[7slinger]

So, those of you in the know, is there any difference between the HDMI cables they sell for $50 or more at Best Buy vs. the ones you can buy for $7 online?

Here are some examples:

MyCableMart.com :: Products > HDMI HDTV Cables

Dynex® - 6' HDMI A/V Cable - DX-AV002

please help me save the moneys

[eleven59]

Just like any other cables, yes, there's a difference. A cheaper cable will have some signal loss/distortion (resulting in dull picture and sound, or flat out bad communication), and with something like HDMI, there's so many wires going through there that I'd be wary of cheap cables having shorted wires or lack of continuity on some pins.

[Crucified]

cheaper cables lack shielding as well. no shielding = bad signal or interference

[Alpo]

It's all digital so basically as long as the signal gets there in full, there will be no difference. If the cable is broken you will notice all kinds of artifacts and other stuff. But if it works there's no difference between the cheaper cables and the crazy expensive ones.

[m3ta1head]

Originally Posted by Alpo

It's all digital so basically as long as the signal gets there in full, there will be no difference. If the cable is broken you will notice all kinds of artifacts and other stuff. But if it works there's no difference between the cheaper cables and the crazy expensive ones.

Yes exactly, HDMI is a 100% digital signal. Unlike analog cables, there is no difference between cheaper and more expensive cables in terms of the actual signal transmitted by the cable. There usually are differences, however, in the shielding and strain reliefs in the cable, and generally the build quality of the cable.

I would suggest shopping at www.monoprice.com for cables-they sell fairly high quality cables (as well as cheaper cables) at fairly low prices. They're extremely reputable and highly reccomended across many enthusiast websites and forums.

[TomAwesome]

I got beaten to it, but yeah, since it's a digital signal, it doesn't really matter. It's 1s and 0s, so unlike an analog signal, the only differences possible are just whether or not the signal gets there.

[Naren]

I have 2 HDMI cables for my TV (one for my PS3 and one for my Xbox 360) and they both cost about $15-20 and I've never experienced any problems with them. I'd be wary of trying any HDMI cable under $10, but if I tried one and it worked fine, I might buy one.

Like people have said, HDMI is 100% digital, so all the audio and video is included in one cable (which looks kinda like a USB cable). Component consists of about 6 different cables, which are all analog I believe, but component can get quality that is pretty close to HDMI. But right now HDMI is the highest definition format out there.

[eleven59]

Originally Posted by Alpo

It's all digital so basically as long as the signal gets there in full, there will be no difference. If the cable is broken you will notice all kinds of artifacts and other stuff. But if it works there's no difference between the cheaper cables and the crazy expensive ones.

Wrong-o. If the digital signal gets corrupted it'll have more problems than analog cables.

And there's a very clear difference between cheap cables and expensive ones (same goes for power cables, though most people will say I'm crazy, it's nuts how big of a difference they make).

[7slinger]

thanks for all the responses everybody

[Pauly]

Necro bump because I just got a Virgin V+ box to replace the old one with (this one supports HD channels + upscales standard ones) and connected it to the Sony Bravia we have downstairs via the HDMI, but for some reason I can't turn the get the TV and box to recognise each other as HD devices, the Virgin box won't let me change the settings to HD 720 or 1080p so I can't actually get an HD picture. *Annoying* Help appreaciated if anyone had a similar problem, although the engineer is coming back tomorrow because he forget to bring the proper remote, lol. Want to fix it before then though so I can look clever!