What 1.4 HDMI Leads are you Buying?

[admin_exported]

I am just about to update my AV receiver, for a number of reasons, but the one I choose will have 1.4 HDMI connections.

Currently I have No 3D equipment, but I will likely be upgraded the TV in the next 6 months, so I may then just get one that is (give them time to mature a little and drop in price).

Currently I have Supershield HDMI's on my Sky HD Box and BDP-S370( which will be put in my son's bedroom eventually and replaced with a 3D model), but cheap ones from Play.com on my New Xbox 360 and V+HD Box.

I want to upgrade the cables for the latter two, but as I dont want to be replacing cables in the future, I thought I would get some decent 1.4 versions now.

So Guys, what decent 1.4 HDMI's are you buying, from someone like QED or Chord etc. my budget is upto £50 each, 1m lengths.

N.B. I DO NOT WANT TO GET INTO A DEBATE OFFER THE MERITS OF CHEAP v EXPENSIVE CABLES HERE PLEASE (I HAVE ALLREADY DECIDED WHICH CAMP I AM IN)

Your suggestins wold be welcome.

 

[Anonymous]

Is no one buying 1.4 HDMI's then???

 

[bigboss]

Ok.......why do you need HDMI 1.4 now, when you're not planning to watch 3D anytime soon?

Just use your existing cables for now. When you decide for 3D in the coming months, then look for some decent HDMI 1.4 cables. Being a new technology, there aren't many HDMI 1.4 cables around......but in 6 months time, there will be more options to choose from.

 

[bigboss]

Ok, misread your post. Check this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/RED-1-4Version-15-2Gbps-COMPATIBLE-HD/dp/B003H7BU52/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1280425704&sr=8-12

 

[nads]

markjaspi:Is no one buying 1.4 HDMI's then???

correct.

give it a year or three and then maybe.

 

[Anonymous]

Why buy something you dont need if the current cables do the jobb i see no need to change even if 3D, you need the new cables for ethernet and the return channel if you dont need any of the 2 features, no need to change.

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry I did not mention the 2 HDMI cables I am currently using have been loaned off other equipment in the house,as the V+HD box & Xbox 360 are very recent additions.

Pinched from a Sky HD box in the conservatory and a panasonic BD30 serving a pioneer 507XA in the bedroom, they need to go back some time soon.

As I mentioned earlier, I dont want to but 2 x £50 cable to have to replace them later.

FYI I checked the cables again today the xbox does look pretty good through the play.com HDMI, but the V+HD boxes hd channels look really soft compared to sky via the thatcable HDMI.

 

[professorhat]

There's no such thing as a 1.4 cable, this is a term to specify a port's capabilties. If a cable is High Speed certified, it can provide all the necessary functionality for equipment with HDMI 1.4 ports (including 3D and the ARC) - it's only if you require the Ethernet channel that you need to look for a cable with the High Speed with Ethernet certification. Virtually all of the major brand's shorter cables (i.e. 1 to 2 metre cables from QED, Chord etc.) are High Speed certified as they have been built to exceed the standard specifications by massive amounts.

See here for full official details from the HDMI org and here for QED's take on it all.

 

[bigboss]

markjaspi: FYI I checked the cables again today the xbox does look pretty good through the play.com HDMI, but the V+HD boxes hd channels look really soft compared to sky via the thatcable HDMI.

To me, it appears as if it's the Virgin HD box that's showing the softness, not the HDMI cable. Try swapping the HDMI cables (V+HD cable into Sky HD box & vice versa) & see if things improve. If they still don't improve, the problem lies with your V+HD box.

Not heard of anyone else having Virgin TV as well as Sky......any reason for you to have both?

 

[Anonymous]

Yeh I will swap over the HDMI's today when I am changing amp to see if the lead makes any difference, but I remember it looking better when I had a different HDMI plugged in a while ago.

To answer your question on sky/virgin, there are a couple of reasons:

A: I wanted ESPN HD for the footie, it was £10 a month extra for 1 channel on Sky, or £22 a month for the XL package (where it is free) on virgin.

B: I was getting a bad 1.3mbps speed on my sky broadband, but with the virigin fibre optic I am getting 10mbps at the same price.

C. the main reason was that the sky hd box has analogue outputs for video/sound so I kept it use it to serve my Opus Octipuss system, which means we can watch / control via the keypad the sky system in the rest of the house. I have 4 different zones in the house, the 2 kids rooms, our bedroom and the kitchen/family room (this make the hosue sound big, but it's not).

By having the Virgin, this means we can watch what we want in the lounge and the children and their freinds can watch what ever they want in one of the other rooms.

The only room in the have which has it's own dedicated system that is not served via the opus is the conservatory, which has it's own 32" full HD LCD, Sky HD box and my old Bose sound system.

Hope that makes sense.