Watchdog HDMI Cable Special

[ClassAct]

Anyone just seen the HDMI cable section of Watchdog on BBC One?

They had two identical displays with two identical bluray players feeding the same source to the screens. As the presenter was introducing the piece, I observed the two screens and noticed the image on the left hand screen looked "better". The image didn't look any sharper or more detail but the colours richer and more saturated. The presenter then went on to say the cheaper hdmi cable was on the right. I was pretty stunned that I managed to notice any difference and I wonder if it was possibly a subjective observation. This perception was not a night and day difference.

FYI I'm a adamant supporter of cheap and cheerful hdmi cables. However if it was an objective observation and others agree with me, surely the programme can't go on to say to everyone "yeah they look exactly the same". I thought it was good how Watchdog went on to send secret reporters equipped with hidden cameras into CurrysPCWorld stores and quiz sales assistant about whether you can notice a difference between different prices of cable. The results were a mixed bag with about 50 percent of stores saying there's a massive difference, 30 percent giving "misleading" information and 20 percent saying there's no noticeable difference except for the "actual build quality" of the cable.

An interesting find for a change.

 

[theflyingwasp]

I shall choose my words carefully

infact .......... Nah.

 

[bigboss]

Looking for differences from a video recording of the TVs being compared is poor way to look for differences.

 

[hifiman2008]

Come on. This is now unarguable. Curry's PC world confirmed that they were guilty of misselling expensive cables on the basis that they produced better pictures. And have offered refunds for anyone misold. You can't argue that expensive cables are better when the country's biggest seller of them confirm otherwise. It's digital not analogue. Do u all pay £100s of pounds for computer cables or stick with the freebies. Its a huge HDMI con that's been aired.

 

[chebby]

I can't watch 'Watchdog'.

It's presented by Anne R______n and she is evil.

 

[Randomshat]

I think it has to be definitive by now that digital is digital, USB is USB, hdmi is hdmi. You wouldn't pay £100 per metre for a USB lead They are all the same, glad watchdog highlighted it

 

[ClassAct]

Hey I won't be rushing to buy any fancy, expensive hdmi cable I can assure you. I'm not not arguing they are better just an observation. As a matter of fact I visited the Trafford Centre store of Currys PC World to canvass a salespersons opinion about blu ray players. He almost immediately asked had I looked into cables and stated how they can offer a massive improvement in picture quality.

I interjected that I have IBRA Pro Gold Series Red hdmi cables on all my equipment. His response was "oh you're sorted there then I've heard they're very good sir". Now these cables have amazing build quality and are only £7.95 for 2 metres available from Amazon. I think the guy was clueless and obviously just looking for a sale. The fancy sounding name probably threw him.

 

[john1000000boy]

Missed it. Link to view anywhere??

thanks.

John

 

[hifiman2008]

Be on iPlayer

 

[Deleted member 2457]

I can't believe they just picked on Currys, that is so unfair! There are plenty of other people they could've picked. Loads of other home cinema shops do it too!

 

[Deleted member 2457]

I can't believe they just picked on Currys, that is so unfair! There are plenty of other people they could've picked. Loads of other home cinema shops do it too!

Easy target I guess!

 

[bigboss]

I think Currys is the largest high street seller of HDMI cables that's why.

 

[visionary]

I think it has to be definitive by now that digital is digital, USB is USB, hdmi is hdmi. You wouldn't pay £100 per metre for a USB lead They are all the same, glad watchdog highlighted it

It seems some manufacturers think you might clicky

:rofl:

 

[John Duncan]

I think a definitive statement from Currys/PCWorld that all HDMI cables are the same would make me wonder whether they are, in fact, all different.

 

[BigBadNige]

They picked on Currys, coz Currys were particulary bad at trying to force these cables onto people !

I went in to purchase a 3d tv, only to be told catagorically that I MUST have one of these £70 HDMI cables or my tv wouldnt work (with 3d) when i got home, I was sure this wasnt true & argued the case with him but the bloke stood there saying "Im a computer engineer - im telling you, you definately need one of these cables" - I didnt buy one in the end, but Im sure this must of worked with plenty of less clued up customers. I wrote to complain but Currys just laughed me off, so I contacted Watchdog about it ! Glad they did a report on it :clap:

 

[Deleted member 2457]

They picked on Currys, coz Currys were particulary bad at trying to force these cables onto people !

I went in to purchase a 3d tv, only to be told catagorically that I MUST have one of these £70 HDMI cables or my tv wouldnt work (with 3d) when i got home, I was sure this wasnt true & argued the case with him but the bloke stood there saying "Im a computer engineer - im telling you, you definately need one of these cables" - I didnt buy one in the end, but Im sure this must of worked with plenty of less clued up customers. I wrote to complain but Currys just laughed me off, so I contacted Watchdog about it ! Glad they did a report on it :clap:

Sevenoaks do it, John Lewis sell them too. Other independent home cinema shops too. Magazines too.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

They picked on Currys, coz Currys were particulary bad at trying to force these cables onto people !

I went in to purchase a 3d tv, only to be told catagorically that I MUST have one of these £70 HDMI cables or my tv wouldnt work (with 3d) when i got home, I was sure this wasnt true & argued the case with him but the bloke stood there saying "Im a computer engineer - im telling you, you definately need one of these cables" - I didnt buy one in the end, but Im sure this must of worked with plenty of less clued up customers. I wrote to complain but Currys just laughed me off, so I contacted Watchdog about it ! Glad they did a report on it :clap:

Good on you for complaining. :clap:

 

[Deleted member 2457]

At least Currys sell cheap HDMI cables too, so you have a choice, other shops they don't give you that!

 

[hammill]

They picked on Currys, coz Currys were particulary bad at trying to force these cables onto people !

I went in to purchase a 3d tv, only to be told catagorically that I MUST have one of these £70 HDMI cables or my tv wouldnt work (with 3d) when i got home, I was sure this wasnt true & argued the case with him but the bloke stood there saying "Im a computer engineer - im telling you, you definately need one of these cables" - I didnt buy one in the end, but Im sure this must of worked with plenty of less clued up customers. I wrote to complain but Currys just laughed me off, so I contacted Watchdog about it ! Glad they did a report on it :clap:

Sevenoaks do it, John Lewis sell them too. Other independent home cinema shops too. Magazines too.

As already mentioned, Currys are by far the biggest. According to my quick internet search there are 368 Currys, 45 John Lewis and 26 Sevenoaks.

I would bet that the majority of Watchdog viewers have never heard of Sevenoaks - apart from the town. It would be insane for watchdog not to have Currys as their main target based on those figures - plus they have a justifiably awful reputation.

 

[pauljack00]

I think you will find that WhatHiFi are guilty of pushing the notion that cables make a difference

 

[Ro-Tang Clan]

People are easily conned into this as the general public are still in the analogue mindset in terms of cables. For analogue, you do get a difference in quality with the way the cable is twisted and constructed, however with HDMI, it's digital. The signal is either there or it isn't. Simple. In terms of picture quality, the only thing you should be concerned about is standards. HDMI 2.0 and 1.4 offer greater bandwidth over HDMI 1.3 which means you can fit more data down the cable thus increasing colour space and offers other advantages too.

Like someone else in the thread, I had the Ibra gold HDMI cables bought from Amazon, but had them replaced for the Fisual Hollywood Ultimate sereies (link here) simply because the Fisual cables are better built and lighter which makes them slot nicely into the back of my AV reciever; unlike the Ibra cables which sagged down potentially damaging the internal board.

On the topic of expensive cables, it does make me wonder whether anyone has actually genuinely bought cables like the Audioquest Diamond HDMI cable (link here) or the Carbon Fibre HDMI cable provided by Wireworld (link here). I mean, I'm a sucker for Carbon Fibre (I own CF spectacles and a CF pen) but that's just a little on the extreme side.

 

[bigboss]

Some really funny reviews on that Audioquest Diamond HDMI page!

 

[Ro-Tang Clan]

Hahaha yeah they're pretty funny, atleast there's people with a great sense of humour in the world! xD While unrelated to the thread topic, there's similar reviews on the Audioquest K2 speaker cable (link here) for anyone looking for a laugh.

 

[theflyingwasp]

I'm very curious I'd like to try the audioquest diamond cable for the night.

 

[ClassAct]

Ro Tang Clan, did you find the Fisusl cables to be of significantly better quality? I only have two ibra cables at the moment and they're just for my amp and ps3 connections. So could do with some more hdmi cables for when I purchase a stand alone blu ray and ps4