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Darren Cotter
14-05-2014, 06:29
Hi All

I was on this forum last night: http://www.avforums.com/forums/hdmi-cables-switches.381/

There are lots of thread where they seem to think spending more than £10 on a HDMI cables not worth it, as they are only transmitting 0's and 1's. Therefor they argue, they either work or they don't, and as long as they work, have no influence on they picture or sound quality.

I can kind of see their logic, but what do you guys think? I have Mark Grant HDMI, mains and speaker cables and am more than happy with them even if they did cost a little more than £10!

Regards

Darren

StanleyB
14-05-2014, 06:42
What you pay for a cable has nothing to do with the quality of construction. No cable advert that I know of has ever claimed that their more expensive cable is far better and robust, and far more reliable, than the cheaper ones from the same manufacturer or supplier.

With HDMI cables, the most important parts are the connectors. The individual contacts are partly embedded in individual plastic grooves. The durability and strength of that plastic will determine how many times you can plug and unplug that cable.

Ali Tait
14-05-2014, 06:49
Mark's are excellent cables, no need to spend more IMHO.

StanleyB
14-05-2014, 06:55
By the way I designed a far more reliable HDMI connector many years ago. It was supposed to have been part of the THOR range, but my old employers sold it under the Labgear brand after I left them. You can see one of those cables at http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LABGEAR-19-PIN-24CT-GOLD-PLATED-3M-FLAT-HDMI-LEAD-ETHERNET-/271469329556?pt=UK_Computing_Sound_Vision_Video_Ca bles_Adapters&hash=item3f34d53c94

Darren Cotter
14-05-2014, 07:41
By the way I designed a far more reliable HDMI connector many years ago. It was supposed to have been part of the THOR range, but my old employers sold it under the Labgear brand after I left them. You can see one of those cables at http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LABGEAR-19-PIN-24CT-GOLD-PLATED-3M-FLAT-HDMI-LEAD-ETHERNET-/271469329556?pt=UK_Computing_Sound_Vision_Video_Ca bles_Adapters&hash=item3f34d53c94

Hi Stan

Do you know if they used your design for this cable? http://www.labgear.co.uk/category/hdmi/hdmi-cables/high-speed-hdmi-with-ethernet-connection/1004/1027/64/

I'm after a cheapish 10m HDMI to connect a laptop to my 5.1 amp.

Regards

Darren

MikeMusic
14-05-2014, 07:47
The same is said for other interconnects and mains cables.

I was an unbeliever until I tried one, cheap as I could on Ebay as I assumed it wouldn't work.

I've traded up both mains and interconnects now and when I need HDMI I shall look around

StanleyB
14-05-2014, 08:11
Hi Stan

Do you know if they used your design for this cable? http://www.labgear.co.uk/category/hdmi/hdmi-cables/high-speed-hdmi-with-ethernet-connection/1004/1027/64/

Yes they are. I did three cover designs, which they still use. The covers are made from an alloy for strength and are very heavy for their size because of it.

wiicrackpot
15-05-2014, 05:27
By the way I designed a far more reliable HDMI connector many years ago. It was supposed to have been part of the THOR range, but my old employers sold it under the Labgear brand after I left them. You can see one of those cables at http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LABGEAR-19-PIN-24CT-GOLD-PLATED-3M-FLAT-HDMI-LEAD-ETHERNET-/271469329556?pt=UK_Computing_Sound_Vision_Video_Ca bles_Adapters&hash=item3f34d53c94
Thanks Stan, i asked that over on the scart lead thread, now sorted. :cool:

The Barbarian
15-05-2014, 13:27
No way on earth would i buy a specialist HDMI or USB cable.

twickers
15-05-2014, 15:16
No way on earth would i buy a specialist HDMI or USB cable.

Me neither.

Floyddroid
30-11-2014, 16:13
I have a very expensive Chord Company HDMI cable and it is no different to the 3 metre cheapo i bought off the net.

soundsheavenly
07-06-2017, 19:18
Hi everyone,

I'm new to Art of Sound, so I hope you don't mind me joining the discussion?

My view on digital cables has always been that the technical specification is the key. For HDMI, this is wrapped up quite neatly by the HDMI version number (eg. 1.4, 2.0, etc) which should establish that the cable meets specific criteria for data throughput. For lower data requirements (eg. digital stereo audio over a co-axial S/PDIF cable), you are unlikely to ever encounter any problems. However, as TV resolutions and colour depths are increasing every year (we are now up to 4160p or "4k" pictures in many homes), the data that the HDMI cables have to pass also increases massively. Lower-specification (not always lower priced!) cables will then start to reach their limits, giving data losses that often show as "speckles" on the screen.

I would concur that HDMI cables shouldn't have to be expensive, however I do think that the quality (ie. data bandwidth) is critically important. I don't have any displays above 1080p at home, so I use fairly low cost HDMI 2.0 cables with no problems at all. For longer cable runs (ie. over 10m) it can be worth considering an "active" cable (ie. one with a small signal booster built in) to avoid data loss.

For background, I'm an Electronics graduate who runs a bespoke cabling business, so I will admit to not being completely impartial on this issue! #runningforcover :)

I would be interested to hear what you think!

Kind regards, Steve.

Yomanze
08-06-2017, 09:14
I'm with you in that the specs rule for these types of cables, so there is little benefit in getting an 'expensive videophile' cable when you can instead ensure that you are getting a properly specified one. Could be worth looking into: http://www.hdmi.org/manufacturer/premiumcable/faq.aspx

09mike69
11-07-2017, 20:57
its been said that there are only 2 types of HDMI cable, "standard" and "high speed" and that the rest ie 4k and versions 1.1, 1.2 etc are just marketing bunkum to charge more. its also said that "high speed" cables can handle 4k res.

Gazjam
01-12-2018, 13:10
Hate to differ here, but I'll go for it.

Tried numerous HDMI cables of varying quality (and expense) to find the right one for my setup.
Found noticeable, repeatable and obvious differences between a lot of them.

Some are better than others, some a lot better.

Like everything in this game, its all about the context of your system.
And price doesn’t always determine how good something is.

antonio
01-12-2018, 15:32
I would be nice to know which one was the best in your system.

Sorry have seen you have given some details on a different thread.

Gazjam
03-12-2018, 21:08
I would be nice to know which one was the best in your system.

Sorry have seen you have given some details on a different thread.

Hope it was helpful David!

Sherwood
03-12-2018, 21:43
There is no direct correlation between price and performance with HDMI and it is possible to buy a very well made cable for not very much. For longer runs and 4k it is worth seeking out a Redmere cable as this technology does make a difference.

I bought a whole bunch of very affordable HDMI cables on a recent visit to the USA. I tried them all with my recently upgraded 4k smart tvs, and there were no real differences between the different cables. One positive note is that the newer Redmere cables are much thinner and more flexible than my older cables.

Geoff