Is a gold-plated HDMI cable really worth it (1 Viewer)

[JosefSchmalle]

Hi everyone,

I'm pretty new to this so here goes

I've recently decided to set up a home cinema system in the drawing room and have bought an LG OLED 8K smart TV and I'm looking around for accessories.

I'm thinking of getting an 8K HDMI cable from https://bunu.tech/bunu-hdmi/home.html which apparently has a 48GB per second transfer rate and is capable of displaying up to 10K but I keep on reading conflicting information online about the efficacy of gold-plated cables.

Question: is there any difference in transfer rates and what does this mean for my experience?

There are cables online for up to £2500 and I'm willing to look at it if there is a genuine difference in experience.

Any info is appreciated

J

 

[Ronald Epstein]

First, welcome to our forum. Happy you stopped by to ask a very important question.

Expensive HDMI cables are such a racket and consumers who don't know any better end up getting ripped off in the process.

Please do not spend that kind of money on HDMI cables.

I am going to give you a link to highly recommended cables but they are from U.S. Amazon. However, I am certain you can find comparable on Amazon for your country. These are HDMI Certified which is important and cost nearly nothing.

See on Amazon

Even Amazon sells their own brand of high-speed cable that will work fine, though I would personally not go that route. I don't know if they. are certified are not.

You should be able to find a cable with the same specs for the same price where you are.

I am so glad you came here and asked this question. I am hoping others will chime in with their thoughts. I just get really upset with stores selling outrageously priced HDMI cable to push on customers buying new displays. You absolutely don't need to spend that kind of money to get exceptional performance from a cable.

 

[YANG]

Those "Gold" are not really gold. As like Gold watches, 99% of them in the market are not real gold.
The gold coating can be achieved thru a chemical process known as PVD on metal parts. Hence, it's not worth.

What you should be concerned are the certified version of the cable. HDMI Version 2.1 is now the average requirement to carry ATMOS as well as Dolby HDR. And such cables won't cost you more than GBP100.

 

[JosefSchmalle]

Okay brilliant thanks guys I really appreciate it.

I still can't believe that there are cords out there that cost £2500.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Okay brilliant thanks guys I really appreciate it.

I still can't believe that there are cords out there that cost £2500.

It baffles most of us as well.

However, those that end up paying those prices are sadly uninformed. There is definitely a market for those cables, and store sales personnel are more than happy to push them on consumers who don't know any better.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

The only reason to spend significantly more for HDMI cables is if you need longer lengths than the standard spec (perhaps for a front projection setup or some other custom HT setup where the prepro/AVR aren't near enough to the display or the like). And even then, shouldn't exceed a few hundred dollars at the most (unless you're doing something very unusual needing extremely long runs perhaps).

The only reason for gold plating of connectors is to prevent them from oxidizing, ie. rusting, over time. Not sure if it's ever really been a real issue for most people (except for those living in very humid places w/out dehumidifiers), but if the cable is cheap enough, you can just replace it if it ever noticeably rusts or the like (and actually impact the digital signal, which will be easy enough to notice). It's probably a bit more of an issue for connectors on analog cables, if it's actually an issue at all, but the gold plating obviously shouldn't cost much since most fairly inexpensive cables also come w/ that. FWIW, if you're around pros a lot, you might notice they often don't bother w/ cabling that use gold plated connectors, not that pros always use highest quality stuff of course, but they generally know how to get the job done efficiently (and usually cost effectively) w/out fuss...

And yes, welcome to the forum...

_Man_

 

[jcroy]

(On a huge tangent).

I always saw "gold" cables, "gold" audio cd discs, etc ... as a pseudo "status symbol"

Basically it is a good "signaling" mechanism to point out who actually understands technical engineering type stuff + double blind testing, and/or who doesn't understand how advertising/marketing really works in practice.

 

[JosefSchmalle]

I know what you mean. It's like how marketing has taught a huge swathe of the population that "success" is owning the best clothes and a Gucci handbag, when all along that dream is sold to them by intelligent marketers so the super rich can just keep their money.

It's kinda funny really

 

[jcroy]

I know what you mean. It's like how marketing has taught a huge swathe of the population that "success" is owning the best clothes and a Gucci handbag, when all along that dream is sold to them by intelligent marketers so the super rich can just keep their money.

It's kinda funny really

We need more gold toilets !!!

 

[JohnRice]

There are also some nuances, since you have an 8K display. For 4K material at regular media frame rates, you only need 18Gb cables. For high frame rate gaming or any 8K material, which doesn't really even exist currently, you'll want 48Gb cables. It's probably debatable whether or not an 8K display makes sense, but you already have it, so that ship has sailed. There's a lot of confusion and marketing magic all over the place with this stuff.

 

[JosefSchmalle]

Yes I did read that the human eye can't process an 8K picture, is that true?

I've bought the bloody thing now haven't I lol.

 

[Clinton McClure]

I usually recommend purchasing cables through Monoprice . I think most of the old timers here (myself included) have purchased some or all of our cables there. I actually replaced my hodge-podge assortment of hdmi cables last year with the one I linked to above. I managed to catch them on sale for $15 for a 3-pack and replaced all 6 of my hdmi cables for $30. Can’t beat that.

 

[Pupp]

There's fine line between cheap and overpriced. With cables and wiring, I'd go with something inn the midrange. Gold plated what?

Seriously, gold plated connectors are fine if the price bump is reasonable.

I'd stay well away from premium or ultra premium cables and wiring that use precious metals and exotic shielding as wiring.
Gold plated connectors is fine as long as the price is reasonable. There is probably a fraction of a penny of actual gold being used with gold plated connetors. A few pennies worth of gold at most.

 

[Pupp]

Yes I did read that the human eye can't process an 8K picture, is that true?

I've bought the bloody thing now haven't I lol.

I think the general rule of thumb is to consider 8k displays for screen at least 85" wide although I suppose 80" wide screen is kinda borderline. For 75" or less, 8k is overkill.

8k would definately be overkill for a 70" screen.
There's a point of diminishing returns with 8k tv.
It's a bit murkier with 4k screen size, because your also getting something like 6x more colors with UHD televisions over older HDTVs.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I think the general rule of thumb is to consider 8k displays for screen at least 85" wide although I suppose 80" wide screen is kinda borderline. For 75" or less, 8k is overkill.

8k would definately be overkill for a 70" screen.
There's a point of diminishing returns with 8k tv.
It's a bit murkier with 4k screen size, because your also getting something like 6x more colors with UHD televisions over older HDTVs.

TV Size to Distance Calculator and Science

Our TV Sizes to Distance Calculator helps you choose the right size TV for your space. The optimal viewing distance is about 1.6 times the diagonal length of the television. For example, for a 55” TV, the best distance is 7 feet.

www.rtings.com

Basically, you need to be at least 6ft or closer for a 100" (or larger) display to make out any diff above 4K... and that's the minimum (for minimal diff) if you actually have 20/20 vision.

So yeah, don't bother w/ 8K unless you're going w/ a very large FP setup or plan to have your eyes just a few feet from the display...

This chart probably makes it a bit clearer (though the markings are not as granular):

NOTE though this is primarily talking about luminosity resolution, not color depth (and dynamic range), so for instance, you can still benefit from the higher color depth/rez/DR that usually comes w/ 4K formats even if you can't resolve more than 1080p in your setup. But so far, there's no such additional benefit w/ 8K over 4K AFAIK...

_Man_

 

[Desdinova]

As a video tech of 40+ years, I can fully agree and support all the insights shared so far. In all the shows and tours I've done our only criteria for cabling was spec certification and manufacturer reliability (and ALWAYS have backups ).

One thing I do want to chime in on are gold CDs. As I was told by one of our audio techs, gold CDs do have a value: if the acrylic layers separate enough for air to enter, the gold won't oxidize and the CD won't suffer disc rot. Other than ensuring the discs longevity, however, there won't be any improvement, certainly no sonic difference.

 

[YANG]

I'm often approached by some folks around me whom are totally tech noobs when they want to buy a new TV to replace the one that had been with them for a long period of time, and small... in today's term when biggies are priced the same when they bought their old.
I would often ask them for their budgets first before i proceed with more deeper technical details. Most 50inch(49.5inch somewhere) and above TVs sold in the local market where i'm from, close to 98% are 4k types while very little are 2k and below.
Some folks were constrained by the budget they willing to pay, considering the kind of other commitments they have to spend on.
Some were restricted by the viewing distance where their sweet spot where can be too close to the screen.
So... to the former folks whom are tight with budget, they were pretty acceptable on the kind of size and resolution of the TV type i suggested.
The latter will need further explanation on the technical issues and limitations on how far their sweetspot can be too close or far from the screen, as well as the source of materials they're viewing... The most frequent references i used on these groups of people are tell them to picture in mind, how does two plate of nuts, one with smaller peanuts, while another with hazelnuts, will be identifiable if pulled away from their sweetspot to the place where their screen will be. Some whom are sitting roughly 3meters away from the screen will prefer the "clarity" of hazelnuts, more than peanuts. While those who sit closer, like 60% of 3meter aka 1.8meter, will see that the hazelnut is bigger than the peanuts where the latter is clearer to them.

This is a simple reference of 2k vs 4k i use most often.

 

[edee_em]

Back in the day, there was a company that sold cables at "monstrous" prices. They made a lot of money from people like me who believed the messaging as no one provided the other side. Today, after the science showed us the error of our ways, inexpensive/properly priced (loathe to use the word cheap) cables rule the market. Don't even know if that company mentioned earlier is in business any longer. My system is all joined together with monoprice cables, save for the fire stick that came with its own cable, all for under $15. Older tech, but I don't see that much of a bump up in price on newer standards. I also have another setup using Amazon Basics cables and they are working just fine. May be even a bit cheaper than monoprice but don't quote me.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Monster is still in business and still fleecing the uneducated masses with their ridiculous prices.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Monster is still in business and still fleecing the uneducated masses with their ridiculous prices.

I used to go to trade shows every year and see Noel Lee, the CEO of Monster Cables riding around on his Segway. Mr. Lee has a degenerative nerve disease which is why he needs that mode of transportation. So, that aspect of him riding on wheels did not bother me other than the fact he stood out in a crowd.

What did bother me was him, as an individual, creating overly expensive cables and (as Clinton mentioned above) fleecing people by advertising itself as a premium product that would outperform normal certified counterparts.

I have always looked at Monster Cables as an overly greedy company preying on the uneducated. It's a shame they are still in business.