HDMI Questions (1 Viewer)

[Allan]

Hello-

I have a new Time Warner HD cable box that has an HDMI output. Will an HDMI cable provide a better picture than component video cables? If I run an HDMI cable from the cable box to the TV, I assume I can also run sounds via optical cable directly to my receiver and simply turn off the TV speakers. correct?

all advice would begreatly appreciated. Lastly, does Radio Shack sell a decent HDMI cable?

Allan

 

[Hank_P]

Yes, and Yes.

I would purchase an HDMI cable and give it a try. There may be just a slight advantage in picture, but your eyes should be the judge.

Yes, you can run optical to the reciever for the sound.

 

[Richard_Brodsky]

Do you know if there is a big difference in HDMI cable quality? I got a free HDMI cable with my dvd player, should I go out and buy a Monster cable or something or is it not noticeable?

 

[Hank_P]

I have not seen a "high-end" HDMI cable in action yet, so I'm probably not the best to answer this. But I have seen a "free HDMI cable that came with a DVD Player" compared against another mid-range, better shielding, quality type HDMI cable and there was no difference. This was on a friends 51" rear-projection. It was enough to convince me that I really don't need a $100+ cable on my 56". Might see a difference on some of these guys bigger screens though.

 

[Lew Crippen]

There may be, but it may not mean anything in terms of picture/audio quality.

As mentioned there might be better shielding on a more expensive cable (or there might no be) and it is possible that the connectors are attached to the cable more securely. But digital things tend to either work or not—just like the 0s and 1s they transmit. That is there is not a degradation in picture or audio quality—the picture or sound just stops.

If you have a satellite service, you are no doubt familiar with this, as the picture or blocks of the picture have a sudden problem—or the video just freezes for a bit.

By all means spend the money if you will feel more secure, but you might like to try the free cable for a while.

BTW, there was a report by Bill Hunt that the Samsung HDMI connection is not nearly so good as its component ouput.

 

[Sami Kallio]

The difference between $120 and $20 HDMI cable is about $100.

There isn't much difference between a component and HDMI either, at least not in my experience feeding native 1080i to 1080p TV.