View Full Version : PS3 HDMI Help
FaLLeNMoNkEy
10-14-2007, 05:05
How come some cables cost so much..
but HDMI cables from amazon.com cost so much less.
Is there any difference in quality?
Nope not at all, a digital signal is either on or off, there is no loss of quality by using a less expensive cable.
One-Shot
10-14-2007, 05:29
Nope not at all, a digital signal is either on or off, there is no loss of quality by using a less expensive cable.
Thats not really true. Some tvs its more noticable then others and also depends how long you need the cable to be.
supertopher2000
10-14-2007, 05:46
it doesnt matter that much unless they are more than 15-20 feet long, i dont know how much i trust the cheap ones from amazon, this website (http://www.cyberguys.com) sells good hdmi cables starting at ~20 for a 6 foot long cable
Thats not really true. Some tvs its more noticable then others and also depends how long you need the cable to be.
Thats true, from what I remember anything under 6ft any cable would do and anything longer than that you need thicker wire (ex: 26 or 24 awg) btw you should try monoprice
Actually most cables (cheap ones) will work perfectly up to around 35-50ft depending on what kind they are!
Use a place like Monoprice.com and get a 24AWG (thats the thickness, smaller # means fatter cable) gold plated cable with great physical shielding for very cheap! High quality, but cheap price.
Either way don't pay much for a cable that is very short like 6ft.
Nope not at all, a digital signal is either on or off, there is no loss of quality by using a less expensive cable.
It's not quite as simple as that. With HDMI, it's not a case of "you either see it or you don't".
Basically, when it comes to picture quality, there can be benefits for paying big bucks for a HDMI cable, but only really if the rest of your setup warrants it. For the most part, yes, there is little or nothing to be gained by going for a really expensive HDMI cable.
What really does improve with the more expensive cables is the build quality. Again, for mose people this isn't an issue, but if you are going to be constantly plugging the cable in and out, you probably want to spend a little bit more just to get a cable that has better build quality.
For 99% of people though, who have a moderately sized TV, a short cable run (2 or 3m), and will hardly ever unplug the cable, a cheaper cable is going to be perfectly adequate.
It only really matters if you have long runs of cable, then the quality can come into question because digital signals do degrade over longer lengths compared to analog.
In these cases of short cables (Anything under 35ft or so in most cases) it won't matter, its going to work properly or not and you should be able to tell.
Getting better cables for longer runs is important, but like Graham said, 99% of people who need HDMI don't need anything expensive.
Muzikguy
10-14-2007, 12:08
I actually had an issue with a cheap HDMI cable. I bought one off new-egg because it was around 10m and cheap. I hooked it up and it didn't work. I ended up getting an expensive cable at Best Buy and it works great! The reason I bring this up is because my friend just bought one (cheap) off the internet and his works. That sucked for me but at least mine works. Sometimes quality does matter but I guess for thie most part it doesn't. Maybe I just had "that one" that was flawed.
I actually had an issue with a cheap HDMI cable. I bought one off new-egg because it was around 10m and cheap. I hooked it up and it didn't work. I ended up getting an expensive cable at Best Buy and it works great! The reason I bring this up is because my friend just bought one (cheap) off the internet and his works. That sucked for me but at least mine works. Sometimes quality does matter but I guess for thie most part it doesn't. Maybe I just had "that one" that was flawed.
It was probably "that one" that failed, although I'm sure cheaper quality cables (price and quality are different of course, there are cheap quality cables and cheap price cables that are actually high quality like Monoprice) tend to be flawed more, but in the latest issue of Widescreen Review (the first Home Theater magazine ever) the head CEO of Monster said even their "higher quality cables" can be flawed, it just happens.