HDMI cables, 4K, and frustration

[silent-circuit]

I'm lead to believe that some of the issues I'm having with my current display, a 43" Sony X830C 4K TV, may be due to bad HDMI cables. I only have 2 cables to try, both of which are off-brand (I think one is a Monoprice, an older one, and one is a "Dreamgear" or something).

I'm willing to try a different cable, but I'd prefer something I can just go grab at a local store -- Walmart, Best Buy, etc. I'm also not looking to spend like $50 on a stupid cable.

I looked around on monoprice.com and found it interesting that they advertise their cheaper cables are only good to like 10Gbps and for 1080P when I've read several places they should be fine for 4K@60Hz. I realize this is probably just Monoprice trying to get people to buy more expensive cables, but it flies in the face of my "all HDMI cables are the same" understanding.

Halp.

 

[Beazalbob]

All HDMI cables were the same in the 1080p days back before 4k. 4k has 4x as many pixels as 720p and that is starting to reach the limits of the HDMI interface.

That's why display port is starting to become more widely used.

 

[silent-circuit]

All HDMI cables were the same in the 1080p days back before 4k. 4k has 4x as many pixels as 720p and that is starting to reach the limits of the HDMI interface.

That's why display port is starting to become more widely used.

It's copper wire. It either carries the signal or it doesn't. The only way I can see that these things would vary would be in the amount of shielding. Given it's at much higher frequency for 4K, I could see poorly insulated cables that allow a lot of cross-talk causing an issue, but beyond that it's still very much all the same.

 

[[21CW]killerofall]

Is your picture breaking up in blocks on the screen or no picture at all (see examples below)?

Yes = try a different cable

No = not a cable issue

It is really just that simple.

 

[chenw]

All HDMI cables were the same in the 1080p days back before 4k. 4k has 4x as many pixels as 720p and that is starting to reach the limits of the HDMI interface.

That's why display port is starting to become more widely used.

You mean 4k has 4x the number of 1080p.

4k has 9x the number of pixels of a 720p.

 

[silent-circuit]

No, no blocks, and I get picture just fine normally. Pretty sure it's an issue with the set, more specifically the firmware on the set, but considering several people in another thread were pretty adamant they'd seen restarts caused by "bad cables" I figured asking what a known good, reasonably priced cable would be.

 

[Nenu]

Is your picture breaking up in blocks on the screen or no picture at all (see examples below)?

Yes = try a different cable

No = not a cable issue

It is really just that simple.

Not if the resolution mode does not become available or it lowers the colour to 4:2:2 / 4:2:0.
Then it will appear to work but wont look as good.

 

[silent-circuit]

Not if the resolution mode does not become available or it lowers the colour to 4:2:2 / 4:2:0.
Then it will appear to work but wont look as good.

Not having that issue either; I can go in to Nvidia control panel and force 4:2:2/4:2:0 and I get nasty shadowing/smudging around text on the desktop and web pages. If I set it to RGB or CMYK 4:4:4 no shadowing/smudging.

4K on desktop and in game works correctly, and the TV's OSD reports 3840x2160p. I can force 30Hz and 60Hz and can tell a substantial difference in responsiveness between the two, so that's working as well.

It just crashes sometimes, for no apparent reason (could be reading a thread, could be gaming, doesn't seem to matter). Most often it crashes when initially choosing an input just after coming back from "sleep" or initial startup. Seems it's just bad firmware, not the cable.

I've made up my mind -- while I really, really want to like it -- I've always loved Sony for their design and high build quality -- I can't justify keeping it with the crashing issues and mediocre black levels. It goes back today.