HD cabe price discrepency (cables, outlet, lcd, television)

[ogplife]

I purchased a Blu Ray 1080p Blu Ray Player for my sister's birthday. It is capable of playing at 480p without any cables, but to reach its full capacity it needs a 1080 hd cable. I see seome online at target for 90 - 200, but I have also seen some online for 12 - 20 dollars. What would be the reason for the price discrepency? Anybody ever purchase "cheap" (although I don't believe 20 dollars for any cable is cheap) HD cables?

[newtoli]

Originally Posted by ogplife

I purchased a Blu Ray 1080p Blu Ray Player for my sister's birthday. It is capable of playing at 480p without any cables, but to reach its full capacity it needs a 1080 hd cable. I see seome online at target for 90 - 200, but I have also seen some online for 12 - 20 dollars. What would be the reason for the price discrepency? Anybody ever purchase "cheap" (although I don't believe 20 dollars for any cable is cheap) HD cables?

I use the cheap HDMI cables and have no problems whatsoever with them. Don't buy the $100 ones.

Here is an article regarding this topic from Popular Mechanics where they explain it.
Cheap HDMI Cables - Brand-Name vs. Generic - Are They Worth It? - Popular Mechanics

[Bowie]

Big retailers put a huge markup on HDMI cables, figuring that if someone's plunking down hundreds of dollars for a HD television, they won't mind plunking down 10s of dollars for the cables to take full advantage of it. Don't fall for it!

[southgeorgia]

monoprice.com

this is where i purchase my cables and they work flawlessly.


and speaking of insane markups, check out this Denon "ultra premium" cable.

[eggalegga]

I've bought 4 sets of various lengths from here. Cheap price, quality product. I have two LCD tvs (one 720p the other 1080p), a HD cable box and an HD DVR. I don't have a blu-ray player.

I've never heard of a 1080 HDMI cable.

[thecoalman]

In the analog world (RCA, coaxial, S-Video) cable can make a big difference as the signal is suceptible to interference from outside sources and needs to maiintain strength. If it doesn't it will manifest as a snowy or noisy picture.

With digital it's a stream of 0's and 1's going across the cable, it either works or it doesn't. As long it support what your devices are capable of you won't have any degradation in picture quality. That of course doesn't address workmanship, if the cable fails it will be absolute failure. There is no in between like the snow common on analog.

[newtoli]

Originally Posted by eggalegga

I've bought 4 sets of various lengths from here. Cheap price, quality product. I have two LCD tvs (one 720p the other 1080p), a HD cable box and an HD DVR. I don't have a blu-ray player.

I've never heard of a 1080 HDMI cable.

All HDMI cables can carry 1080.

[Ninjahedge]

Coal, that is not 100% true.

It is ALMOST an all or nothing affair, but I have had pixelation/blocks/lag gaps and other manefestations of improper signal transferrence when I get a weak signal sometimes.

It is MUCH less noticable than with analog, however.

teh other thing is, you do need a well insulated cable to prevent signal degradation and interference, but the prices they charge for "premium" is just a joke. Unless you are running the cables right by a power converter or electrical engine (a fan or, why not, a blender) you have little chance of getting much interference that would ruin your signal.

And if you keep your cables to 6' or so, you will not have much to worry about.

Run a 40' cable behind your microwave to get to your TV and you seriously need to re-arrange your setup!!!

[CHTransplant]

I use cheap HDMI cables - I think I got three 6-foot ones for 10 bucks total once when Monoprice was running a special. Absolutely no issues. DO NOT EVER BUY RETAIL HDMI CABLES - complete waste of money.