HDMI cable - worth it or not?

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - HDMI cable - worth it or not? (Page 1 of 3)

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:26:01 PM EDT

Just got a new flatscreen and I've connected it to the HD converter using the component cable.

Problem is, when I use this big ass cable it occupies the RCA jacks that I would normally use as audio outputs to my stereo system.

So, I can either spend $70 on an HDMI cable that will supposedly give me a better picture, or I can buy a couple of inexpensive RCA splitters to get tv audio out of my stereo speakers.

Has anyone "upgraded" to this HDMI cable and is it really a better picture? The picture quality on the HD channels is already great, I don't see how it can really improve.

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:27:08 PM EDT

[#1]

HDMI cables are $4 at monoprice.com and they work fine

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:27:54 PM EDT

[#2]

If you are spending $70 on an HDMI cable you are doing it wrong...I bought 3 six foot pieces last year for $9..and yes if you have a HD feed the picture is waaaayy better

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:28:01 PM EDT

[#3]

As I understand it, a digital signal is a digital signal:

$.70 at Amazon.com

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:28:14 PM EDT

[#4]

Quoted:

Just got a new flatscreen and I've connected it to the HD converter using the component cable.

Problem is, when I use this big ass cable it occupies the RCA jacks that I would normally use as audio outputs to my stereo system.

So, I can either spend $70 on an HDMI cable that will supposedly give me a better picture, or I can buy a couple of inexpensive RCA splitters to get tv audio out of my stereo speakers.

Has anyone "upgraded" to this HDMI cable and is it really a better picture? The picture quality on the HD channels is already great, I don't see how it can really improve.

I would take the digital picture/sound in a heartbeat. Everything that I use is connected to my audio system via HDMI.

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:28:16 PM EDT

[#5]

$4?

The cable guy tried to sell me one made by Monster Cable for $69.99

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:29:10 PM EDT

[#6]

Quoted:
$4?

The cable guy tried to sell me one made by Monster Cable for $69.99

yep, the famous monster cable scam

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:29:12 PM EDT

[#7]

yes, order a cheap one

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:29:15 PM EDT

[#8]

Quoted:
$4?

The cable guy tried to sell me one made by Monster Cable for $69.99

Because he gets bonuses for doing that. Go to monoprice.com and thank us later.

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:29:39 PM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:
$4?

The cable guy tried to sell me one made by Monster Cable for $69.99

My company installs low voltage and AV systems and we have had great luck with monoprice.com cables. They are the real deal for a tiny fraction of the price.

Their TV mounts arent bad either

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:29:52 PM EDT

[#10]

Quoted:
$4?

The cable guy tried to sell me one made by Monster Cable for $69.99

Yup..

Get them from monocable. I got 2 six foot HDMI cables for about 6 dollars last year. Works just as well as a 70 dollar cable.

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:30:15 PM EDT

[#11]

Monoprice.

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:30:34 PM EDT

[#12]

Quoted:
$4?

The cable guy tried to sell me one made by Monster Cable for $69.99

Screw that......its the worst kept secret in the business...the $5 cable you buy on the net is equal to the $70 cable you buy at the chain stores.....search the archives...tons of threads on this

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:30:36 PM EDT

[#13]

I replaced my hdmi monoster cable with a hdmi cable form monoprice. They have a huge selection and sizes that u don't find in the stores. I have order several things form them. They have cheap wall mounts also.

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:30:41 PM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:
As I understand it, a digital signal is a digital signal:

$.70 at Amazon.com

true, BUT you will want a cable with good shielding or you will get interference from other devices

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:30:41 PM EDT

[#15]

Like everyone has said - get the monoprice cables

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:30:54 PM EDT

[#16]

Quoted:

$4?

The cable guy tried to sell me one made by Monster Cable for $69.99

Is a he also a car salesmen?

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:31:02 PM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:

HDMI cables are $4 at monoprice.com and they work fine

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:31:09 PM EDT

[#18]

Quoted:

Quoted:
$4?

The cable guy tried to sell me one made by Monster Cable for $69.99

Yup..

Get them from monocable. I got 2 six foot HDMI cables for about 6 dollars last year. Works just as well as a 70 dollar cable.

same here. Digital either works or it doesn't

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:31:44 PM EDT

[#19]

Checking it out now, thanks for the heads up.

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:32:07 PM EDT

[#20]

Monster cables are a waste of money.

EVERYTHING they sell can be found elsewhere for 10% of the price or less.

I remember before CompUSA went out of business, I was looking for a short Cat5 jumper... 3 foot cable was like $15, a 10 foot cable was $10, I spent $30 on some crimp-on RJ-45's and a 50 foot spool.

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:33:07 PM EDT

[#21]

Quoted:
HDMI cables are $4 at monoprice.com and they work fine

Yup.

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:33:52 PM EDT

[#22]

Quoted:

Quoted:
$4?

The cable guy tried to sell me one made by Monster Cable for $69.99

yep, the famous monster cable scam

Back in the days of analog signals, you COULD measure the difference. Digital....if the signal gets through it gets through.

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:35:14 PM EDT

[#23]

As an aside, Monster Cable is notorious for filing frivolous lawsuits against anyone who dares to use the word "monster" in their product names. Fuck them and the horse they rode in on.

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:36:14 PM EDT

[#24]

Quoted:

Quoted:
As I understand it, a digital signal is a digital signal:

$.70 at Amazon.com

true, BUT you will want a cable with good shielding or you will get interference from other devices

Wrong. This is the kind of BS Noel Lee wants you to believe.

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:36:32 PM EDT

[#25]

21st Home / Contact Us /Archives

Nordost Valhalla
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Time to
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Francis Vale

What
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Posted: 7/27/2009 12:37:32 PM EDT

[#26]

Make sure your HDMI cable meets the v1.3 specification (a, b, or c doesn't matter.) But you must have 1.3 for 1080p source programming. It's a bandwidth issue.

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:37:46 PM EDT

[#27]

as stated by others - monoprice for all my cabling needs unless i make my own, which i hardly do anymore because monoprice is so cheap and they work so well. even if you read on audiophile sites you will see they use monoprice too.

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:37:50 PM EDT

[#28]

WalMart is your friend. You can get a nice cable for $25 or so. Or you can order online and get a decent one for $5 plus shipping.

If I was going to have one longer than 25ft, I would spend a lot to get one with GOOD shielding. Get the Monster Cable version for long installs.

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:38:15 PM EDT

[#29]

If your component cables are occupying your RCA jacks, something sounds wrong.

If they don't leave enough space for your RCA audio connects, then I understand (this can be worked out using cables with angled terminals sometimes).

But you should have all three component (blue, green, red) in the three component holes and then there should be analog RCA jacks available for your audio input. (The component cables don't carry audio - only video).

Or just run some RCAs from the back of the HD convertor to your stereo. The HD convertor should have some analog audio outs too.

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:38:24 PM EDT

[#30]

Quoted:

Quoted:
As I understand it, a digital signal is a digital signal:

$.70 at Amazon.com

true, BUT you will want a cable with good shielding or you will get interference from other devices

Wrong. This is the kind of BS Noel Lee wants you to believe.

whatver dude, shielding and interference are real things. The $4 cables do work fine, but i dont know about the .70 cents version as the cable looks thin

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:41:03 PM EDT

[#31]

Quoted:

If your component cables are occupying your RCA jacks, something sounds wrong.

If they don't leave enough space for your RCA audio connects, then I understand (this can be worked out using angle connector wires sometimes).

But you should have all three component (blue, green, red) in the three component holes and then there should be analog RCA jacks available for your stereo.

Or just run some RCAs from the back of the HD convertor to your stereo. The HD convertor should have some analog audio outs too.

This. I can't think of any reason why you'd ever plug a video cable into an audio connector. Unless the instructions are just completely forked.

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:41:15 PM EDT

[#32]

I wouldn't go as cheap as $4 for an HDMI cable, but the one I paid $25 for works great. I bought one of the cheaper ones and it broke after a couple of months.

Depending on your receiver, the HDMI cable can run both audio and video. If your receiver has HDMI pass through, one cable is all you need. Mine is not HDMI-pass through, but I hooked up my audio with the optical wires.

Even compared to component, the HDMI should produce a visual difference on the HD channels coming out of your cable box.

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:42:06 PM EDT

[#33]

Quoted:
Monster cables are a waste of money.

EVERYTHING they sell can be found elsewhere for 10% of the price or less.
I remember before CompUSA went out of business, I was looking for a short Cat5 jumper... 3 foot cable was like $15, a 10 foot cable was $10, I spent $30 on some crimp-on RJ-45's and a 50 foot spool.

Ahh that was belkins fault mostly. The monster cable of the computer world. Belkin is worse because not only is everything they make overpriced (unless you get a really big rebate or something on it), everything they sell is inferior. Not only were network cables way overpriced so were the parallel port cables for printers. They must have scammed millions of people with those cables.

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:43:45 PM EDT

[#34]

Quoted:

Quoted:
As I understand it, a digital signal is a digital signal:

$.70 at Amazon.com

true, BUT you will want a cable with good shielding or you will get interference from other devices

Wrong. This is the kind of BS Noel Lee wants you to believe.

whatver dude, shielding and interference are real things. The $4 cables do work fine, but i dont know about the .70 cents version as the cable looks thin

Learn the difference between analog and digital signals, DUDE.

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:45:07 PM EDT

[#35]

That's the weird thing, I don't have any "extra" audio jacks on the tv.

When the component cable is plugged in, the white and red audio jacks are used and there are no audio outputs on the back of the converter.

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:45:34 PM EDT

[#36]

I have two of the $4 amazon ones that are about 6 months old now and are starting to tweak out. Signal will cut out sometimes.

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:48:06 PM EDT

[#37]

Quoted:

I wouldn't go as cheap as $4 for an HDMI cable, but the one I paid $25 for works great. I bought one of the cheaper ones and it broke after a couple of months.

Depending on your receiver, the HDMI cable can run both audio and video. If your receiver has HDMI pass through, one cable is all you need. Mine is not HDMI-pass through, but I hooked up my audio with the optical wires.

Even compared to component, the HDMI should produce a visual difference on the HD channels coming out of your cable box.

Lmfao, $25.

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:48:29 PM EDT

[#38]

Monoprice.com, and as others have said you will thank us later.

Monster Cable indeed.

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:48:47 PM EDT

[#39]

Quoted:

I have two of the $4 amazon ones that are about 6 months old now and are starting to tweak out. Signal will cut out sometimes.

Shoulda bought monoprice/meritline cables. Almost 2 years on them, including 2 moves and not a single problem whatsoever.

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:50:04 PM EDT

[#40]

Quoted:
That's the weird thing, I don't have any "extra" audio jacks on the tv.

When the component cable is plugged in, the white and red audio jacks are used and there are no audio outputs on the back of the converter.

Are you sure the TV has component inputs? Component input terminals will be blue, green and red (and these only carry video signal).

Composite terminals are yellow (video), white (left audio) and red (right audio).

Sounds like you might have component wires hooked into the composite input jacks. Or you might have composite wires, which aren't HD and only carry standard def.

Sounds like you might have no choice but to use an HDMI with that TV of you want to see HD.

But as far as pic quality with component vs. HDMI, the rule of thumb I've seen is to try both and go with the one that gives you the best picture, since it seems to vary among set-ups.

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:50:40 PM EDT

[#41]

July 13, 2008
World's most expensive AV cable

Hjiii

Pictured above, it's made by Nordost.

From the website:

Whitelight Glass Fiber Optic Cable

Designed for the discerning customer who requires the highest level of signal transfer performance from this medium.

Developed by Nordost, this cable provides outstanding results when utilized in high-end 2-channel audio or multi-channel home theater systems.

Whitelight glass cable uses an extremely high grade of glass fiber conductor which has very highly polished surfaces to ensure an optimum signal path for digital data streams.

The 3 layers of very low loss insulation as well as an internal damping mechanism are designed to preserve the integrity of the digital signal.

Each cable is terminated with high quality composite Toslink connectors whose precision polished lenses ensure absolute signal integrity at the point of connection.

This cable is the ideal choice where the highest quality optical link is prerequisite.

....................

$32,825 (£16,500; €20,630) a pair.

[via Jonathan Margolis's "Technopolis" column in the July 12, 2008 Financial Times "How To Spend It" magazine]

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:52:56 PM EDT

[#42]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Monster cables are a waste of money.

EVERYTHING they sell can be found elsewhere for 10% of the price or less.
I remember before CompUSA went out of business, I was looking for a short Cat5 jumper... 3 foot cable was like $15, a 10 foot cable was $10, I spent $30 on some crimp-on RJ-45's and a 50 foot spool.

Ahh that was belkins fault mostly. The monster cable of the computer world. Belkin is worse because not only is everything they make overpriced (unless you get a really big rebate or something on it), everything they sell is inferior. Not only were network cables way overpriced so were the parallel port cables for printers. They must have scammed millions of people with those cables.

Holy crap, I thought I was the only one who felt that way.

Belkin was shit, and compusa WAY overpriced that shit. I laughed when they went out of business.

And the Canadian Broadcast company did some real research on hdmi cables.

The $4 ones did EXACTLY the same thing as the $150 monster cables, but for less money out of your pocket.

They had actual engineers doing the testing, right there from start to finish.

DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON ANY HDMI cable over $20

I bought 10 of them from Freys at $4 apiece. 10 foot cables

TXL

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:53:55 PM EDT

[#43]

Quoted:
HDMI cables are $4 at monoprice.com and they work fine

+1. That's were I got mine!

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:53:56 PM EDT

[#44]

I have a monoprice hdmi from my notebook to my LCD. It works great

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:54:26 PM EDT

[#45]

Quoted:

July 13, 2008

World's most expensive AV cable

Hjiii

http://bookofjoe.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/07/12/hjiii.jpg

Pictured above, it's made by Nordost.

From the website:

Whitelight Glass Fiber Optic Cable

Designed for the discerning customer who requires the highest level of signal transfer performance from this medium.

Developed by Nordost, this cable provides outstanding results when utilized in high-end 2-channel audio or multi-channel home theater systems.

Whitelight glass cable uses an extremely high grade of glass fiber conductor which has very highly polished surfaces to ensure an optimum signal path for digital data streams.

The 3 layers of very low loss insulation as well as an internal damping mechanism are designed to preserve the integrity of the digital signal.

Each cable is terminated with high quality composite Toslink connectors whose precision polished lenses ensure absolute signal integrity at the point of connection.

This cable is the ideal choice where the highest quality optical link is prerequisite.

....................

$32,825 (£16,500; €20,630) a pair.

[via Jonathan Margolis's "Technopolis" column in the July 12, 2008 Financial Times "How To Spend It" magazine]

They should tattoo a big red "STOOPID" into the forehead of anyone who buys something like this. Tell them it means they are special.

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:55:31 PM EDT

[#46]

I bought two of the generic, cheap HDMI cables from walmart, and both of them broke. One while i was initially plugging it in, and one while I was moving my TV and entertainment center around to paint etc.

the one 50 dollar cable I have has been perfect, been through hell and no problems at all.

For me, it's worth the extra money.

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:56:34 PM EDT

[#47]

Quoted:

This. I can't think of any reason why you'd ever plug a video cable into an audio connector. Unless the instructions are just completely forked.

I can. Video RG6 coax makes great subwoofer cables.

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:57:51 PM EDT

[#48]

Quoted:
HDMI cables are $4 at monoprice.com and they work fine

This

Posted: 7/27/2009 12:58:25 PM EDT

[#49]

Quoted:

Quoted:
$4?

The cable guy tried to sell me one made by Monster Cable for $69.99

yep, the famous monster cable scam

How can you bash monster!!!?? don't you know the are the most awesome cable maker ever, you can smell the pure sound and your eyes will burn out from the crispness of the picture, they are doing us mere citizens a favor selling them so cheap.

Posted: 7/27/2009 1:00:30 PM EDT

[#50]

I run the Philips HDMI cables from Wally World and they work great. I think they were about $20 a pop, maybe a little less.

Fuck Monster right in the ear.