Don't spend a bundle on HDMI cables.....what a deal

[hammersley]

OPPS - SOEND shoud be SPEND in the title... ...





Amazon.com: HDMI 2M (6 Feet) Super High Resolution Cable: Electronics



about $5 each with shipping =



HDMI is a digital signal. That means it's all or nothing--not like analog where you may have degradation due to signal loss, crosstalk, radio frequency interference, etc. As long as you have a decent HDMI cable to transmit the digital bitstream from point A to point B, you're set. I just purchased the new Sony Bravia S-series 32 inch LCD TV. To go with it, I trashed my old Apex with the missing remote and got a deal on a Sony DVP-NS70H upconverting DVD player that can synthesize "extra" lines of resolution. The player can send 720p or 1080i signal to the TV. (Current DVDs are 480p; that standard will change eventually with Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. ) I knew that the upconversion feature only works through a digital connection, so I'd need to get an HDMI cable. Started checking prices and, no surprise, they were all over the place. Some were in the $100 range. Despite mild skepticism, I decided to try the cheapest one. This little beauty arrived in 3 days in a plain brown wrapper and a clear plastic bag. The cable is surprisingly robust, with nice build quality, supple insulation, and good connectors. I started to feel vindicated. So I plugged it in, put Harry Potter in the DVD player and WOW!! The DVD player and TV did their magic. Spellbindingly great picture and sound. I haven't tried a component analog connection--those cables are REALLY expensive and quality matters more there--so I can't compare component versus HDMI. Bottom line: this is an unbeatable price performer for around $10 incuding shipping. And no, this is not an April Fools joke.

 

[phloop]

Hey, when I read the title I thought it was spend.

 

[Bob Wagner]

check Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more! too great prices

 

[DJW]

Hammersley, I read where very few people can tell the difference between a high price HDMI cable and the cheapest one, some sellers tell of less interference regarding some switched appliances etc, but many are unaware of it so it makes no difference to them, just contents of pocket. Also it's claimed if a none-wine drinker decides to drink wine,(I have no idea why) the advice is to start at the lowest priced and work (Work?) up, when finding a wine one is comfortable with (Wine talk), or pleasing to your taste, to stop searching, as any higher priced wine will not on the average taste any better. You have reached your plateau of appreciation, (more wine talk) and don't deserve any better. (so there!) Any $2 Buck Chuck left?

 

[phloop]

Any $2 Buck Chuck left?

I think it is now $3 Buck CHuck. :-laf

 

[nickleinonen]

I read where very few people can tell the difference between a high price HDMI cable and the cheapest one, some sellers tell of less interference regarding some switched appliances etc, but many are unaware of it so it makes no difference to them, just contents of pocket.

i have tried it with component cables, but never with hdmi/dvi cables. i could see a difference in the component cables from the cheap stuff up to the entry quality level stuff. . after that, there was very little difference [there was a difference, but not one better than the other, just different] but that was on a 1080p 9" crt gun data projector being fed by a quad scaler off a 480p dvd player. technology has changed since i last tried that, and i don't think there will be any difference in the quality of the hdmi cables. . just get something that is pretty well built and you will be good. .





now try that with speaker cables on some good equipment. . if you have good hearing [really good hearing] it is surprising how much difference in sound a pair of 12' speaker cables make from one that is basically 12g zip cord to something that is 16g solid silver to 14g silver plated copper. . i did that one blind and i could pick out the zip cord one as not sounding as crisp when compared to the others [on high end amps, processors, speakers]. the solid silver one sounded best, but at about $100/meter, i won't go there [and i have delivered cables to a customer who purchased some crazy high end cable that was over $500/meter ]. . on my own equipment i have that basic 12g zip stuff and my interconnect cables are the basic ones, but the better ones in the basic lineup. the connectors are not the molded ones, they are soldered by hand to the cables. so if something breaks, gets torn out, i can repair the cable and i can make my own by buying the connectors and a spool of cable

 

[E7mack96]

I can personally attest to the quality difference in the picture going from co-axial cable to s-video cables and then to the component video cables. I am on the verge of getting HD-DVD and at that point, I will go to HDMI cables for my TV. I also want to get the HD settop box for Direct TV too.



As I lose my vision, it seems more critical that my picture be as sharp and vivid as possible, to help offset the losses in my head.

 

[DJW]

I do most of my TV viewing using a big dish and a 4Dtv receiver and a 61" Samsung HDTV 1080? using HMDI to the DVD, for myself I fail to see any difference between the signal from the receiver using the co-ax cable, S-video or component, and even DVD or VCR tape from the TV, (I must be easy to satisfy!) granted using a big dish one receives the, (don't Blush!) Virgin Signal from the satellite before it's re-sent to other sources for general viewing. For me a good picture is just a good picture and beads of sweat and able to count hairs on a man's chin does not excite me in the least, and if it ever comes to smells, dirty socks either. I was reading a report where the tester viewed a DLP TV from 4 inches, (yes 4 inches) away, (now that is Short Sighted) from the screen to examine the reception, frankly I wouldn't take too much interest in his evaluation. If one does buy a DLP tv it's wise to also buy a battery back-up in case of power cuts, as it needs power to run the cooling fan to cool down the Lamp after being turned off.

 

[HoleshotHolset]

I just purchased the new Sony Bravia S-series 32 inch LCD TV.

Dad/Mom picked up that same TV (Sony Bravia 32" 720p LCD - model KDL-32S3000) yesterday. So far, they seem VERY impressed with it and were able to set it up in time to see the Pats win. Dad called me from Best Buy in Worcester and I talked them through all the specs he was looking at on the various TVs.



I tried to get them to upgrade to something 1080p, but they didn't want anything larger than 32" due to the size of the room. There aren't many 32" LCD's with 1080p... the ones that are out there are a lot more $. Their new TV will accept 1080i signals via HDMI, it just won't be able to display it all.



I never thought they'd get an LCD/plasma flat panel TV before I did. Good for them, though!



Beers,



Matt

 

[p-Bar]

Dad/Mom picked up that same TV (Sony Bravia 32" 720p LCD - model KDL-32S3000) yesterday. So far, they seem VERY impressed with it and were able to set it up in time to see the Pats win. Dad called me from Best Buy in Worcester and I talked them through all the specs he was looking at on the various TVs.



I tried to get them to upgrade to something 1080p, but they didn't want anything larger than 32" due to the size of the room. There aren't many 32" LCD's with 1080p... the ones that are out there are a lot more $. Their new TV will accept 1080i signals via HDMI, it just won't be able to display it all.



I never thought they'd get an LCD/plasma flat panel TV before I did. Good for them, though!



Beers,



Matt

Likewise my 85 year old dad bought a 42" panasonic plasma , beat me to it also

 

[HoleshotHolset]

After they got the TV all rigged up - they sprung for the HD CATV upgrade and a DVR (they had to get the DVR to upgrade the CATV to get the HD channels... )



Now I'm even further behind them... :-laf



Beers,



Matt

 

[DJW]

I don't know why but I can receive a local PBS station without an outside antenna in the regular analog, plus digital signal (faultless, picture perfect on digital, very poor analog), also another PBS station. I do have all equipment hooked up to a surge suppressor, antenna etc. but NO outside or any antenna connection from another source. In fact all stations received with the outside antenna were always very poor, thus went for a Big Dish 4Dtv Satellite. About 10 years or so ago there was talk of sending TV signals over the electric power cables, plus all kinds of information, telephone the whole lot in addition to electric power, just one cable bringing it all to the house. On the TV set it's-self if I disconnect the co-ax cable from the TV I fail to receive a signal, but by re-hooking it to the TV and surge suppressor get a fair analog but a picture perfect digital of the same program. Granted I have to get help screwing a light bulb in, and I keep asking myself many questions, but to date have never received an intelligent reply, or any other kind of reply for that matter. Your Honor, "I rest my case. "

 

[HoleshotHolset]

I bought a cheap TV tuner that hooks up to my PC via USB. That little thing came with a telescopic antenna/mag-mount base. I was able to receive all of the Madison, WI based digital channels nearly 50mi away with that indoor antenna. I was only able to get one or two of the strong analog stations with the same receiver/antenna.



Digital is "all or nothing" - so even if the signal is weak, so long as the data can make the trip - you've got a complete picture with sound.



Analog signals are very unforgiving by comparison - so they're affected by a lot of factors that won't normally cause an issue for a digital signal. The receiver picks up every last thing when it is tuned to a given channel and then the TV happily displays it.



Analog audio/video signals are based on variations in voltage and frequency... so any interference will affect the sound/picture to the point where you can hear it and see it. Digital broadcast signals contain actual packets of (digital) data that are checked at transmission and reception before they even make it to the display portion of the TV or audio output.



It doesn't surprise me in the least bit that you're able to receive more digital channels than analog for the above reasons I mentioned. There are several sites on the internet that can explain this much better than I can - you might want to check them out.



As for the whole idea of sending data through power lines - that concept is quickly loosing favor compared to other traditional methods such as cable modems, DSL and FTTH/FTTP (fiber optic). BPL (Broadband over Power Lines) is extremely limited in terms of bandwidth compared to other methods of moving data. It is also very much prone to causing interference with a whole host of commonly used portions of the radio frequency (RF) spectrum.



The BPL concept of sending data using an RF carrier over thousands of miles of uninsulated and unshielded power lines sitting very high in the air is effectively creating a massive broadband interference transmitter that can wreak havoc with any communications equipment near it. See how this is a bad idea?



Here's a good page to read for technical info: Power line communication - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Beers,



Matt



On edit: Your surge suppressor is probably grounding the outer shield side of the coax connector to the same earth ground as your household wiring. This is probably helping the signal out quite a bit (as you've noticed... ).

 

[rbattelle]

This is a good thread, Hammersley. When you buy a TV from Best Buy or Circuit City, they attempt to sell you HDMI cables that start at $50 and move up from there.

That's how they make money - sell you the TV at a loss, and scam you out of a fortune on the cables. For example:

Dynex 6' cable from Amazon. (Up until a couple weeks ago it was available from Amazon at $14. 99)
Dynex 6' cable from Best Buy.

They take advantage of ignorance. My in-laws recently bought a Bravia (37") from Circuit City, and were told "you must buy this HDMI cable ($60) in order to get HD programming". Fortunately, they waited to talk to me before buying.

Ryan

 

[DJW]

HoleshotHolset, thanks for the post, the surge suppressor is an APS and when switched on, displays a green light stating 'Protection On', a Red light if the Building Wire is Faulty, and a light if the unit is Overloaded, it dies not contain a Battery as the one I have hooked up to the DLP to safely turn off TV in case of a power cut to allow the Lamp to cool down so not to damage it. Yes it's quite a mystery to me, but fortunately a pleasant one. Remember when the Russian Satellite Sputnik passed over some people's garage, it would activate the door opener, that was a better than years ago, when bright boys sold vision glass to be able to see through the Lead Underclothes worn by some women to stop peeping Toms having a free view? The stuff today is so high Tech. I do notice now that these digital signals are not always activated, We have a 26" LG lcd for a slave, (poor choice of word?) and a 37" Sharp lcd in the bedroom so as to have a choice of programs. The lg and Sharp displays those (to me) rouge signals but as yet have not seen them on the DLP as the outside antenna goes into the 4Dtv receiver then from there to the TV. What you suggest sounds logical. Owing to our poor reception with an outside antenna I went to the Big Satellite Dish years ago and have always received superior signals, both analog and digital. I see adverts of hundreds of tv channels over the internet free using a small satellite dish, however it's only available on windows and I use an Apple. The unit you mention perhaps is not the same unit. Many thanks for you very informative information, with TDR ones does not even need a Diesel to enjoy life to the fullest, to me, the best club on earth.

 

[DJW]

Those HDMI cables do vary greatly in price, for each, it's to check the length and all the numbers and letters for a particular cable, Monster claims to have various qualities, good, better, etc. I have read the manufacture's explanation regarding gas charged, precious metals, attention to detail and all that stuff, if a standard by the industry were established it would be much easier to decide what would suit. Now it's so much easier hooking stuff up, tangled cables, wrong ends in strange holes (referring to orifices found in most electronics, front and back, and the crafty ones on the sides ) I thought we had reached the Pinnacle of Success now there's talk of 3D. Will those Robbing Merchants ever try to keep their Thieving out of my pockets?