Is there a difference in HDMI cables?

Question

If there is a difference, what are the specs? What does the 18 pin vs 19 pin change or improve?
Why I can see cables costing $10.00 and some costing $250?
Thank you for your time....

Answer 1

Despite alot of misinformation available on the Internet, there are significant difference between different HDMI cables.

When trying to decided between a higher priced cable and a lower priced cable, a good rule of thumb is to weigh the value of what you are connecting.

For example:

Let's say you just spent $400 on a small 23" LCD for a kid's bedroom. Don't buy the $150 Monster M1000 HD-4 cable, save your money and get a good quality Monster Cable M650 HD-4 instead. The reason for this suggestion is because while the M1000 cable WILL give you superior performance, it doesn't make sense to spend this much on a cable for a television that only cost $400. Additionally, the smaller the display, the more difficult it will be to discern the differences between the lower quality cable and the top-end cable.

Now, let's say you just bought a $3000 1080p 50" display. Spend the $150 and get the best quality Monster Cable M1000 HD-4 or other length depending on your needs. You will be able to see the differences on the larger higher resolution display. The larger the screen size the more obvious these differences will be. You will find it will not be worth saving very little money in relation to your total investment on a sub par cable. Remember as is the case with most all audio video products, specs do not determine a systems performance. It is the combination of quality high-performance components that make the differenct between and okay system and a GREAT system.

While there are cheap cables out there that will work, there are also cheap tires at Wal-Mart for your BMW; they may allow your BMW to roll down the street, but the performance you paid for in the purchase of your BMW goes out the window without the correct tires. Don't let you AV system suffer the same way.

At the same time, don't waste your money putting BMW tires on a Yugo.

Get educated, visit the eduction center in the link below to learn more detailed information about the HDMI technology.

I hope this information is helpful.

Answer 2

HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface ) digital cables combine uncompressed audio and video over a single cable . The question most people ask is ":which cable produces a better image, the latest digital interconnects such as HDMI or analog component or RGB.interconnects"The truth is there is no straightforward answer. Digital does not always imply a. better image quality in the case of a video connection.Many people assume that while analog is always subject to an element of degradation,digital transfer of information is error free.The information is represented by just ones and zeros,therefore it is easier to ensure that the information received at the display is an exact replica of the information originating at the Source. As far as cable length is concerned,HDMI cables are limited to a maximum of about 15 meters Also HDMI do not use error correction ,therefore once information is lost it's lost for good.Whenever a digital signal is passed through a cable ,the leading and trailing edges of the transitions in voltage representing the digital data are rounded off. This rounding increases with distance up to a point where it may be hard for the receiver to reconstruct the original bitstream.
So to finish off. Is digital always better? .There is no simple answer.There is no way to determine in advance whether RGB or Component video will give you a better picture than a DVI or HDMI cable. It all depends on the Source and display combination.What may operate well using an HDMI cable between a source and display set-up may well produce a better picture when connecting another source say through Component video over the same display device.You need to plug -in tour cables and give the whole setup a try using the different connections available on your gear.

Answer 3

the main distinction is that an HDMI cable can transmit the two audio and video alerts and an element cable can purely transmit video (you will could run a separate line for audio by toslink/optical, rca (purple/white) cables). yet another distinction is that HDMI can cope with extra information than an element cable. An HDMI cable can transmit alerts as much as and previous 1080p collectively as factor cable max out at merely 1080i. factor cables can surely transmit 1080p yet there are few contraptions which will settle for a 1080p sign from an element cable by way of copyright risk-free practices bs.

Answer 4

HDMI has had several release levels; for example HDMI 1.3 cables will carry some types of signal not supported by prior releases.

Cables within these release levels, however, are functionally identical (presuming a basic quality level is present). Bits either arrive or they don't; there are no "subtle" degradations in the digital domain. It's worthwhile to buy a well-constructed cable that won't fall apart (and this is true of nearly any you'll see in a store) but there is no reason to fall prey to unscrupulous companies or stores that sell "exotic" cables claiming visible benefits.

Answer 5

Despite someone giving him the good ol thumbs down! MrAnniversary73 answer he is completely right!

There are all kinds of small inconsequential things that make a HUGE difference on what you see on your screen.

Take for example your surge protector that the pushy sales guy always tries to sell you when you buy a TV. Well if you just dropped 2 to 3k on a new TV wouldn't you want to protect it? Well I can tell you that I personally have a Monster Home Theater POWERBAR 2100 with Clean Power Stage 2 that retails for about $250.00 well I can tell you that it made a night and day difference in the picture quality on my 42" LCD 1080p TV.

So I'm just saying don't be so quick to discount something of better quality not equaling a better performance.

Answer 6

More pins...better connection and pic...theoretically, but you won't notice much difference.

Buy a Wal-Mart or Target cable and it's fine.

Monster cables (usually the most expensive) are pointless. They have a LOT of unecessary shielding (that you pay up the nose for) It's like wearing 3 condoms.

When you're talking about a fully digital signal you're just NOT gonna need that much insulation to protect the signal in the 3-6 ft. the signal will travel.

EDIT:

Oooh the Monster sales reps thumbed me down. I'm crushed.

Answer 7

While I don't know that much about it, I've read from Dailytech/Anandtech that many users use 10-20 dollar cables and they work fine.

Answer 8

Some of them may be HDMI 1.3 compatible