HDMI cable upgrade

[admin_exported]

hi all

First of all i am firmly in the better cable = better picture camp. I recently upgraded my free HDMI cables and there was a noticable difference but i can't understand why this would be. HDMI cables are digital which means the raw data is sent as a stream of ones and zeros so why would better cable improve that? You wouldnt upgrade the USB cables that come with computer periferals so why do we do it with digital AV cables?

Can anyone shine some light on this for me.

thanks

Oly

 

[Anonymous]

the free cables were probably sub-standard, and not hdmi certified

 

[Alantiggger]

I have both £5.00 HDMI and one that cost around £25.00 (present) ... no difference in picture ?

Maybe if the system I had cost many thousands of pounds (mine is less than £2,000) then the more expensive cable WOULD show a better picture ... I wouldn't know tbh.

 

[michael hoy]

olyforprez:
hi all

First of all i am firmly in the better cable = better picture camp. I recently upgraded my free HDMI cables and there was a noticable difference but i can't understand why this would be. HDMI cables are digital which means the raw data is sent as a stream of ones and zeros so why would better cable improve that? You wouldnt upgrade the USB cables that come with computer periferals so why do we do it with digital AV cables?

Can anyone shine some light on this for me.

thanks

Oly

Can of worms again here, all I can say is - if you can see a difference then it is worth it, if you cannot then stick to the standard cable.

I am a believer but do know people who cannot see a difference on their systems.

 

[chudleighpaul]

When HDMI cables were tested in "The Big Question" the panel saw no difference in Pic quality. Save your money.

 

[camac]

2 words for the "Really Expensive" hdmi cables.

"SNAKE OIL" .

I have tried a number of different cables from bundled to QED reference and have yet to spot a difference in picture quality. (My Opinion)

The only difference I have spotted is in build quality. So save your money and buy discs.

 

[Anonymous]

I have cheap and slightly more expensive hdmi, both work fine (not saying there isnt a difference, just havent noticed one).

There are several sources of noise in a digital picture so you need to replace your mental model of how this works, the picture is not all or none.
Have you ever watched sky or freeview in a storm? the picture goes funny in a way that is different to the white noise of an analog image, as if some of the picture gets updated and some doesnt because the whole picture is lots of little all or nones, loss of some of them interferes. Then there are other sources of lost data, presumably the quality of the wires would contribute to this.

 

[daveh75]

Stormpilot:Have you ever watched sky or freeview in a storm? the picture goes funny in a way that is different to the white noise of an analog image, as if some of the picture gets updated and some doesnt because the whole picture is lots of little all or nones, loss of some of them interferes.That's down to the Forward Error Correction that's employed.