HDMI cables

[bigblue]

The PS3 cable, and the Sony AV (HD30P) cable are both 3 metre, certified HDMI 1.3 cables.

There won't be a jot of difference really with that cable over the PS3 one, other than it making your wallet being considerably lighter. Save your pennies, honestly. Your DVD player was £90 so there's no point in spending £40 on a cable, especially when it's a digital one.

Have a look over at AVForums if you don't believe me. There's people hooking up £3000 projectors to £1000 Blu-Ray players with cables that cost under a tenner. I have a 55" 1080p TV, and have my PS3 hooked up with a £7.99 HDMI and it runs 1080p just fine. My Sky HD box uses the freebie one that it comes with, which is probably worth £5, if you're lucky.

You only really need to spend more on an HDMI if you need a long run. Or, if you're transmitting high bandwidth uncompressed HD audio formats, then I suppose it could be considered worthwhile for peace of mind. But not for hooking up a DVD player to a TV.

But, if you simply must buy the Sony (HD30P) it's available on Play for £5 less at £34.99, and if you don't need 3m, shorter lengths are cheaper too

[gino_76ph]

i think i found it! ive just got myself a QED Qunex HDMI-P for my brand-new Sony 1080p DVD player and straight away ive noticed the diferrence compared to my old "standard" HDMI cable. the picture is "near Blu Ray". clean & smooth. almost no jaggies or "visible ear lines". i had to choose between the Ixos and the QED (the 2 top HDMI cable out there i think) and a person i asked (who's had experience with Hi-def TVs and cables, etc.) said QED has the edge and is a lot better.

[StoX]

I think that doesn't make sense unless your old cable was damaged. A digital signal is not affected in the same way as an analog signal. The signal is sent as digital and arrives as digital into the output device, so if there is any noise it would be after the cable, right?!

[bigblue]

OK, I give in I've had many a debate with folks about the merits of AV cables, and I've spent a fair bit on them myself, but I draw the line at HDMI. Ixos and QED HDMI cables are indeed highly rated by What Hi-fi, but read into that what you will. You could actually spend a lot more, I think WH-F recently recommended a £250 HDMI.

As StoX rightly says, poor quality (faulty) HMDI cables, being digital, will have entirely different effects on the picture to a poor quality analogue cable. The picture won't be fuzzy, or blurry like with a poor scart. Think about your computer cables, would you buy a £40 cable for your monitor, printer or camera ?

As much as I hope you enjoy your purchases, I think what you're seeing is similar to the placebo effect, in other words because you want to see it. But in the end, if you're happy, that's all that matters

[Agent]

coz i think earlier HDMI cables don't support full 1080p....

All HDMI cables *have* to support 1080p.

HDMI. Ixos and QED HDMI cables are indeed highly rated by What Hi-fi, but read into that what you will. You could actually spend a lot more, I think WH-F recently recommended a £250 HDMI.

......
As much as I hope you enjoy your purchases, I think what you're seeing is similar to the placebo effect, in other words because you want to see it. But in the end, if you're happy, that's all that matters

What Hi-Fi is full of crap though. Its really not worth the paper its printed on.
As for the placebo effect, couldn't have said it better myself.
You dont get 'clean & smooth' image improvements from changing a HDMI cable. Its simply defying the way it works.

i think i found it! ive just got myself a QED Qunex HDMI-P for my brand-new Sony 1080p DVD player and straight away ive noticed the diferrence compared to my old "standard" HDMI cable. the picture is "near Blu Ray". clean & smooth. almost no jaggies or "visible ear lines". i had to choose between the Ixos and the QED (the 2 top HDMI cable out there i think) and a person i asked (who's had experience with Hi-def TVs and cables, etc.) said QED has the edge and is a lot better.

The person you spoke to is a smacktard.
Did the QED cost more by any chance?

Any cables with the HDMI logo on them have to meet a minimum specification as laid out by The official HDMI organisation, either Cat 1 or 2.

HDMI has measures in place at the physical layer level to help prevent errors (read section 4.2.5). To get the difference that you're claiming of a 'clean & smooth' image , the first cable was either faulty (which is hard to see how, as digital cables dont differentiate between areas that could have 'jaggies' and normal data - 'jaggies' is purely a human perception of an image) and you should return it, (and sorry to be blunt here) or its in your head

[bigblue]

What Hi-Fi is full of crap though. Its really not worth the paper its printed on.

That's what I was trying to imply by the "read into that what you will" bit, albeit less bluntly Any mag that can review a £250 HDMI with a straight face needs a good slap.

WH-F used to have the occasional good article, and does have the some knowledgeable staff, but it seems to have somewhat, for want of a better expression, disappeared up it's own arse. All the reviews seem to be full of hyperbole and light on actual constructive comment. Maybe they've had to adapt to cater for the less savvy punter that now buys AV gear, I dunno, but whetever the reason it's nowhere near the mag it was in it's heyday.

Some of the reviews are a scream though. The month where one cable "dished out detail as keenly and confidently as a fishwife" and another had "all the data piled up in a dense wedding cake of sound" was the month I promised never to buy it again. But I did, if only to see the HDMI reviews

Some of the comment on their forum seems more accurate and genuine than the content in the mag, and I'm sure I read recently of someone being advised (by a staff member) not to spend over the odds on an HDMI if it was just a short run. Guess they can't put stuff like that in the mag though.

Did the QED cost more by any chance?

I guess about £40. I tried to tell 'im, really I did...

[mroz]

i think i found it! ive just got myself a QED Qunex HDMI-P for my brand-new Sony 1080p DVD player and straight away ive noticed the diferrence compared to my old "standard" HDMI cable. the picture is "near Blu Ray". clean & smooth. almost no jaggies or "visible ear lines".

Sorry but as others have explained that's essentially impossible & proof of nothing more than the placebo effect. If you want to prove your claims arrange a double blind trial. OTOH if you just want to convince yourself you're not wasting money as a result of your own ignorance & neuroses...

Reminds me, I still have Dawkins' Enemies of Reason to watch

[Agent]

That's what I was trying to imply by the "read into that what you will" bit, albeit less bluntly Any mag that can review a £250 HDMI with a straight face needs a good slap....

No, sorry, I was agreeing with you
I should get into this cable selling business.....there's one born every minute; Might as well make a few quid from them

[TheAnimus]

Sorry but as others have explained that's essentially impossible & proof of nothing more than the placebo effect. If you want to prove your claims arrange a double blind trial. OTOH if you just want to convince yourself you're not wasting money as a result of your own ignorance & neuroses...

Reminds me, I still have Dawkins' Enemies of Reason to watch

indeed! the part of me forced to study so much electronics at uni dies a little inside, because it should be obvious to even a child should know its bullocks

[Lowe]

With analogue signals there can be perceptible differences with thin strand cable vs a decent interconnect, but even then I draw the line at spending more than 10-15 quid on a decent lead.

With digital leads however this simply isn't the case - it either works, or it doesn't. I bought my HDMI leads from Asda - £12 for a 3m lead, bargain. Everywhere else is like £30 for a 1m lead, and anyone who spends that sort of money needs their head read if you ask me. Do you all spend £50 on a 3m USB printer cable?!

[Agent]

With digital leads however this simply isn't the case - it either works, or it doesn't. I bought my HDMI leads from Asda - £12 for a 3m lead, bargain. Everywhere else is like £30 for a 1m lead, and anyone who spends that sort of money needs their head read if you ask me. Do you all spend £50 on a 3m USB printer cable?!

Yep. There is a noticeable improvement in my photo prints with my oxygen free USB cable.

[Funkstar]

The CD-Rs i burn for my car soun better with gold plated USB cables.

It's true! the sales man said it would happen!

[mroz]

Yep. There is a noticeable improvement in my photo prints with my oxygen free USB cable.

The bright colours are so much punchier & skin tones have a fresher cleaner feel, even simple black text is crisper. Just make sure you use the usb socket with the least interference on it - that's usually the one furthest from the PSU, but not always; you might need to experiment.

[Funkstar]

Surely it's like a veil has been lifted. no?

[Lowe]

You'd of thought so, but sadly there's one born every minute. Manufacturers make me laugh too - from my Bravia manual, "Only use an Sony branded HDMI cable".

Yeah right pal!

[bigblue]

Manufacturers make me laugh too - from my Bravia manual, "Only use an Sony branded HDMI cable".

You mock, but it's TRUE !

If you use a different one you'll never get a cable which (criticisms taken from reviews of HDMI cables in hi-fi mags)...

-Eradicates picture noise
-Is smooth with rapid action
-Tracks motion faithfully
-Sounds full bodied

And worst of all you'll never have the joy of your picture "leaping lusciously into the foreground".

Etc, etc, etc...

Jilly Goolden almost put me off wine for life, I'm not letting these reviewers put me off my AV gear !