Belkin PureAV™ HDMI™ RazorVision Video Cable (1 Viewer)

[MarkHastings]

I assume this area is befitting of SD-DVD through HDMI cable (or does it need to be moved to the standard hardware section)??

Anyways, I just pulled the trigger on a new DVD player (with an HDMI output). I'm not ready for an HD player, but I was impressed with the 720p -> 1080i upconversion on the regular DVD players.

I got the Sony DVP-NS75H DVD Player and while I was going to go with the regular HDMI cable, CircuitCity was demonstrating the Belkin PureAV™ HDMI™ RazorVision Video Cable filter and the side by side comparison was amazing! They had straight HDMI on one side and the filter on the other side. The filter has 3 levels of filtering (low, med, and high) and it made SD-DVD look really great.

I can't wait to hook all this up to my SONY 55" grand WEGA LCD and give it a run through.

Hopefully I didn't make an expensive mistake.

 

[RobertR]

What exactly does the filter do? I hope this isn't more cable voodoo. 3 out of 4 customer reviews on the link you gave didn't like the product.

 

[Shawn Perron]

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...or-3-2006.html

 

[RobertR]

Thanks for the link, Shawn. Looks like there's no objective improvement, but a difference one may or may not like. Personally, I prefer a more filmlike image to a hard edged "video" look.

 

[MarkHastings]

Yeah, I'm taking it back and getting a Monster HMDI Cable.

It does make the picture look 'sharper' by making the blacks blacker, but I can do the same with black enhancement and contrast controls through my DVD player and TV.

I think the thing that impressed me in the store was, watching the TV at a far distance, the 'sharpness' jumped out at me, but once I was in front of my TV (i.e. closer), it just looked more contrasty than sharper.

This is obviously a great product for those who don't have a ton of control over their black levels. It was neat and all and if the price weren't so damn expensive, I may have held onto it, but I'm going to return it and get some money back.

I do agree with the linked article that the highest setting was WAY TOO HIGH. I preferred the low setting, but again, it didn't do anything more than what I could do with the TV and DVD menus.

Oh well, live and learn.

 

[Craig Sherman]

Not to threadcrap, but...

You felt the Belkin cable was too damn expensive, but now you're going out and replacing it with a Monster cable? Frying pan-->Fire, no?

I've read several threads on this site that point out that any decent generic HDMI cable should do the trick. Or am I mistaken?

CS

 

[MarkHastings]

Actually, what I meant by 'expensive' was, the Belkin "Filter Kit" was $250, which included the filter and two 2.4 meter HDMI cables.

I want to return that for the 2 meter Monster cable ($125). I figured I'd be saving $125 this way (since the filter is pretty useless) and going with a better name brand.

I guess I can go with the 2 meter Belkin version (which is cheaper), but I'll have to see if CC carries it. I see they have an 8 foot version for $120, but I don't need 8 feet and considering the rigidness of the cable, I'd rather pay the extra $5 for the Monster and not have so much slack to deal with than curling up 8 feet of cable.

What's the actual consensus on Belkin vs. Monster HDMI cables?

 

[RobertR]

Mark,

Do yourself (and your wallet) a BIG favor by buying your HDMI cable from a place such as this, and don't buy into the Monster cable voodoo bullshit about "better cables".

 

[Stephen Tu]

The Belkin price (for the Razorvision, not their regular cable which is as overpriced as Monster) might be able to be justified if you like its effects, because it actually has a video processor chip in there that's manipulating the signal. The Monster price, however, cannot, because it's just a bloody cable, and is doing absolutely nothing that you can't get from a say a cable from monoprice.com for 1/7 the price.

 

[Shawn Perron]

With analog cables it may or may not be worthwhile to spend for monster cable depending on what you personally like, but with digital cables I always just buy whatever is reasonably priced that has decent build quality. With digital if the 1's and 0's make it through, it will always look exactly the same no matter how nice the cable. A $20 digital cable will look exactly like an exotic $1000 cable. Spending big bucks on cables only made sense with analog and it's debatable how much improvement you got by spending huge amounts for any cable.

If you can get Moster cables off of ebay for reasonable prices, it's worth it just for monster tech support. They will replace your cables no questions asked if you ever have a problem with them. They will even ship you out the replacement cables within 24 hours and just ask that you return your old cables after the new ones arrive. I had a problem with 2 of thier cables and they gave me upgraded cables in exchange. One email and a couple days and I was a very satisfied customer.

 

[MarkHastings]

But they are multimedia cables - 1's and 0's may be 1's and 0's no matter what cable you use, but I would assume that lower end cables would have trouble with 'throughput' - meaning, those 1's and 0's have to be consistently pushed through that cable.

You may not notice it, but distortion will always happen when a cable can't keep up with the demands of the output device.


p.s. Yes I've read all the reviews that people don't see any differences...but I don't think I'm totally convinced. I'm more of a "make sure it lasts" kind of guy. I also read that a lot of the cheaper cables aren't as secure in their connections. They say it didn't make an impact on the video, but when you're spending all this money on HT gear, I am so afraid of cheaping out on the cable end.

 

[Shawn Perron]

With digital it eaither works or it doesn't. If the 1's and 0's aren't making it the video will just cut out. It's always a works or doesn't work situation. If you hook up a cable and it works consistently, it doesn't matter how much it costs. As always build quality is an issue that you must decide on yourself. I personally would want a cable with a better guage of wire and possibly better shielding if I thought that would be an issue.


With digital this is totally a nonfactor. Digital either gives you a flawless image or nothing at all. All digital formats have a certain amount of error and loss tolerance built into them, so I wouldn't concerm myself with this. I have found that losing the HDCP handshake is a far bigger problem then digital drop out.

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

From my own personal experience with using various HDMI cables from the likes of several boutique brands as well as internet bargain cable... there is no difference in PQ as long as the comparable cable is using the same AWG, and shielding... although even that wont likely make a difference with most installations.

I now use a 35' 24AWG HDMI cable I bought from www.monoprice.com and it only cost me about $45. I believe they even sell some HDMI cable for as little as $.50 a foot. From my experience, it isn't worth paying more than $2 a foot for HDMI cable.

 

[RobertR]

Boy, those marketing people know how to play on people's insecurities...

 

[MarkHastings]

nah, I just don't often trust the internet.

 

[RobertR]

As opposed to salesmen?

 

[MarkHastings]

LOL - Well, it did look good in the store. Seriously, in the computer world, I've been so accustomed to cheap = cheap, so it's kind of hard to break out of that line of thinking.

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

Unfortunately this is a common sales technique to push unnecessary expensive equipment and accessories.

The same technique is used with most premium or luxury products, not just electornics.

 

[RobertR]

Excellent advice, Nils

 

[MarkHastings]

But how do you test durability and longevity? I hate getting stuck with something that will wear out in time, so I try to buy a little on the 'quality' side to help ensure longeivty.