HDMI Cable, What to buy Cheap (relatively) or expensive cable?

[compufunk]

So..... santa gave me a nice 42" 1080p LG LCD TV for Christmas. I've been using a HDMI cable a friend kindly lent me, so now I need to buy my own.

I know this has been done elsewhere before, but I'd like to hear what members here have to say about the subject from experience.

The variation in price on these things is huge and the prices in some of the high street stores are just plain crazy.

I have no intention of paying £70 to £100 for a 1.5M length of plastic and copper with silver/gold plated connectors.

There's a lot of miss information out there as to price vs quality. A while back I came to the conclusion that a well made cheaper cable was going to perform just as well as an expensive one (at least over a short run of < 2m). I spent a while reading this evening and my conclusion on the subject hasn't changed.

Here is one of the more detailed articles I read _http://www.audioholics.com/education/cables/long-hdmi-cable-bench-tests You can skip over most of it, the useful/practical information is at the end.

It seems that the higher performance cables only make a difference in long lengths or with high end test equipment.

Please let me/us know what your experiences with HDMI cables are. Cheap or expensive?

Any input is appreciated.

Rgds,
C

 

[Channel Hopper]

Out local Tesco was selling off some 1.5m HDMI cables for a couple of pounds just before Christmas so I bought ten of them.

Ive used five to date on HD system upgrades for customers and double checked the pictures of two systems against a far more expensive lead of the same length that I keep in the van.

No difference I (nor the customer) could see, even when used on a Panasonic Blu-Ray recorder to 50" Panasonic screen, playing Casino Royale

 

[PaulR]

If you know a $ly installer you may be able to tap him for a cable...

 

[hexah]

The error correction will handle any errors. So the cheapest cable is fine.

If there is any problem with the cable there might be the same squares and audio farts you get when a satellite signal is breaking up. Usually the cable just won't work when it is duff. It's nothing to do with the cost of the cable, it is just faulty.

 

[jphili]

It's only on longer cable lengths that I've noticed a difference.

A cheap cable at 5 meters works fine for me, but a 10 meter cable shows different behaviour depending on the equipment connected.
I've noticed the color on the screen going bonker with a (cheap) 10 meter cable run.
But even then it was a lot more economical to put a powered HDMI switch in between than buy a more expensive cable and in the mean time I got the extra functionality of the switch as well.

 

[portly]

The most ive paid is 5.99 so dont buy expensive rubbish its a con, youve got to check the cable for "if im right" ver 1.3 cant remember exactly as im getting old, someone on here must know:-) but if long lenths are need then a more expensive cable will work better but not at the silly ripoff prices they try to charge

 

[compufunk]

Well.......
Thanks for the input folks. I've been using a cheapo HDMI lead since it was delivered on Monday. It works perfectly. I cant see any difference in picture quality (even with my specs on) between using this cable and the expensive one I had borrowed.

Its not quite as sturdy as the expensive one, but at around 95% less in price I'm more than happy with it.

 

[PaulR]

Thanks for the input folks. I've been using a cheapo HDMI lead since it was delivered on Monday. It works perfectly. I cant see any difference in picture quality (even with my specs on) between using this cable and the expensive one I had borrowed.

And you won't see amy difference. The only people who can "see" a difference are those who have justify spending stupid money!

Its not quite as sturdy as the expensive one, but at around 95% less in price I'm more than happy with it.

Correct. If you're not going to continually bend a cable then you don't need a very flexible one.