What is the difference between a $17 and a $150 HDMI cable? (1 Viewer)

[TheBat]

I recently found 2 feet HDMI cable from blockbuster video. the price was 9.99. I bought a bunch of them. seem to work fine. thought you could be interested.. if looking locally for cheap and not going online for it.

Jacob

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Originally Posted by Blu4ever /forum/thread/236092/what-is-the-difference-between-a-17-and-a-150-hdmi-cable#post_3640559
Gold plated terminals have better conductivity but will also corrode faster.

Corrode? Gold? Where the heck does this kind of stuff come from? Fact: Gold is one of the most corrosive resitant metals known. It's why you can drop a gold coin in the a highly corrosive salt-water ocean and have it come up shiny and new 400 years later.

 

[Blu4ever]

Originally Posted by Jeff Gatie /forum/thread/236092/what-is-the-difference-between-a-17-and-a-150-hdmi-cable#post_3640606
Corrode? Gold? Where the heck does this kind of stuff come from? Fact: Gold is one of the most corrosive resitant metals known. It's why you can drop a gold coin in the a highly corrosive salt-water ocean and have it come up shiny and new 400 years later.

Basically gold is added to the ends to prevent corrosion...ok

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Originally Posted by Blu4ever /forum/thread/236092/what-is-the-difference-between-a-17-and-a-150-hdmi-cable#post_3640651
So u r comparing a solid gold bar or coin to very fine gold plated terminal end which may not have been made in the US. Is it possible the gold plated ends are more chemically not gold than gold? Yes a piece of solid gold will last 400 years,but a gold plated chemically applied who knows?
Basically gold is added to the ends to prevent corrosion not for better conductivity.

Which contradicts your other post..

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Basically gold is added to the ends to prevent corrosion not for better conductivity.

Have you changed your mind now?

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Originally Posted by Blu4ever /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Gold plated terminals have better conductivity but will also corrode faster.

1) You're missing the joke. Optical cables don't get gold (or gold plated) connectors for the simple reason that they use light to transmit data, thus electical conductivity is irrelevant to them. to gold-plate an optical cable would be almost literally to gild the lily - assuming the plating didn't bock the optics and render it useless. Everyone was poking fun at the pretenses (and deceptive claims) of "high end" cables.
2) As noted by others, gold is significantly less subject to corrosion than other metals - hence its association with immortality and incorruptability since ancient times. (The alchemist's quest to turn base metal into gold was part and parcel of their quest for eternal life.)
3) Gold is used for critical electrical connections because it is both highly resistant to corrosion and an excellent electrical conducter. Among common metals only silver and copper (both of which corrode rapidly) are rated higher for electrical conduction. (The relative figures are silver 105, copper 100 and gold 71. Iron, by contrast, is 17 while steel rates a 15 on the same scale.)
Regards,
Joe

 

[Arcruseiii]

Here is the answer. What is your requirements. What is the refresh rate of your HD TV. Is it 60, 100, 200, or 400 Hz and is it your intention to use 8, 16, or 24 bit color? As you go up in refresh rate and/or color bits you need a lower impedence cable. The higer priced cables should be lower impedence and should indicate that they are for higher information rates. The one I bought to go bwtween my Blu Ray player and my HDTV with a 200Hz refresh rate at 24 bit/channel had a guaranteed transfer rate of 2 gig bits per second. Look on the package label and see what refresh rates it supports.

Aubrey

 

[Jason Charlton]

Originally Posted by Arcruseiii
What is the refresh rate of your HD TV. Is it 60, 100, 200, or 400 Hz and is it your intention to use 8, 16, or 24 bit color?

WRONG!!! Refresh rate of your TV has absolutely NOTHING to do with the signal going from your source to the TV. Nothing higher than 60 Hz is EVER carried from your Blu-Ray to the TV. The conversion from 60Hz to 120, 240, or 600Hz is done COMPLETELY within the TV itself, so it's completely irrelevant to the HDMI cable.

There is no performance-related reason to pay exhorbitant prices for HDMI cables.

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/articles/speed-rated-hdmi-cables.htm
http://www.audioholics.com/education/cables/hdmi-cable-speed
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38731070/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/

 

[pearlejam]

We also like these guys at our work www.americanconsumercables.com Cheap HDMI cables.

 

[penjet]

The 133$ answer is (more or less) correct. There are flavors of HDMI as the technology has improved (ie 1.2, 1.3a, 1.3b, 1.3c, etc.) that provide increased performance --e.g. lip sync issues minimized with 1.3c. When you buy an HDMI cable, they should be certified to carry the official HDMI mark/logo. With really cheap imported items, this label can, of course, be used without authorization.

I have noticed the stores now branding items "STANDARD" HDMI and "DIGITAL" HDMI. To be safe, I'd say go with the digital HDMI. I've seen the data listing that they are certified to 1080p, while the standard are 720 or 1080i.

Monster is overpriced (even for the higher cost of materials utilized) but does exist for a reason...so do gold plated tail pipes. I won't, however, rip on anyone who chooses to use them... they are just an upscale sort of luxury item. While there may be slight differences, they likely do not (given modern television mfg) provide a significant performance enhancement.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

Assuming we aren't talking the marketing surcharge attached to some cables, some of the reasons a cable can cost more are a higher gauge of wire and if it is rated for in wall use (CL2/CL3 fire rating). Non CL rated cable can act as a fuse taking fire from one wall section to another, so don't save a few bucks if you are planning on putting it in the wall.

I really like Blue Jeans Cable. They are a very well built cable for not a lot of money. I just received a 40ft HDMI cable to make a second run for a 3D BD player (my AVR can't pass through 3D) and it was $27 for a very well built, high quality CL2 rated cable.

 

[snowman2]

You're exactly right. Gold does not corrode and not the best conductor of electricity, silver is the best conductor BUT tarnishes quickly (does not corrode either). So in my opinion, having gold plated connectors is all hype and does not mean you get the best point of connections between the two media by using gold connectors. I think the best method really is to make sure "male to female connectors are PERFECTLY CLEAN AND IF POSSIBLE USE RUBBER BOOT" to protect from dirt. My apologies to people who find this statement a bit raunchy..

 

[DaveF]

This is an ancient thread But still relevant.

Like Adam, I also like Blue Jeans Cable HDMI a lot. At $20-$30, they're more expensive than from MonoPrice.com but still a steal compared to anywhere else. And they have great build quality. And friends tell me Monoprice's HDMI cables work just fine.

 

[stvmcq]

I have had bad luck with monoprice, solder joints on the cables broke pretty quick. Check this one out:

www.av-express.com

 

[Adam Gregorich]

Originally Posted by DaveF
This is an ancient thread But still relevant.

Like Adam, I also like Blue Jeans Cable HDMI a lot. At $20-$30, they're more expensive than from MonoPrice.com but still a steal compared to anywhere else. And they have great build quality. And friends tell me Monoprice's HDMI cables work just fine.

Keep in mind that $20-$30 price is for one of their "higher end" HDMI cables. Their entry level HDMI cables start at $2.60 and are $3.60 for a 6ft one, very competative with MonoPrice.

 

[DaveF]

Interesting; I was shopping at BJ in '09, I didn't see any $5 budget HDMI cables. No matter, I'm satisfed with the $20 cables. (And when I had found the $5 Monoprice cables, I still bought my remaining HDMI from BlueJeans to be consistent through my system.) At about $100 for my entire system, that's about the price of a single HDMI cable from Monster.

 

[Radioman970]

I have monoprice now. No problems with it whatsoever.

Early on I could have sworn that more expensive cables were better, Sony branded, philips branded...looked like there was a difference! :p Turns out, a sony bluray player was just better than the Panasonic I ended up buying. And all seemed to have a problem getting bluray to run smoothly on whatever LCD I was using. Lesson learned. I returned 2 LCDs, bought a plasma over the net (still working fine) and all the other cables, stuck with the monoprice, and pan player since the sound that came with it was better than Sonys. Next time, building my own system around whatever the best 3D TV/player is at the time.

 

[Worth]

Here's a piece from a Canadian news magazine show where the differences between a $250 HDMI cable and a $12 are scientifically compared:

 

[Jason Charlton]

Bummer - it's blocked for US viewers.

Any particularly interesting or unexpected findings?

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Why all HDMI cables are the same - CNET News

The difference in HDMI cables of the same spec matters when you start getting to longer lengths, 40 foot or more. The same CNET reviewer tried out a few common brands at both the high-end and the low-end on a wide variety of equipment. You can read that here. Unfortunately, they didn't try any of the mid-range price point cables like Blue Jeans. At 50 feet, Monoprice still performed as well as Monster Cables. I would assume that BJ would as well.