Ultra high speed HDMI cable hype?

GSRBOB
GSRBOB Posts: 172
edited December 2008 in Basic Hookup/Wiring Questions
A friend of mine was looking at some HDMI cables at circuit and told me about these 120hz ultra high speed HDMI cables. Im thinkin is there really a high speed HDMI cable.

So i google HDMI and see that there are 3 different HDMI versions and wonder if it has anything to do with the cable itself.

I seriously think its only the HDMI in the electronics themselves and not the actual cable. Now my friend is considering purchasing like a 50 ft cable and you guessed it, its a monster cable.

Can anyone actually confirm that the cable is any different? I really think its all just a bunch of hype.
Onkyo TX-NR801
Fronts- RTi 10's
Center- CSi5
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Post edited by GSRBOB on
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Comments

  • Montoya
    Montoya Posts: 506
    edited December 2008
    Some hdmi are better than others audioholics did a bench test on this but as far as I know you don't have to spend an arm and a leg to get quality. Personally I have a audioquest hdmi-x and it works good. monster is not my cup of tea but on that audioholics test the cable they offer rated very good but so did the belkin and others that are far cheaper.
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  • GSRBOB
    GSRBOB Posts: 172
    edited December 2008
    Thanx for the reply. I still think that its just hype as far as being faster and being 120hz. I mean isnt the 120 hz processor in the tv?
    Onkyo TX-NR801
    Fronts- RTi 10's
    Center- CSi5
    Rear- Coming Soon
    Sub- Velo DPS-10
    Pwr- Monster HTS 3600
    LCD- KDL-40XBR2
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  • comfortablycurt
    comfortablycurt Posts: 6,745
    edited December 2008
    GSRBOB wrote: »
    Thanx for the reply. I still think that its just hype as far as being faster and being 120hz. I mean isnt the 120 hz processor in the tv?

    Yes...but the cable can be optimized to send that type of signal to the TV.

    From everything I've gathered, HDMI cables are a lot different than audio IC's for instance. There is variation in the quality of HDMI cables still...but being a digital signal there really isn't much that they can do to justify charging what they do for some of them. They're just looking for the unknowing buyer with a bunch of money to spend. I'd talk him into not buying the Monster and going with a Belkin or something similar. He'd be getting the same quality cable, and not paying an arm and a leg for it. Not to mention by buying something from Monster he's supporting a company with some pretty poor ethics...
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  • WilliamM2
    WilliamM2 Posts: 4,781
    edited December 2008
    Yes...but the cable can be optimized to send that type of signal to the TV.

    No it can't. There is no source that sends a 120hz signal, it's either 60hz, or 24hz. The 120hz signal is created in the TV.
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  • comfortablycurt
    comfortablycurt Posts: 6,745
    edited December 2008
    WilliamM2 wrote: »
    No it can't. There is no source that sends a 120hz signal, it's either 60hz, or 24hz. The 120hz signal is created in the TV.

    I guess I should have worded that a little differently...it was supposed to be sarcastic...guess it didn't really come out that way though...lol
    The nirvana inducer-
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  • GSRBOB
    GSRBOB Posts: 172
    edited December 2008
    Thanx for the replys guys. I will definitely be trying to talk my friend out of buyin the hyped up monster cable HDMI. I mean geez its like a 115 for a 6 footer.
    Onkyo TX-NR801
    Fronts- RTi 10's
    Center- CSi5
    Rear- Coming Soon
    Sub- Velo DPS-10
    Pwr- Monster HTS 3600
    LCD- KDL-40XBR2
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  • Conradicles
    Conradicles Posts: 6,119
    edited December 2008
    I was one of the silly people who bought into the marketing hype and bought one of those expensive $100 cables some time ago. I compared it to my cheap HDMI cable that came with my DirecTV receiver and I could tell no difference.

    CNET has a good article about HDMI cables.

    But cheap ones and use the extra money for some other toys.
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  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited December 2008
    since HDMI is digital audio and video cable... the picture and sound are either there or they aren't. I would only spend enough to get a cable that looked like it would withstand being plugged and unplugged quite a bit, so the connectors don't get out of whack over time.

    I think a high speed HDMI cable is hogwash myself. What could it possibly do, send your picture and audio faster? Highly unlikely.

    That would be like saying. "hey i have a high speed subwoofer cable" :confused:
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  • Fongolio
    Fongolio Posts: 3,516
    edited December 2008
    Ok, I've also heard it said that you need at least a 1.3 hdmi cable to transfer the newer audio codecs dts hd master audio and dolby digital hd. Is this true or will any hdmi cable do the job?
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  • GSRBOB
    GSRBOB Posts: 172
    edited December 2008
    Ok we need to get to the bottom of this because on wikipedia it says -

    HDMI 1.3 was released June 22, 2006 and increased the single-link bandwidth to 340 MHz (10.2 Gbit/s).[13][14][94] It optionally supports Deep Color with 30-bit, 36-bit, and 48-bit xvYCC, sRGB, or YCbCr compared to 24-bit sRGB or YCbCr in previous HDMI versions. It optionally supports output of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio streams for external decoding by AV receivers.[95] It incorporates automatic audio syncing (Audio video sync) capability. It defined cable Categories 1 and 2 with Category 1 cable being tested up to 74.25 MHz and Category 2 cable being tested up to 340 MHz. It also added the new Type C mini-connector for portable devices.
    Onkyo TX-NR801
    Fronts- RTi 10's
    Center- CSi5
    Rear- Coming Soon
    Sub- Velo DPS-10
    Pwr- Monster HTS 3600
    LCD- KDL-40XBR2
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  • GSRBOB
    GSRBOB Posts: 172
    edited December 2008
    But before this it also says -

    Versions

    HDMI devices are manufactured to adhere to various versions of the specification, where each version is given a number such as 1.0, 1.2, or 1.3a.[13] Each subsequent version of the specification uses the same kind of cable but increases the bandwidth and/or capabilities of what can be transmitted over the cable.
    Onkyo TX-NR801
    Fronts- RTi 10's
    Center- CSi5
    Rear- Coming Soon
    Sub- Velo DPS-10
    Pwr- Monster HTS 3600
    LCD- KDL-40XBR2
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  • polktiger
    polktiger Posts: 556
    edited December 2008
    This is the write up from Blue Jeans Cable - pretty good info. I assume it is accurate info.

    http://bluejeanscable.com/articles/hdmi-cable-information.htm
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  • ntculenuff
    ntculenuff Posts: 1,146
    edited December 2008
    interesting reads:

    What HDMI cable should I buy?

    More advanced details
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  • SEH
    SEH Posts: 91
    edited December 2008
    Monoprice has 6' Category 2 HDMI cable for like $5. I'm not sure any HDMI device even requires Category 2 cable, but might as well splurge and not worry about it.

    Monster doesn't list what Category their cable is rated, which leads me to believe they don't submit it for 3rd party testing. But hey, I'm sure they're highly trustworthy and everything...
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