HDMI cables; how long & what quality?

[MikeTheThinker]

What is a reasonable working length for a domestic HD (1080p) HDMI cable? I'd like to link our Samsung Galaxy S2 phones into the TV but we'd need something approaching 10m of cable if we're not going to trip over them all the time. Other sources include Sky HD+ & SWMBO's Wii box, so maybe a switcher is needed too?

Also, what quality of cable? There is a significant difference in cost between Chinese-made budget cables and "pro-grade" such as Belkin. Any comments on the relative behaviour?

I did a bit of Googling and found this site which made interesting reading, but whilst I'm no cable dummy I'm not up on video distribution at current performance levels.

Regards, Mike

[Huskoda]

I'm of the opinion premium cables are just a scam. I always buy the cheapest cables and have never ever had problems. The signal is digital. It either gets there or it doesn't and short of manufacturing defects, it will get there.

[@Lee]

Get a cheapo one from Tesco's ~£4.99. HDMI is a digital signal so don't fall for the B/S about better quality and you need to spend £99 on a Monster gold plated cable. You don't.

http://www.techradar...i-cable-1071343

http://news.cnet.com...s-are-the-same/

http://www.htpcsolut...-myths-and-faqs

[Dr Zoidberg]

On longer runs then you will start to get issues with cheap cables. We have some 5 and 10 metre runs that wouldn't work at 1080p due to signal degradation.

[Grizzle]

Get a cable which 1.4a you wont have any issues, anyone who buys these £100 cables has more money than sense.

[Martin.S]

The only improvement you get with a more expensive cable is better quality connectors and better shielding (only relevant on long runs) as HDMI is a lossless technology. There was a very interesting series of tests carried out about 18 monts ago to test a bunch of cable from £1.99 to somewhere in the region of £500 and the found no noticable difference. Looking for the link - if I find it I will post it

[Phosphoric]

I bought a cheap VGA cable recently to connect laptop to TV. The pins were very soft and bent as they didn't line up perfectly with the TV socket.

[LeeHarrison]

If you have a Samsung TV you could also try KIES, or alternatively a Bluetooth 'stick' - saves on cables all over the place then.

Just a thought.

[Yeti_Man]

On longer runs then you will start to get issues with cheap cables. We have some 5 and 10 metre runs that wouldn't work at 1080p due to signal degradation.

Very good advice. I tried two at 7m length (or 7.5m?!) and one at a 10 metre length. The only one that worked was the ten metre one! The other two, shorter ones were no name ones (one appeared very chunky though) off the net and the 10 metre one was a more expensive QED one - thats the one that got buried in the wall and has been 100% since day one, three years ago.

For anything less than 2m, dont spend a fortune, although I always use a low end QED or Chord one for the sake of it.

[Kiwibacon]

I have only had one issue with a cheap cable. The TV wouldn't recognise the input from it when hooked up to a computer. But when I swapped it with the DVD player HDMI cable, they both worked fine.

My brother pulled the end of another really cheap HDMI cable. That was pretty funny and IMO your only real risk with cheap ones.

[JohnMcL7]

If you have a Samsung TV you could also try KIES, or alternatively a Bluetooth 'stick' - saves on cables all over the place then.

Just a thought.

This is a good suggestion - the integration offered between Samsung mobile phones and Samsung smart TV's is superb making it a complete doddle to output data from the S2 to the TV wirelessly. If you don't have a Samsung smart TV I believe Samsung sell a separate device which plugs into a standard hdmi port and enables the same functionality, I haven't looked into it but I'd say it's worth a look depending on what you're wanting to do with the phones as it's a much neater solution.

John

[JohnMcL7]

I bought a cheap VGA cable recently to connect laptop to TV. The pins were very soft and bent as they didn't line up perfectly with the TV socket.

VGA is an older analogue technology which is much more susceptible to cable quality issues as poor shielding will frequently result in reduced image quality due to interference which means even on short cable lengths, a poor quality vga cable can have noticeable problems on the video output. HDMI is a digital signal and isn't quite the same, in most cases pretty much any hdmi cable around 2m or less will offer the same image quality (assuming there isn't an actual defect in the wiring) although on longer lengths cable construction can become an issue.

John

[Phosphoric]

VGA is an older analogue technology which is much more susceptible to cable quality issues as poor shielding will frequently result in reduced image quality due to interference which means even on short cable lengths, a poor quality vga cable can have noticeable problems on the video output. HDMI is a digital signal and isn't quite the same, in most cases pretty much any hdmi cable around 2m or less will offer the same image quality (assuming there isn't an actual defect in the wiring) although on longer lengths cable construction can become an issue.

John

True, but my point was about the mechanical construction of the plugs, cheap and poor quality, easily damaged.

[mannyo]

To connect my macbook to the TV, I bought the cheapest 5 meter HDMI cable I could find on ebay and the a dirt cheap mini displayport to HDMI converter also from ebay.

Works perfectly at 1080P, and the cable was under a fiver IIRC, and the adapter was about the same.

As mentioned earlier HDMI is digital, so just buy cheap, a HDMI cable is a HDMI cable. Don't fall for the packaging stating Hi speed etc. All HDMI cables have to meet the same standard, regardless of its labelling. A HDMI 1.1 cable is just as happy running at HDMI 1.4 speeds.

[greenstripe]

I think that you should be looking at wireless DLNA - the phones support it and it's probably as cheap to get 1 box than using a whole load of cables and certainly a lot tidier. I have a Bluray player that has this built in and can stream to it from my SIII. A lot of TVs can do this as well -some require a relatively cheap dongle to do it though. You can also buy standalone units.

[cheezemonkhai]

For longer runs you need to look at the shielding and quality of cable twist and the conductor.

If it passes the HDMI tests and has the official logo on the box, then it'll be fine.

[JezF1000]

Buy Neet ones, good and inexpensive.

[Aspman]

Try not to run the new cables near to power cables and don't put any sharp bends in the cable. That'll help keep interference to a minimum.

Maybe some sort of wireless sender would work better and be cheaper. You will need reasonable cables to run a length. That doesn't mean the silly stuff that gets advertised.

[furn]

a lot of people have different opinions on hdmi cables, my personal view is to use better quality cables.

for instance my tv cost £1200 and my blu ray surround sound cost £500 and you think i was going to connect them with a £2 lead.

but if you buy a cheap argos brand tv and matching blu ray player by all means use a cheap lead.

for what you want to use it for (connecting a phone) a cheaper lead would probably do the job ok, that said you can get some good quality leads for reasonable prices.

i have a cable made by THAT CABLE, to connect my ps3 they are only cheap but are rated highly by what hifi

http://www.thatcable.com/product/HDMI-Male-to-Male-Cable-Type-A-%28Standard%29-Version-1-3BHDMI-1.3b

http://www.whathifi.com/reviews/accessories/hdmi-and-video-cables

have a look through and see what you think!

[Huskoda]

Sigh.

It's a digital signal. There is no difference in quality between a £2 lead and a £200 one at the short distance between a bluray player and tv. None. Zip. Nada. Not one little bit. Not even a tiny fraction of a pixel.

Sorry if you believe there is, but it's just a con and you're falling for it.

[@Lee]

what he said. ^

[Yeti_Man]

Sigh.

It's a digital signal. There is no difference in quality between a £2 lead and a £200 one at the short distance between a bluray player and tv. None. Zip. Nada. Not one little bit. Not even a tiny fraction of a pixel.

Sorry if you believe there is, but it's just a con and you're falling for it.

So the fact that my 'premium' 10 metre QED lead worked perfectly (and has done for years now) when two cheaper ones didnt (one showed nothing at all, the other took forever to handshake and lock and then randomly lost connection and renegotiated the link again and again). Sorry, but imo what you're saying is only relevant to standard length runs of say upto 5m and cant encompass every type/length of digital cable into the above observation as there are other factors. Id have no issue substituting a cheaper HDMI cable for any of the shorter ones around the house btw.

[Huskoda]

Yes, I say exactly that

[furn]

im not getting into an argument, but "its just a digital signal" and "tyres are tyres"

try plugging one of them cheap portable aerials into your freeview tv and see if it works , after all its just a digital signal!

[Dr Zoidberg]

At short distances, there is no difference in the picture you'll get.

See http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-vs-hdmi for the best proof I've seen - comparing checksum data of a still image.

Digital or not, it's still an electrical signal that will be subject to losses and interference though. At the receiving end, all the equipment has to do is tell the difference between a 1 and a 0, but if the cable is long enough you can start to get errors as the signal degrades. . These will be visible as picture artefacts or as an inability to run at higher resolutions.