[Kevinlad]

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...HDMI+CABLE.htm

[grumsta]

Nope, HDMI cables either work or they don't. If you see a picture it's fine, if you don't then take it back.

Gadget Show did a report on this, there's no difference between a cheap cable or an expensive cable. It's a digital signal, just like a printer or USB cable.

[Rapid 17]

Quote:

Originally Posted by grumsta

Nope, HDMI cables either work or they don't. If you see a picture it's fine, if you don't then take it back.

Gadget Show did a report on this, there's no difference between a cheap cable or an expensive cable. It's a digital signal, just like a printer or USB cable.

I agree.

[chrisjr]

On a cable that short it would have to be seriously poorly made to show very much effect. Over longer distances however the cable quality can come into play.

Any cable will distort the signal pasing through it to some degree. The longer the bit of wire the greater the distortion that can creep in. In a digital system the error correction can absorb some of this distortion and re-create the data stream pretty much perfectly. Up to a point.

Eventually though the distortion of the signal will get to a point where the error correction gives up and you then get picture and sound break up. But assuming two cables are equally well made and use suitable materials for the job then the results should be identical.

After all if anybody can prove to me how this sequence...

1011000111000011000000111

produces deeper blacks and more vibrant colours than this sequence

1011000111000011000000111

just because the first was produced using a cable hand built over several months by highly skilled craftsmen and cost £1,000,000 and the second was produced in about ten seconds by a robot in some huge chinese factory for ten pence then I will hand over a jackpot winning lottery ticket

[Partyanimal]

On a slightly different note, is it possible to get HDMI cables which are not "fully wired", like you can with some SCART leads which don't have all the pins connected up? I sometimes wonder if this might account for price differences.

[njguy]

its just a load of 0s and 1s it doesnt matter what cable it is or the price, its a con.

[Russ_WWFC]

Cheaper still on eBay, it makes no difference whether you spend £5 or £50

[JohnD2000]

The last one I bought was £2.99. It works every bit (geddit?) as well as my £50 QED cable.

[LCDMAN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Partyanimal

On a slightly different note, is it possible to get HDMI cables which are not "fully wired", like you can with some SCART leads which don't have all the pins connected up? I sometimes wonder if this might account for price differences.

No.

SCART is an abomination invented by our French cousins and is a compromise in every sense of the word, a true "jack of all trades".

[strumstrum]

on the flipside though a friend got one free in a PS3 bundle and it produced lines on the screen, turned out the cable wasnt shielded enough from outside interferrence so not entirely the cables fault, but I would expect cables nowadays to be fully shielded from interference..

I use these, mainly cos I like nylon outer casing cables..

http://www.play.com/Electronics/Elec...e/Product.html

also with the Argos one isnt 1.3 standard which if you are on the market right now for a cable you may aswell get one that is.

also let it be noted that I do agree that expensive cables are not needed nor make it better.

[bobcar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LCDMAN

No.

SCART is an abomination invented by our French cousins and is a compromise in every sense of the word, a true "jack of all trades".

Yes but HDMI is not without it's quirks like having separate clock lines.

[TallDave]

Quote:

Originally Posted by strumstrum

on the flipside though a friend got one free in a PS3 bundle and it produced lines on the screen, turned out the cable wasnt shielded enough from outside interferrence so not entirely the cables fault, but I would expect cables nowadays to be fully shielded from interference..

I use these, mainly cos I like nylon outer casing cables..

http://www.play.com/Electronics/Elec...e/Product.html

also with the Argos one isnt 1.3 standard which if you are on the market right now for a cable you may aswell get one that is.

also let it be noted that I do agree that expensive cables are not needed nor make it better.

There's no such thing as an HDMI 1.3 cable. There are two categories of cable: standard and high speed. However, just because a cable hasn't been compliance tested for high-speed applications, it doesn't mean to say it will not work at high speed.

[bwoodhouse]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TallDave

There's no such thing as an HDMI 1.3 cable. There are two categories of cable: standard and high speed. However, just because a cable hasn't been compliance tested for high-speed applications, it doesn't mean to say it will not work at high speed.

really? I thought the HDMI 1.3 standard was related (at least in part) to the version of HDCP that the cable could or couldn't support, in other words, getting a cable that doesn't support HDMI 1.3 could eventually lead to an inability to play back copy-proteced Blu-Ray discs.

[liamhere]

i saw hdmi leads in home bargains for £1.99

[gbshahaq]

I can beat that:

51p

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fisual-Insta...1369328&sr=8-5

shipping is about 8 quid though!!!

[Trollslayer]

No, at that length it'll be fine.

[Trollslayer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bwoodhouse

really? I thought the HDMI 1.3 standard was related (at least in part) to the version of HDCP that the cable could or couldn't support, in other words, getting a cable that doesn't support HDMI 1.3 could eventually lead to an inability to play back copy-proteced Blu-Ray discs.

The connections required for 1.3 were in the first specs, it is the commands and audio standards that are additional puls higher data rates for 1080p.

[It's only me]

I'm an Electronic engineer and i thought like most people here the difference between a cheapy and a pricy wouldn't be any different as its just a digital signal!
I've only got a cheapy going to my 40"1080P sony bravia tv(from a ps3) and it looks great,so with that in mind i grabbed by dads £100 cable from down stairs and connected up
The result was shocking and totaly surprising
The £100 cable gave a far better,deeper picture than the cheapy
Im shocked,maybe its because the pricy is much more screened would be my guess but as many and i have already stated,its just a 1 or a 0 digital signal and in theory shouldn't make a difference but it ruddy well does

[TallDave]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bwoodhouse

really? I thought the HDMI 1.3 standard was related (at least in part) to the version of HDCP that the cable could or couldn't support, in other words, getting a cable that doesn't support HDMI 1.3 could eventually lead to an inability to play back copy-proteced Blu-Ray discs.

Curious thought, but wrong - interesting to know where you were misled. It's impossible to make an HDMI cable that will not allow HDCP to operate.

There's no such thing as a 1.3 cable - all that happened in version 1.3 was that two classes of cable were defined: standard and high speed. As long as you're not using a video format that requires a high speed cable, a standard cable can support 1.3 features, such as Deep Colour.