Truth on HDMI

Mr wiggl3s · #1 12-19-2010, 07:42 AM

I know a lot of old timers here probably don't know how this works, but here's how HDMI is over priced.

And there's talk that HDMI will soon be phased out by cat5 cables.

fenderhutz · #2 12-19-2010, 07:55 AM

I get my HDMI cables for 5-10 bucks from Newegg and Meritline. Those HDMI cables priced at 40 and above are 90%+ all profit. Places like Best Buy make more profit on cables than they do the TV they sold with it. All scamtastic but they play on peoples ill gotten philosophy that because it costs more it's better.

Thunderscreech · #3 12-19-2010, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fenderhutz

All scamtastic but they play on peoples ill gotten philosophy that because it costs more it's better.

Ahh, The Gibson Business Model: Our Products are twice as expensive as the competitions, so they have to be better.

Johnny Crab · #4 12-19-2010, 09:11 AM

Similar results for buying Cat 5 cables in the Playstation section of the store instead of in the "audio/electronics" section. Much lower price, kaint tell the difference in the internet up/down speeds.

Interesting note on HDMI. I'll have to see what IEEE says about that, if anything.

UPDATE: Google says you're correct. Glad we never got into the HDMI thing here.
http://www.google.com/search?q=Will+...DMI&hl=en&sa=2

SCAMTASTIC. Glad I didn't have a mouth full of coffee when I read that.

wdinc01 · #5 12-19-2010, 09:37 AM

I get my HDMI cables (when I've needed to get some) from Ross. I think I got a six foot one for $8.

i_got_a_mohawk · #6 12-19-2010, 10:37 AM

Heck, even most analogue cables are a complete rip off (and the science doesn't support many of the boutique cable claims).

Tho yes, expensive HDMI is a complete rip off, that's why I've only used £3 cables on anything that uses them

(but this isn't anything new!)

Pilgrim · #7 12-19-2010, 10:58 AM

Just another example of cable ju-ju.

There will ALWAYS be people who believe any marketing hype, and who basically think that the more it costs, the better it must be.

They're born every minute, and they're called suckers. In today-speak, that would be "suckas".

warwick.hoy · #8 12-19-2010, 11:26 AM

I've seen this graphic before. Its is more of a rip on Monster Cable than "the truth about HDMI". I think most of us in the musical community are well aware of what a giant douche corporate bully Monster Cable is. Probably a big reason why they've moved into the A/V market. It's virtually untapped and there are plenty of ignorant rubes with money to burn in that demographic.

You couldn't pay me to use a Monster Cable product.

**bassybill** · #9 12-19-2010, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr wiggl3s

I know a lot of old timers here probably don't know how this works, but here's how HDMI is over priced.

Thank you so much. I would never have worked this out for myself without your help, I'm way too old to understand basic differences between analogue and digital signals as clearly as all you clever younger folks do. I'm sure our black and Asian members here will find this equally useful.

DerHoggz · #10 12-19-2010, 12:26 PM

I like some companies have different "trim" levels of cable. Sony has like 4 different kinds of HDMI cables, all the same length, ranging from $35-$65. Is the connector a licensed thing, otherwise why do they cost so much in the first place?

Pilgrim · #11 12-19-2010, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DerHoggz

... otherwise why do they cost so much in the first place?

Because people will pay for it...and it probably costs .15 cents more for the connector on an HDMI cable than on an RCA / phono cable. That's clearly enough reason to charge $15 more for it.

I find that whenever I have lead time, I increasingly buy cables on Ebay (yes, mostly from China) at a fraction of the cost of local stores.

When I can buy firewire cables for $5 on Ebay and the same cable costs $35 at Best Buy, it's not a hard decision to make. Ditto when I can buy mini-USB to standard USB cables in quantities of 5 for a total of $10 (and free shipping) when they cost $10 each locally. And you can wave the flag all you like, it won't change my mind.

DigMe · #12 12-19-2010, 04:54 PM

I buy cheap HDMIs too. Only problem I've had is this one I got from Meritline will work on all other Tvs that I've tried except for my Samsung, which hasn't had problems with any others. Not sure what the deal is with that.

bc

Demon_Hunter · #13 12-19-2010, 05:48 PM

I bought a 6 foot HDMI cable on http://www.monoprice.com/home/index.asp
I paid more for shipping than the cable and the cable works perfectly.

Screw Monster....and all their lawsuits against anyone that even thinks of putting the word "monster" in their name.

MJ5150 · #14 12-19-2010, 08:57 PM

Ewwwwww....monoprice cables.

-Mike

mmbongo · #15 12-19-2010, 09:10 PM

I use Monoprice exclusively. Great cables.

DigMe · #16 12-19-2010, 09:24 PM

Yeah, I've used Monoprice quite a bit too after seeing them recommended on AVS a few years back. Everything I got from them has been quality except for some 1/8" male to male cords that sucked. Where you REALLY save the money with them though are TV wall-mount brackets. I have saved my school district thousands by turning them onto Monoprice for wall-mount brackets.

bc

Sleep · #17 12-19-2010, 10:59 PM

Never had any problems with monoprice. Every cable I've purchased from them has worked great and were very affordable. I saw an HDMI cable at best buy today that costs over 100 dollars. Made me a little sick to be honest.

Hoover · #18 12-20-2010, 04:37 AM

Two things:

“The digital content in the HDMI cable does not change between your video player and TV any more than your photos do going from your digital camera to your hard drive”

...which is to say what, very little, though ocassionally quite drastically? I know I can't be the only person who's copied digital photos from the camerea o PC (or from one drive to another) only to find some sort of writing error has rendered half the picture missing, or its color spectrum inverted. Probably happens 2 or 3 times out of 50, but still...

and:

If you want to see how good (sic) your HDMI cable is, connect a true 1080P HD source to a display via HDMI, make sure you're getting a true full 1080P image, and then start to move the cable. Bend the jacket the way that cable might get bent if it were routed around the shelves of your A/V cabinet or (gasp!) through the walls of your home. And watch whether the display loses sync or drops to a lower resolution. I'm not talking about jiggling the actual connectors (though that too will often have deleterious effects), I just mean bending the cable. Lots of HDMI cables are made to such poor tolerances that simply changing the distance between one of the conductors and the insulation will have a demonstrable impact on performance.

mrpackerguy · #19 12-20-2010, 06:34 AM

Buying HDMI electronics from Amazon is cool when they bundle the $2 6ft HDMI cable - a no brainer and works great.

mmbongo · #20 12-20-2010, 06:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hoover

If you want to see how good (sic) your HDMI cable is, connect a true 1080P HD source to a display via HDMI, make sure you're getting a true full 1080P image, and then start to move the cable.

That's the beauty of digital. Either it works or it don't. It can't work at 80% capacity, it's either 0% or 100%. You can't get 1023p, it's either 1080 or not.