200%) smaller?!?!?!? I think he/she is trying to say 50% smaller but the technical and math understanding is a little lacking.

That is CEPro in a nutshell unfortunately. Just a magazine for lobbies of CE companies. (It's a free publication though so I cut them a little slack)

 

[evilspoons]

Monoprice all the way. No failures, no problems at all... just a savings of 95% compared to buying the cables locally (I wish I was exaggerating.) Even if they DID fail it's still less to replace them several times than buy an expensive one (that might fail anyway.)

 

[ImpulsE69]

^^ What he said. I have always wondered why local cables cost so much. $50 for a HDMI cable when I can get 10 that work just as well at that price?

 

[Exterous]

Even if they DID fail it's still less to replace them several times than buy an expensive one (that might fail anyway.)

It's a tad different if your cable is behind drywall and insulation. That said i used them for my long HDMI runs but if I did this for a living I would probably go with someone with a bit more reliability (as mentioned GE)

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

An HDMI cable either works or doesn't work at all. You're not gonna get higher quality with one over the other because they're sending a digital signal. They send the same 0s and 1s, so quality cannot change.

If you pay more than $5 for an 6' HDMI cable, you're a fool. Buy them from Monoprice.

 

[CubanlB]

It's a tad different if your cable is behind drywall and insulation. That said i used them for my long HDMI runs but if I did this for a living I would probably go with someone with a bit more reliability (as mentioned GE)

Most HDMI cables work quite well with the right components, in my experience. The thing about most CEPro articles is they are geared towards more specialty shops that may have a much smaller product mix and generally can pick cables/components that work well together. When you go at it from a retail or even consumer standpoint there are so many more variables, you never know when two things aren't going to work together perfectly. That being said, it really, really sucks to try to retro install a cable somewhere you had access to or already ran a cable that got broken/was defective, during construction.

I had way more problems with people installing their own monoprice/whatever cables and not taking the proper precautions to make sure that they did not get damaged by the contractor, drywaller, painter, cleaner, kids, dog, HDMI elves, than any other situation. This is why pull tubes are an excellent idea and almost always recommended where feasible. If a cable doesn't work, yank it out. Try a new one.

 

[CubanlB]

They send the same 0s and 1s, so quality cannot change.

The point is that the quality of the cables can vary wildly, possibly leading to a situation where the cable can fail to correctly transmit those ones and zeros, or have the voltage be to far out of spec on the 5v line that is in an HDMI causing handshake problems etc...

You're not a fool if you buy any cable that is more expensive than another as long as there is a reason for that decision. The problem is mostly that reason is "The sales guy said I need it."

 

[Oyeve]

An HDMI cable either works or doesn't work at all. You're not gonna get higher quality with one over the other because they're sending a digital signal. They send the same 0s and 1s, so quality cannot change.

If you pay more than $5 for an 6' HDMI cable, you're a fool. Buy them from Monoprice.

Mostly true and I do mostly agree BUT I have come across very cheap cables that did not have tight fits on the ends and would occasionally lose handshake. But, it the fits are tight then yes, it either is on or not.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

The point is that the quality of the cables can vary wildly, possibly leading to a situation where the cable can fail to correctly transmit those ones and zeros, or have the voltage be to far out of spec on the 5v line that is in an HDMI causing handshake problems etc...

You're not a fool if you buy any cable that is more expensive than another as long as there is a reason for that decision. The problem is mostly that reason is "The sales guy said I need it."

That's a problem if you're using horribly made cables. The cables you buy at retail stores are either the same quality or lower than the ones you buy at Monoprice. Unless you're intentionally trying to cut the cables inside with a knife there's no difference between a cable that uses the excuse of "higher build quality". So yes, if anyone buys an HDMI cable over $5 he's a fool.

 

[notposting]

Plug for Cables for Less. I buy all my cabling stuff there. Fast shipping to MI from IN as well.

 

[fuzzymath10]

I buy tons of cabling from monoprice. Recently I ordered a premium stereo audio cable from them and it was in fact defective. They sent me a new one a week or two later. This one worked.

They have great service, but do test your cables first, especially if they're going in a wall (I put two runs of Cat6 thru conduits without testing them first and luckily I didn't have any lemons).

 

[alkemyst]

I buy tons of cabling from monoprice. Recently I ordered a premium stereo audio cable from them and it was in fact defective. They sent me a new one a week or two later. This one worked.

They have great service, but do test your cables first, especially if they're going in a wall (I put two runs of Cat6 thru conduits without testing them first and luckily I didn't have any lemons).

QFT...same thing happened to me with a stereo headphone out to RCA input setup.

Bad cable from the get go. They did make it right. Their customer service is awesome IMHO even when selling things at such a low cost.

Some of monoprice's items are a bit shitty, of course they are so chep you can afford to take a chance sometimes. Once I decided to just buy the premium versions of anything I was looking at, I had less buyer's remorse.

One thing that I usually buy down on is their monitor cables. The top of the line are so over-built it makes it hard to do cable routing and at times can actually tilt the monitor due to cable weight ...too much of a good thing!

I will say aesthetics on a higher priced cable are usually a lot better. It comes down to the 'show vs go' argument though. However in this arena the 'go' is on an even field usually and most just want their man-caves to look as awesome as they sound. I have paid for some premium interconnects that just offered better 'looks' yet the same performance of a cable being sold at 1/10 the price.

 

[mmntech]

If you're cables cost more than the cables the studio is using to tape your programming, there's a problem.

 

[Ayah]

Someone should start making 8 gauge HDMI cables.

 

[Rifter]

An HDMI cable either works or doesn't work at all. You're not gonna get higher quality with one over the other because they're sending a digital signal. They send the same 0s and 1s, so quality cannot change.

If you pay more than $5 for an 6' HDMI cable, you're a fool. Buy them from Monoprice.

I would agree if HDMI used some kind of packet checking but it doesnt, it has very basic ECC but if that cant fix the issue(which it wont if more than a few bits are missing/corrupted) there is no way to request a retransmission like with ethernet.

If you are missing some 0's ans 1's its going to transmit anyways with a degraded picture/sound.

That said any properly terminated cable will work fine and the monoprice cables are great.

 

[Modelworks]

I buy tons of cabling from monoprice. Recently I ordered a premium stereo audio cable from them and it was in fact defective. They sent me a new one a week or two later. This one worked.

They have great service, but do test your cables first, especially if they're going in a wall (I put two runs of Cat6 thru conduits without testing them first and luckily I didn't have any lemons).

I think monoprice is great for everyday cables . In wall though I wouldn't do it. If you are putting something in permanent it is best to have someone to complain to should in the future something go wrong. Remember the chinese drywall ? Suppose it is determined in the future that a cable sold has insulation that degrades faster than expected, you can maybe get replacement cable from monoprice but that still means tearing out old cable. I stick with brand names with a high quality control for things permanent.

 

[Modelworks]

One thing that I usually buy down on is their monitor cables. The top of the line are so over-built it makes it hard to do cable routing and at times can actually tilt the monitor due to cable weight ...too much of a good thing!

This is really getting to be an issue with HDMI cables now that players are getting lighter in weight. The roku2 I just bought is so light that the hdmi cable weighs more than the box. I had to velcro the box down to the surface to keep it from flying off the table from the weight of the HDMI cable.

 

[imagoon]

I think monoprice is great for everyday cables . In wall though I wouldn't do it. If you are putting something in permanent it is best to have someone to complain to should in the future something go wrong. Remember the chinese drywall ? Suppose it is determined in the future that a cable sold has insulation that degrades faster than expected, you can maybe get replacement cable from monoprice but that still means tearing out old cable. I stick with brand names with a high quality control for things permanent.

Personally I just install pipe. Drywallers have a hard time nailing through a two inch steel pipe with a dual or quad box sitting on top. Easy to repull cables that way also.

 

[alkemyst]

Yeah just have to gut the room and start over