Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions HDMI cables

Several years ago I researched speakers and A/V receivers til my wife was ready to strangle me. I've been very happy with my M-80's and Denon receiver. I just purchased a large LCD TV and was planning on getting a new DVD player. Are HDMI cables everything they are cracked up to be? I've read some people have concerns if the length of the cable used is long. Should I stick with conventional cables? Does your company plan on making your own HDMI cables? I know you started making your own speaker cables right after I had set up my new system.

I have bought numerous HDMI cables from Mononprice.com. Never had a problem ... Some different devices by diffeernt manufacturers sometimes have handoff issues with the hdcp. If your equipment is capeable of acepting and sending of HDMI signals.. (both sound and video)your good to go.. But some hdmi devices only send/recieve the video and not the audio signal.. Check your manuals to see if this is the case with any of your equipment.. How long of a cable run do you want do??

AvDude

I 2nd the recommendation of monoprice.

This is also interesting reading. I agree w/ it for the most part. Heck HDMI is digital and most of us aren't watching eye patterns on our displays...

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/feature/the-t...ally-268788.php

ditto on monoprice, purchased both 25ft DVI/HDMI and Component for my Sanyo projector.

Cobalt Cables sent me an Email saying that they had HDMI cables on sale so you might want to check them out. I used them for speaker cables and I am impressed with quality of the cables.

again,

I used monoprice as well.

They are just too cheap.

I was skeptical about MonoPrice cables, and then decided to give them a try. I’m no cable guru, but the ones I bought look very well made. They look/feel every bit as good, if not better than anything I’ve bought from Radio Shack (including their Monster and Gold Series stuff). I bought a bunch of their deluxe coax and 22 ga HDMI 3’ cables to re-do my rack.

I would suggest that when buying HDMI cables that you will not want to pull out and replace later, get the best available that will carry the highest bandwidth. When HDMI 1.3 audio / video data starts traveling in your set up, the last thing you will want to do is pull in new cables. I do not think 28 gauge will carry the new bandwidths. 22 gauge should, but I’m not certain. I haven’t found any good articles telling us what to expect that don’t wander into the typical anti HDMI rhetoric that quickly looses my attention.

That begs the question, when I upgrade my receiver this fall to one with HDMI 1.3, and then buy a Blu-ray player also with HDMI 1.3, will I need to upgrade my current HDMI cables to get the full signal?

I've been buying all my A/V cables from www.bluejeanscable.com.

According to this, apparently not since cable attenuation is compensated...but then there's the cryptic note at the end so I'm not sure.

Audioholics: Did any cabling or tolerance parameters change for the specification?

HDMI 1.3 increased the single-link bandwidth from 165MHz (or 4.95 gigabits/second) to 340MHz (or 10.2 gigabits/second). This was accomplished through the addition of receiver cable equalization, which is technology present in the HDMI receiver chip (in the display) that compensates for the signal deterioration caused by cables. In addition, source pre-emphasis (which emphasizes bit transitions) and source termination (which minimizes noise generation by the connectors) are now permitted for higher speed devices.

Editor's Note: If you thought the HDMI cable market was expensive, and frankly unreliable in passing 1080p without Deep Color over distances longer than 30 feet, we can't wait to see the mess that arises out of this new format. Thought that cable you sealed up in your home theater wall or ceiling was sufficient? Guess again. Cable EQ boxes will help, but the industry is somewhat reeling in shock at present over a new format with some features that, frankly, no one really asked for.

Boy, this will be fun. I can smell the snake oil now as companies start offering HDMI 1.3 rated cables, or claim that their cables can already pass the signal. Will it be the $150.00 3 foot Monster Cable, or the $25.00 Beldon one? Ones says it's HDMI 1.3 rated, the other says it'll pass 1080p, plus DD True Awesome HD Sound with pink frilly edges, deep colour and diet Pepsi. Which will I choose?

Can they try a little harder to confuse the consumer?

I agree. I was thinking the same thing when I posted my response above .

I contacted Blue Jeans Cable via e-mail about the HDMI cables I purchased from them earlier this year. I've always found their cables no-nonsense and affordable. This was the response...

"We are in the process right now of getting our own HDMI cable (Belden cable) certified through the HDMI organization to include 1.3 certification. However, the cables we have now in stock (the ones you purchased) are all capable of supporting the new 1.3 spec. HDMI 1.3 really has nothing to do with the cable construction, but rather, how the digital information is encoded at the source (DVD player, cable box.)"

…..and the HDMI 2.0 spec is currently being developed. It will include difference cable terminations that will not work with existing hardware. This sh** will never end. The AV industry by design is nothing but a snake pit playing on consumer’s ignorance and need to have the newest gadget. There really is no way to avoid it but to be satisfied with what you have now, and not desire the "new". I find it’s much more enjoyable to just grin from time to time and not let any of the BS get to me.

I couldn't agree more. The only reson why I'm interested in this now is that it's time to replace my receiver. My old Yamaha doesn't even have component. I figured I might as well hold off until this fall and buy somthing with HDMI 1.3 so I'll be up to speed for a couple months, at least. Then, after the next big thing, and the next big thing after that comes out, I can take some joy in knowing that I had the best for 2007.

Thanks heavens speaker technology doesn't change as fast as this!

I went to Walmart today and almost bought a 35.00 dollar one (hmdi) . Then I almost bought a 70 dollar one at best buy. I read this thread and bought one for $1.94 from monoprice.

When I was ordering cables for my sister (Monoprice) I made sure to put in an order for 3 hdmi cables for myself. Very nice cables for next to nothing.

My monoprice 28AWG HDMI cable works wonder even with 36bit signal (that's what my TV show)...

using 2 6 foot monoprice HDMI cables here with no issues

At the risk of sounding repetitive: Monoprice here as well.

All nice and color coded. Green for HDMI, Red for Ethernet, Black for power. Functional and purty.

For short lengths, the cheapest Monoprice HDMI or the Tartan line from Blue Jeans Cable is all you need. And they are really cheap to buy.

Just to echo what was already implied: try to keep the lengths as short as possible. As long as you don't run more than 10 to 15 feet you should be fine. For longer runs you may need more expensive cables or possibly repeaters. Then you get into some money.

If you are running some serious long lengths up to 50ft+ or even up to 100ft+, the BJC Belden Series-1 Bonded-Pair HDMI Cable can be used up to 125ft without signal loss (unamplified) with certain devices.

HDMI 1.4 CL3.

Check out Partsexpress.com's Daytons.

Sweet, 3 year necro post

I did not read through all 3 pages just skimmed so if this has been stated already my apologies.
There was a website (forget the name/link) off the top of my head but they took an oscilloscope to several hdmi cables and ran test. They posted them online and the result were pretty much just about any cable under 30ft was a good choice regardless of price. The 30' mark seem to be the point were signal loss started to occur. Digital is different than analog. The hdmi cables at monoprice are great espcially for the price. I have used them and I have recommedned them for many clients in the past. Never once had any issues. If you are doing 3d then there is an issue of bandwidth. The cables at monoprice do 10.2GB which alot of reviewers say its plenty for there 3d. Not sure I have not tested this. Some places I have read said you need 15+GB bandwidth. Maybe they want you to purchase the 200$$ cable. The prices are so cheap at monoprice just grab some and if you dont like them your not out of alot of money

The math's not hard. Take the number of pixels on the screen, 1920 * 1080. Multiple that by the bits per pixel, 48, for the deepest color. Then by the frames per second, 48, for 3D. That's 4.8 gigabits/second for video.

Audio is 192,000 samples, at 24 bit, on 8 channels, or 36.9 megabits/second.

That's a total bandwidth requirement of 4,814,438,400 bits per second. Not even close to the 10.2 Gbps for which HDMI 1.3 was rated. The only needed thing the HDMI 1.4 spec really adds, the frame packing formats for the 3D video stream.

Oh, and you should use a small 'b', not a big 'B', because the measurements are in bits not Bytes.

Ken, possibly you might be referring to the tests PC World ran, described here in "The Cable Game" . In any case, as Chris clearly demonstrates, any "not enough bandwidth" claims in this situation are pure BS.

This is an excellent article on HDMI which includes bench tests at various lengths and real-world comparisons.

http://www.audioholics.com/education/cables/long-hdmi-cable-bench-tests

" small 'b', not a big 'B'"

You got me. Just did 12 hour day at work and was tired. I am a network technician/IT ADMin and I am aware of the differences. Thank you for correcting me. I actually didn't know the math behind the video stream and audio. Very good to know. Again thank you .

And to the cable game I do not think it was that test. This test was done strictly on hdmi cables and their lengths. I will see if I can find it I think it was done in 2007

The other thing that the 1.4 spec adds is the 4096×2160p24 frame format. Not something that will be used right away, but that's why the extra bandwidth is built in. I have a feeling we'll see an HDMI 1.5 or higher before we get 4k displays.

I sure hope that site never goes down. It sure is a wealth of information.

There sure is FredK. Anyone new to this hobby has to read their A/V university section.