please help me with my hdmi problem!!!!!!!!!

I just bought a new amp and will be getting it this thursday. I had bought 2 hdmi cables their top of line for the store that carries them. the product # 127957. these are monster ultra 800. i thought they would pass 1080p, deep colour, and the newer audio lossless formats. How ever all the info that I"m finding is telling me that this might not be the case. I have a credit card for this store, so i could not go out and shop somewhere else. I've been reading about the speed ratings on different cables and I could not find any speed rating on this product, and I spent hundreds. My new amp is the Onkyo 876 and I have the Sony bdps500 bluray player, along with a 1080p TV. Have I made the right buy? will these cables work for me?

please help as time is getting close and I dont want to make the wrong choice, ps all they carry is the 400 and 800 monster hdmi cables

Re: please help me with my hdmi problem!!!!!!!!!

Are you refering to the 120Hz Rate??

Re: please help me with my hdmi problem!!!!!!!!!

i have the kdl46w300 and it does not do do 120hz, but it does do 24fps. Also my tv has the abilty to do xvcc I belive this to be deep colour. I do not know if the cables will pass this format along with dolby true hd and dts master and dts hd. I don"t belive my blu ray will do dts master

Re: please help me with my hdmi problem!!!!!!!!!

Most of the "speed" ratings on HDMI cables are snake oil, especially at Monster prices. Unless it is very long (over 30ft), any competent HDMI cable will pass more than enough for any application, and if it fails, it will be obvious (blank screen, sparklies, white noise, no sound) and you can return it. Go to BlueJeans, MonoPrice or BetterCables, spend $10-20 on an HDMI cable and you'll save yourself the financing on $100+ Monsters that are worth about . . . $10-20.

Seriously, HDMI is a robust, error checking, error correcting communications standard. As long as the cable can pass the signal, you are getting the signal with optimum quality. Don't pay Monster prices for HDMI cables. You might as well take the money and burn it.

Re: please help me with my hdmi problem!!!!!!!!!

By the way, here's a link to significant testing of HDMI cables:

The Truth About Monster Cable, Part 2 (Verdict: Cheap Cables Keep Up...Usually)

Re: please help me with my hdmi problem!!!!!!!!!

thaks jeff added that to my favorits. so if i'm reading this right, the cables that i bought are way over priced. I paid $179 for each cable. I just wanted to pass the newer audio formats and video formats to my reciver. i am only running 6 feet.

Re: please help me with my hdmi problem!!!!!!!!!

You could get 17 cables for the price of one of those that would be just as good or better than Monster. Return them and check out the online sources.

Re: please help me with my hdmi problem!!!!!!!!!

I buy Moster cables for 4 reasons:

1. With all the comparisons I've seen, I've yet to find a definitive answer on whether cheaper cables can not only pass along 1080p, 120kHz, and high end color, but can also pass along uncompressed 7.1 audio (at 6 ft.)
2. I like the durability and lifetime warranty of Monster.
3. Being that there are so many pieces of technology in my setup (i.e. PS3 > HDMI Cable > Receiver > HDMI Cable > TV) If I ever do have an issue, I don't have to worry about my HDMI cables being the problem.
4. I can afford them.

And while there may be those who disagree with the above and think I'm foolish; I really don't care because it's not like Monster cables make things any worse.

Re: please help me with my hdmi problem!!!!!!!!!

marcIs, I have the 800HD cable and this is what it supports:

• 1080p
• 12-bit color
• 5.1/7.1 Lossless
• 60 Hz

None of the cables mentions "Deep Color" exactly, but the 1000HD is the only one that has the ability to do "x.v.Color". I knwo they aren't the same thing, but I woudl imagine that if the cable were rated for one, it would be ok for the other.

Re: please help me with my hdmi problem!!!!!!!!!

The monster cables won't hurt you any, except in the wallet, but they are no better than cheaper cables from the sources already mentioned. You can spend the saved money on a more discs for your player.

Re: please help me with my hdmi problem!!!!!!!!!

Unless you believe (like me) that RF noise can harm an HDMI signal.

Not that it's something you really need to be worried about and most will probably argue that HDMI signals aren't susceptible to RF, but again, since I can afford it, I like the peace of mind, knowing that all of my cables are triple shielded against all of the freakin' technology noise that now circulates my home.

I like (and need) to take all preventative measures when it comes to noise...I work in the video industry and noise is the #1 killer of our business.

So for me, there's nothing hurting my wallet.

Re: please help me with my hdmi problem!!!!!!!!!

I have one 30 ft and two 25 ft runs of Blue Jeans Cable Tartan HDMI cables (that cost me 1$/ft delivered to my house) that are rated for in-wall use and they all work flawlessly with PS3, HD-A2, Scientific Atlanta 8300HD PVR and a 4-in 2-out HDMI switcher from Connect Gear out to my Sony FP and my Dell HD computer monitor. There is NO WAY I would spend Monster Cable prices for HDMI cables (and I really can't see any scientific reason for RF signals to interfere with signals carried by HDMI--I'd be delighted to consider one if it exists, though).

I can't speak to the "future world" tests in the article cited above, but my PS3 is connected via the 30 ft cable from Blue Jeans and it is set to 1080p/24fps and it has no trouble coping with it.

(incidentally, I also use a 30 ft toslink cable from Blue Jeans and there are no audio dropout issues of any kind--it also cost about 1$/ft)

Re: please help me with my hdmi problem!!!!!!!!!

like you mark i have always believed in monster.there are a lot of skeptics out their. my thought is, if something that is priced so much more then you will get more. in therory. i also use monster 3600 mk2 power conditioner. i just wonder if the cables would pass the siginal. now I have this attached to my new amp, witch I dont like very much I think I got a lemon I posted a blog in amps on it. I will have to take it bck to the store and get it replaced I think but i will give onkyo one more chance. The cable did'nt seem to pass dts hd master but my blu-ray wont do that format. the ultra 800 did pass 1080p and dolby true hd as for xvcc I dont know. Ps after all the money I spent on my equment should'nt I spend 10 to 15 % on cables

Re: please help me with my hdmi problem!!!!!!!!!

Not that this is exactly the same case, but being one who always seems to get burned by someone telling me that the cheaper item is "Just as Good", I tend to always go with the higher priced item. And 99% of the time, there's good reason to pay more.

And again, I'm not saying that the cheap cables will not do the same job as Monster; my point is, I know that I'm guaranteed a great cable with Monster...period. It has little to do with if they are better or equal to others; it's that I know that I'm guaranteed to get a good product and that it won't falter under most conditions.

Paul, I can't say that I'm an expert on RM and EM noise and I can't tell you whether it will effect HDMI signals, but most companies (not just Monster) say that it matters and being that I can't seem to get a straight answer out of any one, I will stick with the shielded cable 'just in case'. But again, I can afford to make that my preference.

And as far as all of the tests I read...I still can't seem to get a straight answer.

I've seen a lot of these 'tests' online and it's so frustrating. There was one site that did a report on Monster vs. the $12 cable and they had a bunch of "TV Experts" (actually, they were just guys who liked to watch a lot of TV)...in fact, the head "Expert" was considered an expert because he had a 5.1 surround sound system, a 40" Sony TV and a video game console.

They had a bunch of his buddies come over and they hooked up two identical TV's. One with the Monster cable and one with the $12 cable; and (of course) they didn't notice any difference, so the reporter claimed "It's a rip off to buy Monster" That was it; no real testing, just regular cable.

Well, DUH! It's not fair to compare broadcast TV with these cables! I want these tests to test BluRay players with programs that include uncompressed 7.1 audio, 120Hz signals, and high end color...and not broadcast cable shown to a bunch of J6P's who were actually mexmerised by the HD. They all acted like a bunch of hicks at a truck rally.

The test they performed would be like driving a Porsche and VW Bug at 20 MPH and saying that the cars are no different because they both handle the same.

No wonder why I buy Monster, it's not the cheap cables that I don't trust, it's the so-called research.

Re: please help me with my hdmi problem!!!!!!!!!

Mark, if an HDMI is inferior, then you will know it. The screen will be filled with sparklies and very often it will go blank. There is no subtle deterioration of the audio/video signal. It's either there . . . or it's not. So there is no "comparing" between HDMI cable, unless you are comparing between "works" and "doesn't work".

Re: please help me with my hdmi problem!!!!!!!!!

but interference is never constant. It could actually crop up months afterwards. So if you had an inferior cable, it could look great for some time, then (when the interference occurs), it could start sparkling.

Since I don't know what kind of interference I have (or may encounter in the near future), I went with the most shielded cable I could find. Heck, I just added a cable modem and wireless router into my HT system. There's too much going on to play it safe.

Again, I understand that the cable is pretty much the same as the cheaper ones, but I don't like when people say it isn't worth it. I think the added protection is definitely worth it and I take offense to anyone who says I'm "Stupid", "Dumb", or "Wasteful" for purchasing one.

To me, it's like paying for insurance. Sure, I may never need car insurance (I've been driving 20+ years without an accident) and it would definitely have been cheaper for me to go without it all these years, but I still pay for it.

Re: please help me with my hdmi problem!!!!!!!!!

But is it really worth the 1000% premium you pay when you buy a $100+ cable, as opposed to a $10 one which does the same thing? One can hardly say insurance is a bargain when the alternative one-time payout is 1/10th the price. Car insurance is to protect against physical damage, not electronic interference that can be rectified with a cable change.

Re: please help me with my hdmi problem!!!!!!!!!

I got suckered into buying a Monster HDMI cable too before I became wise and you are correct, they are built well, too well. The strain relief shielding around the end is so thick it pulls the connector down and periodically needs to be reseated.

Re: please help me with my hdmi problem!!!!!!!!!

Who knows if it's truly worth it. I guess I could have gotten the cheap cable and then replaced it if there were problems, but I didn't feel like going that route.

The only experience I've ever had with a non Monster HDMI cable, has been the one I got from Comcast. While I can't say that I tested it out (to see if it compared to Monster), but I can say that the ends didn't fit as snugly as Monster does. The Comcast cable felt a little loose when plugged in and I noticed that it didn't take much to knock it loose. I was moving some cabling around (behind my TV) and noticed that the HDMI cable pulled out fairly easily.

The Monster connection felt like a better connection to me.

EDIT: Mylan, I see you posted while I was typing. Yes, that's the thing I liked about the connection. It was firm and secure. And while I can see how one would have problems with the rigid cable (if you needed the cable to bend), but my stuff is out in the open and allows for the ability to plug them in securely with no "pull down" (as you mention).

p.s. actually, the new Monster cables don't have that hard casing. They're more flexible.

Re: please help me with my hdmi problem!!!!!!!!!

Thats just it, no HDMI cable connection is firm and secure, there is always wiggle room, the added weight with Monster does not help. I have always felt the HDMI design was flawed and they should have included the screw-type connector like DVI. This is also why I dislike the design for S-video.

I cannot 100% say it is the cable but on two occasions my DVD player would not show video until I reseated the cable and reset the player by unplugging it, the last time I really wanted to watch a movie so I connected a component cable. I can see no difference in P.Q.
The bottom line is enjoy your Monster cable, hell if I had the money i'd buy the best of everything too, just in case...

B.T.W. where have you been?

Re: please help me with my hdmi problem!!!!!!!!!

My Belkin Pure/AV HDMI cables are snug and secure.

Re: please help me with my hdmi problem!!!!!!!!!

All I know is that when faced with the choice of 30$ or 900$ (the six foot Monster Cable HDMI was 179$ at BB which equals 30$/ft) for a thirty foot cable, I ain't paying 900$. And the cables I bought are just as well shielded (they're rated for inwall use) as the Monster Cables.

Re: please help me with my hdmi problem!!!!!!!!!

In the realm of home electronics, a digital connection is a method of moving 1s and 0s without D/A then A/D conversions, hence there is no signal degredation. Either there is an on or an off, there is nothing in between and there is no interference as with analog signals.

This is why the move to strictly digital OTA television is a mistake. During inclimate weather (read: severe storms and tornadoes) a digital signal is interrupted which equals an off on the receiving end. With analog OTA, at least the signal (though weak) could still make it through to be picked up. There was ghosting and a snowy picture with lots of audible hiss and noise, but the critical weather information could still get through. Now, with all digital, unless you have a radio, you're out of the loop on storm conditions. This is something of great concern for me since I live near the base of tornado alley.

Concerning all-digital connections and cables: I often compare the Monster vs. (insert your much-less-expensive brand here) cable issue to that of generic prescription medicine. I can buy a 30-day supply of, let's say....Ambien 10mg for $131.01 OR I can buy the generic Zolpidem for $4.90. Same exact medicine, same exact result, much easier on the pocketbook.

Re: please help me with my hdmi problem!!!!!!!!!

That's why I like Monster cables and name brand drugs when it comes to things that matter most to me.

Do you know how they make generic drugs? They get the name brand and analyze it to figure out how to copy it. Basically they are guessing at the formula...Now while I have enough faith in their guessing to make a decent drug, but there's a little part of me that has a concern on their 'recipe'. If you vary the formula slightly in one direction or the other, it has a big effect on the way the drug works. Also, if you change an ingredient (to make things cheaper), it too could have an impact. I don't want a slight misjudgment to cause me any adverse effects.

Now, for most drugs, I'll get the generic (i.e. for prescriptions that I'm temporarily on), but when it comes to drugs that I rely on (i.e. ones that I need to take on a daily basis), I demand the name brand.

That's also why I like Monster (for my main HT equipment), it's that little bit of doubt I have that makes me think that the extra $$ is worth it.

For my secondary stuff (like hooking my DVD to my bedroom TV), I'll use the cheaper cables.

Re: please help me with my hdmi problem!!!!!!!!!

Mark, there is no "formula" to making cables. The basic technology has been around for hundreds and hundreds of years. Monster does nothing special to its wires, and all the "oxygen free", "special alloys" and "free electron shielding" labels are pure and utter bullshit. Let me repeat . . . pure and utter bullshit. You can choose to think otherwise and that is your right, but to make the comparison between developing a modern drug formula and the extruding and insulating of the earliest metal ever smelted by man, well that strains credulity.

But I am curious, what exactly does Monster put into its cables that convinces you they are better insurance against interference? Anything in particular (besides price)?

Re: please help me with my hdmi problem!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I do. Evidently, you don't.


Wrong.


When brand name drugs are introduced to the marketplace, they are protected by patent and the maker gets a window where they are the exclusive manufacturer in order to (hopefully) make back the tens of millions of dollars it cost them to create the drug in the first place. During this patent window, there are no generic versions of the drug. That's why you can't get a generic version of a brand new drug, but must wait several years for one to reach the market. (The patent covers 20 years from the time the patent application is received, but drug companies will apply for a patent on a new drug long before it comes to market, to prevent a competitor from patenting a similar product first. So a brand-name drug will typically have a monopoly of ten years in the marketplace, sometimes less, because clinic trials and the FDA approval process eat up the rest of the patent period.)

After the patent expires, any other drug company that has the capability can manufacture the same drug - without having to cover the R&D costs - and sell it for a fraction of the cost. Nobody is reverse-engineering pharmaceuticals and "guessing" as to the formula. (The drug formulas are a matter of public record, thanks to clinical trials, FDA requirements and the patent process itself.) The generics, like the original, must be approved by the FDA and certified to be functional equivalents of the brand-name drug. Competing drug companies must apply to the FDA for permission to produce a generic version of a drug whose patent is due to expire.

You can find out all about generics at the FDA FAQ on the subject.

So your reason for preferring brand-name drugs to generics is based on a complete misunderstanding of the entire subject.

Regards,

Joe

Re: please help me with my hdmi problem!!!!!!!!!

A fool and his money are soon parted.

Re: please help me with my hdmi problem!!!!!!!!!

RE: Digital transmission and RF interference.

I don't pretend to know the nuts and bolts of how signals are handled between HT components, but I do know something about digital signals and computers. And it is not entirely true that RF interference can't degrade a signal.


Obviously a broadcast signal, which is a strictly one-way communication, can be degraded by interference. But communication between HT component should at least theoretically be two-way, or at least capable of being two-way. In that case it should also support error correction, which allows dropped data to be re-sent almost instantly, which would further lessen the impact of any RF interference.

In general data cables or all kinds are robust enough to shrug off even fairly powerful RF interference, and every instance I've ever seen where this was a real problem has involved really crazy stuff like laying part of a cable run across the tops of a row of overhead fluorescent lighting fixtures, or through an HVAC room.

I doubt that the level of RF that could conceivably be encountered in the average HT room is going to blocked any more effectively by a $100 cable than by $9 cable. It isn't like adequate shielding is either hard or expensive to do. The data cables that carry the critical information on our network - including medical information - are effectively shielded and only cost a few pennies a foot.

Regards,

Joe

Re: please help me with my hdmi problem!!!!!!!!!

Joe, no one said the signal could not be degraded. We said the picture itself could not be degraded in subtle ways. With HDMI, there is no gradual degradation like that of an analog signal, and thus no valid argument for the incremental increases in picture quality which Monster alludes to. In other words, you will either get a pristine picture, or the degradation will be such that the picture is unwatchable.

Re: please help me with my hdmi problem!!!!!!!!!

I think the lack of respect for certain view points was the main key. I don't like being called a fool, so I will bow out yet again.

Thanks for the discussion boys. It was fun for a while.