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Not all HDMI cables are created equal By: Charlie Schmuck January 29, 2010 In the world of home electronics the HDMI (high definition multimedia interface) cable is getting a lot of attention. All HDMI cables are not the same. They vary in many areas: cable length, materials used in construction, and price. Some are inexpensive and others come at a hefty price. So, what’s the difference? And, more importantly, why does it matter? Generally, the difference between a good cable and a bad cable is how well it’s made. Take for example the difference between a Kia and a BMW. A BMW usually performs better on the road than your budget-conscious Kia, the same applies to HDMI cables. A cheap cable may work fine, and you might never have any issues with it, especially if you running over short distances, like 1 meter, or you aren’t passing high resolutions such as 1080p. Also, if you are connecting directly from a Blu-Ray player to your new LED TV, it may work fine as well. However, once you start introducing other components, like surround sound receivers and distance, things get a little tricky. One of the pitfalls of the cheap HDMI cable is the so-called ‘eye pattern’. Without getting too technical, a good eye pattern has more black and less other colors in the center. When the center color starts to spill over onto the wavy lines, you get bad results, like color shifting and blurriness. So, go to Best Buy and ask to see the 'eye patterns' of their cables, I am sure that kid will know exactly what you are talking about, and produce them (sarcasm off). The other pitfall with less expensive cables is that they may not be manufactured with the best connections inside that little connector. This might affect the handshake that occurs during when your source and display talk to each other. Usually, this shows up when you switch sources (from Blu-ray to Cable for example) or sometimes the signal drops out altogether and you have to reset either the TV or the source. The handshake issue is not always the cable- sometimes less expensive TVs, sources, and receivers will cause this problem as well. But if you can rule out the cable, it makes it much easier to figure which one is causing the problem. We’ve talked about the less expensive cables, now what makes the higher priced HDMI cables special. Talking to a few manufactures it comes down to the quality of materials and the technology used to create them. Connectors made of silver/gold perform better than their nickel/gold counterparts. The insulator used to wrap the cable can be a special composite material instead of the cheap PVC you find on most low end cables. And, the higher priced wire is probably using Oxygen-Free Copper (OFC), instead of the ETP (Electrolytic Tough Pitch) copper wire, making it a better conductor for both audio and video signals. Now let’s talk about the first impression of physically handling the cables. The more expensive HDMI’s feels heavier and sturdy while the lower priced ones feel a bit insignificant. However, heavy and sturdy does not always make a great judge for a cable, but it’s a start. So how do you know if you are putting your money to good use? There is a way to find out, and it’s a quiet little secret. Most manufacturers don’t list their performance ratings on the package, so in most cases you have to rely on the person selling it to you. And chances are- they probably have no idea what you are talking about. Your best solution is to contact a reputable third party, such as DPL Laboratories, Inc., to find out if the cable you are interested in purchasing has been certified. Does all of this make a difference? It all depends on what you are connecting, and what you expect. If you are connecting a cable box to a TV in a guest bedroom, that cheap cable that came with your cable box will probably work fine. But if you are setting up that man-cave home theater system, use the good cables. You don’t want a cheap cable ruining your home theater experience. |
