Posted: 3/29/2009 10:30:21 AM EDT
| new flat screen.. Will the HDMI cable I have carry both video and audio or do I need a seperate audio cable? |
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All posters above me are correct. And remember that since HDMI is a digital signal, the "quality" of the cable does NOT matter. You don't need gold plated plug-ins and super thick wire. The cheapest HDMI cable you find will work just as well as the expensive ones. Stores mark up cables a ridiculous amount. |
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The only reason to use any other connections would be if the following is of concern (won't to most regular users) DVI and HDMI were adopted and approved for HDTV connections because of HDCP (High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection) compliance, which provides copyright protection |
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HDMI audio output is disabled on my cable box. Like everybody said, though, HDMI can and usually does carry both audio and video. That's strange...why is audio disabled on your cable box? I run the optical feed to my Home Theatre but if I wanted to turn up the t.v. volume it's still there. |
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That's strange...why is audio disabled on your cable box? I run the optical feed to my Home Theatre but if I wanted to turn up the t.v. volume it's still there. No clue... I spent an hour reading manuals, flipping through menus, etc. I was convinced I was missing something. Finally I called their customer support and they said no dice on HDMI audio. For whatever reason they decided to disable that function. Just another way to twist the knife a bit more. |
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That's strange...why is audio disabled on your cable box? I run the optical feed to my Home Theatre but if I wanted to turn up the t.v. volume it's still there. No clue... I spent an hour reading manuals, flipping through menus, etc. I was convinced I was missing something. Finally I called their customer support and they said no dice on HDMI audio. For whatever reason they decided to disable that function. Just another way to twist the knife a bit more. Hmmm.....I thought about it a bit and perhaps it's to easily keep you from copying premium services. You could run the HDMI cable to a DVD recorder (or other system) and make your own copies of movies etc. That is the only reason I could think of for disabiling it. Most optical audio ports are output only so you couldn't get 5.1 or greater audio. |
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That's strange...why is audio disabled on your cable box? I run the optical feed to my Home Theatre but if I wanted to turn up the t.v. volume it's still there. No clue... I spent an hour reading manuals, flipping through menus, etc. I was convinced I was missing something. Finally I called their customer support and they said no dice on HDMI audio. For whatever reason they decided to disable that function. Just another way to twist the knife a bit more. Hmmm.....I thought about it a bit and perhaps it's to easily keep you from copying premium services. You could run the HDMI cable to a DVD recorder (or other system) and make your own copies of movies etc. That is the only reason I could think of for disabiling it. Most optical audio ports are output only so you couldn't get 5.1 or greater audio. I do not know the logic but that is not the reason, stopping you from copying content is the whole reason for HDMI with High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP). |
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Originally Posted By ––bullseye––: And remember that since HDMI is a digital signal, the "quality" of the cable does NOT matter. You don't need gold plated plug-ins and super thick wire. The cheapest HDMI cable you find will work just as well as the expensive ones. [Nitpick] If he had a ridiculously long run, say 100 meters, then the cable quality would probably matter. However most setup don't have a run longer than 2 meters, so the cable quality will not matter for all practical purposes. [/Nitpick] |
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Originally Posted By ––bullseye––:
And remember that since HDMI is a digital signal, the "quality" of the cable does NOT matter. You don't need gold plated plug-ins and super thick wire. The cheapest HDMI cable you find will work just as well as the expensive ones. [Nitpick] If he had a ridiculously long run, say 100 meters, then the cable quality would probably matter. However most setup don't have a run longer than 2 meters, so the cable quality will not matter for all practical purposes. [/Nitpick] Not a nitpick... When you get around 20 feet and up then cable quality plays a huge part in what signal you can carry (1080i vs 1080p). |
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Quoted: Quoted: Originally Posted By ––bullseye––: And remember that since HDMI is a digital signal, the "quality" of the cable does NOT matter. You don't need gold plated plug-ins and super thick wire. The cheapest HDMI cable you find will work just as well as the expensive ones. [Nitpick] If he had a ridiculously long run, say 100 meters, then the cable quality would probably matter. However most setup don't have a run longer than 2 meters, so the cable quality will not matter for all practical purposes. [/Nitpick] Not a nitpick... When you get around 20 feet and up then cable quality plays a huge part in what signal you can carry (1080i vs 1080p). Remember boys and girls, either analog or digital, attenuation matters.  (I think the proper term is attenuation)This is off-topic.  |
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That's strange...why is audio disabled on your cable box? I run the optical feed to my Home Theatre but if I wanted to turn up the t.v. volume it's still there. No clue... I spent an hour reading manuals, flipping through menus, etc. I was convinced I was missing something. Finally I called their customer support and they said no dice on HDMI audio. For whatever reason they decided to disable that function. Just another way to twist the knife a bit more. Hmmm.....I thought about it a bit and perhaps it's to easily keep you from copying premium services. You could run the HDMI cable to a DVD recorder (or other system) and make your own copies of movies etc. That is the only reason I could think of for disabiling it. Most optical audio ports are output only so you couldn't get 5.1 or greater audio. I do not know the logic but that is not the reason, stopping you from copying content is the whole reason for HDMI with High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP). Yes, I realize that, but there is a difference between HAVING the HDCP available and the cable company actually having the capibility to comply. In other words if their infrastructure can't support compliance then this may be a "stop gap" until they can. I think Direct TV can now do it, but they had to take steps to do so. "Dish Network is getting ready to support HDCP in the future and over the past week has started instructing installers to hook up their HD receivers to the customers HDMI port on their HDTV." ETA: I was trying to expain my logic, but as I stated, if anyone can offer ANY reason the cable boxes would disable the audio I'm open to hearing them. It makes no sense so let's hear 'em! |
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What AWG is recommended for hooking up a PS3? How does the HDMI stop you from copying stuff? The fact VCRs don't have HDMI inputs? Well it's best to google HDCP to get the facts about it. No, I don't know of a stand alone VCR that has HDMI. There are combo units so you can copy VCR to DVD though. Some machines offer the HDMI port for an input (Panasonic VIERA for example) but mainly HDMI is used as an output. |
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What AWG is recommended for hooking up a PS3? How does the HDMI stop you from copying stuff? The fact VCRs don't have HDMI inputs? Simply put the copy protection is built in to the signal and hardware. If the content you want to play has HDCP enabled (TV, Blu-Ray, etc.) if you plug the HDMI cable in to a non HDCP compliant device the content will not playback. |
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What AWG is recommended for hooking up a PS3? How does the HDMI stop you from copying stuff? The fact VCRs don't have HDMI inputs? Simply put the copy protection is built in to the signal and hardware. If the content you want to play has HDCP enabled (TV, Blu-Ray, etc.) if you plug the HDMI cable in to a non HDCP compliant device the content will not playback. There is actually a handshake process between the HDCP display and HDCP source equipment. It has gotten more reliable over the years but handshake drops do still happen (resulting in loss of picture). Major PITA and one of the reasons why we try really hard to stay away from HDMI based video distribution systems. And also, the worst cable design since S-video. Non retention, non field terminate able with an easily damaged/fouled connection point. |