All HDMI cables created equal?

well i cant speak for everyone but ive tried a monster between my HDTV and HD DVD player and a regular $20 hdmi cable and i didnt notice a diff. (i got a 46" lcd)
 
Wow. I can't believe people actually pay $100+ for a cable that they could get for $10. Its a crazy world we live in.
 
trapilales said:
HDMI is a digital signal so yes...all cables are created equal
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False.... Yes the output quality is the same EXCEPT if there's interference, the wire itself is identical, but the way it's connected to the connector, the isolation around the cable. The shielding of the cable changes alot from quality to another one. Plus not only that but the material they used to make it. A wire made in some metal will transmit better the signal.

Digital doesn't loose quality in theory, but the signal can be altered by all those things....
 
I figured that if my cheapo ethernet cables can stream data at gigabit speeds all day long, I probably don't need to pay $100 for 6-foot HDMI cables!

I run the 50-foot monoprice HDMI cables and they work perfectly delivering 1920x1080 content to my projector w/o issues. Highly recommended - they're fantastically made for a fraction of the price of Monster.
 
MrPatate said:
False.... Yes the output quality is the same EXCEPT if there's interference, the wire itself is identical, but the way it's connected to the connector, the isolation around the cable. The shielding of the cable changes alot from quality to another one. Plus not only that but the material they used to make it. A wire made in some metal will transmit better the signal.

Digital doesn't loose quality in theory, but the signal can be altered by all those things....
Click to expand...
Interference is always possible, but digital connects are far less susceptible to it than analog, where swapping cables could cause obviously noticeable differences in color or sharpness. I have yet to see an objective review that can actually quantitatively demonstrate that there's any perceptible difference between a monster cable and a $10 cable from a place like monoprice. IMO, Monster successfully sells these cables by exploiting people's familiarity with analog connections and their assumption that since the cables are so much more expensive, there must be something worthwhile about them.

I'd love to see some actual tests or benchmarks that could prove or disprove whether these cables actually make a difference -- my hunch is that even if they do, the difference would be so minor and unnoticeable that the price they're charging is really unjustified.
 
MrPatate said:
Digital doesn't loose quality in theory, but the signal can be altered by all those things....
Click to expand...

in a 6 foot run of cable? the truth of the matter is thats so incredibly unlikely that its not worth worrying about.
 
Another vote for monoprice.com. I bought 3 hdmi cables 3ft,6ft,15ft and I see no interference on any of them. Just make sure you spend the extra dollar to get Priority mail shipping over First Class mail.
 
I bought my recent batch of cables from Monoprice and I couldn't be happier. I paid for standard shipping and received the cables in one business day (ordered Saturday, they were there Monday afternoon) - they're extremely high quality and cost basically nothing.

Crazy!
 
MrPatate said:
False.... Yes the output quality is the same EXCEPT if there's interference, the wire itself is identical, but the way it's connected to the connector, the isolation around the cable. The shielding of the cable changes alot from quality to another one. Plus not only that but the material they used to make it. A wire made in some metal will transmit better the signal.

Digital doesn't loose quality in theory, but the signal can be altered by all those things....
Click to expand...
Eh...
Why do people like to argue simply for the sake of arguing. When someone comes here with a question like that of the OP they're not looking for a lecture on signal and probablity theory (which no offense, but was pretty much just BS). They want a simple answer whether they should spend 120 bucks or 10 for a cable.

Yes there could be interference with this and that, and there's a possibility that the connector is not blah blah blah...
None of that is of any relevance in practice because the probability of a bad digital signal due to interference is pretty much zero. You're hundreds of times more likely to get a bad signal due to the cable being broken, or your dog chewing on it, then because of interference.
You can perhaps cite quality control as a reason to buy an expensive cable but definitely not interference.
In reality the cheap $10 cables will perform EXACTLY like the $120 monster cables.

The truth is the $100+ monster cables are one of the biggest scams that the major electronic stores run today...right up there with extended warranties and rebates.
They should be ashamed of them selfs for ripping people off like that.

@OP buy a cheap cable and save your money. I also recommend monoprice from experience. They're cheap and fast.
 
trapilales said:
The truth is the $100+ monster cables are one of the biggest scams that the major electronic stores run today...right up there with extended warranties and rebates.
They should be ashamed of them selfs for ripping people off like that. .
Click to expand...

So very true. The retail markup on those cables is monstrous. Their profit margin on those cables is huge. When the total price of something is like 70% retail markup it's time to maybe consider other options.
 
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