What should I do for best quality. (1 Viewer)

[easterling]

Hello, first time posting here, but here is my question... I am stumped with all this standard VS high speed HDMI cables and wonder if I should change only my output cable from my receiver to the tv or change all of the inputs as well...
Here is my setup.
I have a Samsung BD-P1500 (old 2008 model with latest update of Dec. 23, 2011) blu ray player, a Toshiba HD DVD player, an HD pvr with my cable company all hooked up to my Onkyo (HTIB) TXSR606 receiver then to my new 50" Toshiba LED 60hz tv.
Also, is it really a money making scham to sell HS HDMI cables at 50$ or more or can the ones on ebay for 1.25$ do the same thing?
Thanks for any help.

 

[Jason Charlton]

Why do you want to change your cables? Is there an obvious problem? Unless you're seeing glaring digital artifacts or are missing a picture completely you won't see any "improvement" going with a pricier cable.

When it comes to HDMI cables, there is a TON of misinformation out there, however.

There is some truth to the "High Speed" cables vs. "Standard" cables category, but most of the crap you see on the package of retail store HDMI cables is pure BS. The main evolution of HDMI cables since the "early days" is support for ethernet and 3D video streams.

Any claims on the package regarding 1080p bandwidth are bunk (all HDMI cables since the dawn of HDMI supported full 1080p bandwidth). Any claims of support for 120/240/480Hz is BS since the cable NEVER carries more than 60Hz signal...

The list of outright lies by cable manufacturers is long...

Long story short - any HDMI cable that's under 10 feet long and costs MORE than $15 is a ripoff. Many of us (myself included) swear by the HDMI cables at monoprice.com. They have some very beefy 24gauge, high speed certified cables that are reasonably priced and excellent performers. Here's a 3 footer for $5.

If you want to put your mind at ease, order $20 worth of cables from monoprice and rest easy.

 

[schan1269]

The only other HDMI cables I ever purchase are Vanco.
I get them "at cost" because I used to work for a CE wholesaler.
It is laughable the markup on cables.
Monster Cable is the worst offender.
A $50 cable has a "wholesale" of $18. At that $18 wholesale there is still 1300% markup.

 

[easterling]

Why do you want to change your cables?  Is there an obvious problem?  Unless you're seeing glaring digital artifacts or are missing a picture completely you won't see any "improvement" going with a pricier cable.

The reason I want to consider changing my cables is that they are pretty old and might not even be high speed but rather standard and would like to see my TV used at its full potential.
I would never pay more than 10$ for a 6' cord (which the dollar store near my work sells them for 8$ and they say high speed). Should I trust that these are good enough, and then again I found some on Ebay for 1.75$ each... This should have been my original question...
So should I simply change one cable or all of them?

 

[schan1269]

Digital transmission works, or it doesn't.
Do you see any artifacting?
Do you see any pixelation?
But, yes, it is possible for a cable to be "old". The cable itself may not go bad, its shielding gets weak and breaks down letting EMI in and allowing signal bleed...
Even those "dollar store" cables are over priced.
Go get some from MonoPrice, BlueJeans or Vanco.
Here is a 12 inch Vanco...The shorter the HDMI the better, but once under a meter there is no difference, other than not having to hide 3 feet of HDMI where you only needed a foot.
http://www.amazon.com/Vanco-266001X-Performance-Speed-Ethernet/dp/B004M8RZR2/ref=sr_1_9?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1348682463&sr=1-9&keywords=vanco+hdmi

 

[schan1269]

The only "overpriced" HDMI worth buying are these...
http://www.amazon.com/Vanco-290012X-HDMI-Cable/dp/B004KRUTHI/ref=sr_1_58?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1348683015&sr=1-58&keywords=vanco+hdmi
And that is only because of the style of it. I presume(although I've not looked) MP and BJ have similar...

 

[Jason Charlton]

Originally Posted by easterling /t/324025/what-should-i-do-for-best-quality#post_3980340
The reason I want to consider changing my cables is that they are pretty old and might not even be high speed but rather standard and would like to see my TV used at its full potential.

I understand that - but my point was that with a digital cable like HDMI, you either get a full signal, or you get massive (i.e. it's unwatchable) signal degradation failure. If you are getting a watchable picture and clear sound, then you're getting all you're going to get.

For short cable runs (less than 10 feet), and for non-3D applications, a "high speed" cable won't produce any discernable difference in image quality from a "standard" HDMI cable.

Back in the days of analog signals, like with component video cables, an impedance mismatch on the RCA connectors may introduce ghosting artifacts, or loose connectors might cause a color shift, or piling a bunch of power cables over top of the video cables could cause image distortion.

None of that happens with HDMI.

Lots of us here want to find good value in products, but we all have different "comfort" levels when it comes to finding good deals. I would be more comfortable getting a $5 cable from monoprice than a $2 cable from eBay. The $8 cable that says "high speed" is likely going to be just fine (there is always the risk of a "defective" product, too - so nothing is 100%).

Again - it comes down to what you're comfortable with. If you are going to second guess yourself as long as you have the older cables, then go ahead and replace them all. No matter where you get them, you're not looking at a huge investment now that you know not to spend money on ridiculously overpriced cables.

 

[easterling]

Digital transmission works, or it doesn't.
Do you see any artifacting?
Do you see any pixelation?

Not really, but I do find that I see some sort of small dots in the background or pixelation of some sort. I was watching LOTR Blu Ray the other night and a lot of times it would seem almost DVDish like fuzzy but then other times it was perfect... hard to say really.

The $8 cable that says "high speed" is likely going to be just fine (there is always the risk of a "defective" product, too - so nothing is 100%).
Again - it comes down to what you're comfortable with. If you are going to second guess yourself as long as you have the older cables, then go ahead and replace them all. No matter where you get them, you're not looking at a huge investment now that you know not to spend money on ridiculously overpriced cables.

I just wonder that I might change the cables and see absolutely no difference but at least as you say, I won't spend a fortune like some people would...

 

[easterling]

Another quick question... what is the difference between 28awg, 24awg and 22awg... I read somewhere that if I am to split my connect from player to tv (like I am doing) I should use 22awg.

For short cable runs (less than 10 feet), and for non-3D applications, a "high speed" cable won't produce any discernable difference in image quality from a "standard" HDMI cable.

So I use 6' on all my cables because of the placement of my equipment... you are saying standard is fine then?

 

[schan1269]

Gauge of HDMI under 50 feet makes ZERO difference.
You don't have 3D...so technically, you don't need high speed.
But what is the cost difference???
Well, I was going to try Amazon for some standard speed, but the only two standard speed(over 4 pages of choices) they had were two overpriced Monster.
The only other difference was Ethernet or not...and you don't care about that...cause either cable will work.

 

[Jason Charlton]

So I use 6' on all my cables because of the placement of my equipment... you are saying standard is fine then?

In your case, yes, I don't think it will matter one bit if it's high speed or standard. If you want, swap out one complete signal "chain" with high speed cables and see if you notice any difference.

 

[Jason Charlton]

There's an echo in here...

 

[schan1269]

I thought you were the echo...
Anyway, since you, the OP, have two people agreeing on what matters for your situation...you are good to go...

 

[easterling]

Thanks to both of you.

 

[easterling]

Ok another question... is it possible that if I use a standard HDMI cable from the blu ray to the receiver and then a High Speed one from teh receive to the TV that somewhere down the line it could create a problem like having the sound and image be off in terms of timing? I think I said that right?
OR
Because i updated my blu ray player and now it is causing more problems on other movies instead of just fixing the ones that had problems?

 

[schan1269]

The standard or high speed is irrelevant for you.
And lip sync problems, there are "cures" in your AVR.

 

[easterling]

The standard or high speed is irrelevant for you.
And lip sync problems, there are "cures" in your AVR.

Yeah that did not work... maybe it's the actual disc... but that is ok because I have the lifetime warranty at my local video store on used videos... but thanks for the answer.

 

[Jason Charlton]

Having image interpolation (Toshiba, I believe calls it ClearScan) turned on in your TV can also cause sync issues as the display has to do some image processing to the signal. Be sure these features are off or disabled.

 

[easterling]

Ok i will try that... thanks

 

[easterling]

Found this awesome site that helped me calibrate my new TV and it looks awesome now...
http://www.televisioninfo.com/content/Toshiba-50L2200U-HDTV-Review/Calibration.htm