Are HDMI cables reliable at 25ft?

[ralfyboy]

I was entertaining the thought of building an HTPC, but I think I can save some money by just extending my current desktop to the TV in my living room which is about a 25ft straight-shot away.

I recently bought a cheap 25ft HDMI cable from Newegg, but that didn't turn out too well. The cable itself is usable on some TVs, but it doesn't work with the one in my living room. It transfers audio and video on two of the inputs, but a speckled mess of dots appear on parts of the screen. On the 3rd and last input, this doesn't happen, but the image cuts out every 10-12 seconds for a couple seconds.

Are there HDMI cables that are actually reliable at 25ft, or do I have to get two shorter cables and connect them through some type of HDMI receiver? And if the latter is the case, what kind of device would work best?

Edit* Also of note, my graphics card uses a mini-HDMI connection, and I use a mini-to-standard HDMI adapter to connect to any regular HDMI cables.

 

[Procyon12]

You're going to have to go with a High quality cable at that length

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10240&cs_id=1024001&p_id=3990&seq=1&format=2

The one should be fine...if its not than I would recommend hdmi over Ethernet adapters before signal amplifiers

 

[dragonstongue]

what you need is a category 2 HDMI spec v1.4, I can link a wiki article describing this, but basically, HDMI does not specify a max length, however, category 1 category 2 and the spec version all has something to do with this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI#Cables

Cables

Although no maximum length for an HDMI cable is specified, signal attenuation (dependent on the cable's construction quality and conducting materials) limits usable lengths in practice.[65] HDMI 1.3 defines two cable categories: Category 1-certified cables, which have been tested at 74.5 MHz (which would include resolutions such as 720p60 and 1080i60), and Category 2-certified cables, which have been tested at 340 MHz (which would include resolutions such as 1080p60 and 2160p30).[62][66][67] Category 1 HDMI cables are marketed as "Standard" and Category 2 HDMI cables as "High Speed".[1] This labeling guideline for HDMI cables went into effect on October 17, 2008.[68][69] Category 1 and 2 cables can either meet the required parameter specifications for interpair skew, far-end crosstalk, attenuation and differential impedance, or they can meet the required nonequalized/equalized eye diagram requirements.[66] A cable of about 5 meters (16 ft) can be manufactured to Category 1 specifications easily and inexpensively by using 28 AWG (0.081 mm²) conductors.[65] With better quality construction and materials, including 24 AWG (0.205 mm²) conductors, an HDMI cable can reach lengths of up to 15 meters (49 ft).[65] Many HDMI cables under 5 meters of length that were made before the HDMI 1.3 specification can work as Category 2 cables, but only Category 2-tested cables are guaranteed to work.[70]

As of the HDMI 1.4 specification, these are the following cable types defined for HDMI in general:[71][72]
Standard HDMI Cable – up to 1080i and 720p
Standard HDMI Cable with Ethernet
Automotive HDMI Cable
High Speed HDMI Cable – 1080p, 4K, 3D and deep color
High Speed HDMI Cable with Ethernet

An HDMI cable is usually composed of four shielded twisted pairs, with impedance of the order of 100 ohms, plus several separate conductors.

so, basically a category 2(quality) and spec 1.4(most modern spec) as long as it is called "high speed" HDMI cable you should be alright. I have a 25ft HDMI cable I got for my monitors/PS3, my monitors dont like it as they make the image not quite adjustbale like I want, but it works plenty fine for my PS3, I got it at wallmart the writing on the cable itself is high speed HDMI 28awg the end pieces are blue and are gold colored contact parts if that helps, cannot rem brand name, though it was not that $.

 

[valve1138]

I have a 50ft from Monoprice that works fine. So yes.

 

[big poppa pump]

All of the High-speed cables from Monoprice work perfectly. I have a 50 ft cable running from my htpc to my PJ in the theater room without any issues.

 

[qbanb8582]

I think you'll be fine with a 25ft cable. I've seen 50ft runs work without a signal repeater or booster.

 

[dan87]

I have a 50ft from Monoprice that works fine. So yes.

Same here, no issues at all with it.

 

[fibertech]

I bought this cable and it works great

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10240&cs_id=1024002&p_id=4034&seq=1&format=2

 

[ralfyboy]

Thank you so much guys! I'm going to purchase a high speed 25ft cable from monoprice and see how that goes.

I appreciate the feedback!

 

[Dion]

I have a 50ft from Monoprice that works fine. So yes.

Same.. no problems.

 

[lilfiend]

i use 2 25ft cables on my pc and a 50ft on my ps3 and i've not had a single issue with any of em