HDMI cable - £5 vs £55 (discussion)

aliEnRIK

Just out of interest. Where do you stand on the 'time factor' Marty?
As in example ~
My dad recently bought a 'used' pioneer 50" (top of the range). It was switched on every day since november and we set it up 2 weeks ago.
It looked.....well 'sh*te' is too strong a word, but I wasnt at all impressed
I switched off all the fancy procesing modes (Of which pioneer have FAR too many ) and it instantly looked better
BUT
It took a good 4 hours before it really starting to come to (and was still changing)

Ergo, in my experience, these things take 'time'

Do you know ANYONE that factors 'time' into these ABX tests?

Marty_J

Well displays can certainly take a little while to warm up, though I would have thought 4 hours was pushing it; 30 minutes should be more than enough time for the display to stabilise itself. I imagine every display is different though.

Could it not be that your eyes were getting used to the display, so it looked different than you remember it? It amazing how the human body adapts to its surroundings, and we'd probably go insane if we couldn't. Try turning the brightness on your display up so it's obviously too high, and then watch a movie. Now put it back to where it was before. It'll now look much too dark, even though it looked perfect before. The same works for music. If you turn the treble way up and listen to an album, then turn it back, it'll now sound really muddy.

As for "time factors" in ABX tests, the closest I've seen is testing the effects of "burn in" in speaker cables. As I recall, no one could reliably tell the difference between burnt in speaker cables and fresh shiny new ones.

aliEnRIK

Ok ~ how about MY tv thats still changing after having it 1.5 years (possibly more)
Changing due to fitting an ISOTEK SIGMAS on the 24th December (clear change, my eyes work fine cheers )

Marty_J

Well I don't know, it's your TV, so you tell me!

Is there any possibility whatsoever that the difference is in your imagination? (be honest now!)

Personally speaking, there's no way I would pay £900 for a power conditioner, no matter how good it made the picture.

aliEnRIK

I bought it for my hifi (Which made quite a difference)
I didnt expect it to make any difference to my tv as I already used a MIRA
But, it did (Being honest )

aliEnRIK

Marty_J wrote: »

Personally speaking, there's no way I would pay £900 for a power conditioner, no matter how good it made the picture.

I bought it 2nd hand off ebay (Barely used though). And my equipment is pretty 'hifi' these days.
Each to their own. I like my hobby

Marty_J

Hey, I like my hobbies too. That's why I would have bought a new Mac, camera, or microphone instead.

My fianc!e is buying a new TV soon though, so if you know of any good US plasma models for around $1,000, I'd appreciate it. Thinking of a Panasonic probably, though Samsung is also an option. I'd like a Pioneer, but they're pretty pricey out there. Maybe next time.

The Panasonic model I was looking at had excellent black levels, though not as good colour accuracy as the Samsung (so the reviews said anyway). I'm not sure which is most important.

aliEnRIK

Not well up on US models im afraid.

Marty_J

Well, would you go for excellent black levels, or excellent colour accuracy?

aliEnRIK

Marty_J wrote: »

Well, would you go for excellent black levels, or excellent colour accuracy?

Black levels without a doubt.
(Though be aware, some of these so called 'black levels' are only any good when theres next to nothing onscreen)