What HDMI cable???

teevey

Hi all,

I'm pretty clueless with technology so any help will be greatly appreciated.....I've just bought a Playstation 3 and am about to get as new TV to play it on, only trouble is i don't want to get skanked into buying a pointlessly expensive HDMI cable. I will buy a cheapish one for about £10 but this is where i need some help:

Do i just need to get a straight HDMI - HDMI cable if i buy a HD ready TV? If i buy a "Full HD" TV, do i still need to even buy a HDMI cable and if not, then what cable do i need?

Its my assumption that you only need buy a HDMI - DVI cable if i was plugging in, say, regular Sky or a regular DVD player into an HD TV, if i was to have a blue ray player or SKY HD, then i would just need an HDMI - HDMI lead. BUT again, if i have a full HD TV do i still need to buy HDMI cables for this HD Sky or blue ray stuff???? Please HELP!!!!

turbobob

teevey wrote: »

Do i just need to get a straight HDMI - HDMI cable if i buy a HD ready TV? If i buy a "Full HD" TV, do i still need to even buy a HDMI cable and if not, then what cable do i need?

You need a HDMI - HDMI cable. "Full HD" or "HD Ready" need exactly the same cable.

Its my assumption that you only need buy a HDMI - DVI cable if i was plugging in, say, regular Sky or a regular DVD player into an HD TV, if i was to have a blue ray player or SKY HD, then i would just need an HDMI - HDMI lead. BUT again, if i have a full HD TV do i still need to buy HDMI cables for this HD Sky or blue ray stuff???? Please HELP!!!!

You would only need a HDMI - DVI cable if you were connecting a PC with DVI output to a TV with a HDMI input.

DVD players and non HD Sky boxes connect via a Scart lead. They won't have a DVI output (some DVD players do have a HDMI output however).

And yes you would need HDMI cables to connect a Blu Ray or Sky HD to a HD TV.

techno12

teevey wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm pretty clueless with technology so any help will be greatly appreciated.....I've just bought a Playstation 3 and am about to get as new TV to play it on, only trouble is i don't want to get skanked into buying a pointlessly expensive HDMI cable. I will buy a cheapish one for about £10 but this is where i need some help:

Do i just need to get a straight HDMI - HDMI cable if i buy a HD ready TV? If i buy a "Full HD" TV, do i still need to even buy a HDMI cable and if not, then what cable do i need?

Its my assumption that you only need buy a HDMI - DVI cable if i was plugging in, say, regular Sky or a regular DVD player into an HD TV, if i was to have a blue ray player or SKY HD, then i would just need an HDMI - HDMI lead. BUT again, if i have a full HD TV do i still need to buy HDMI cables for this HD Sky or blue ray stuff???? Please HELP!!!!

No need to pay £10 - just go on eBay and get one for £3 or less. They're all shielded and all as good as each other it seems (I've had no issues with my cheapo cables).

HDMI-HDMI is what you need as it's the 'best' connection around, so it doesnt matter if you have a regular DVD player and a Full HD telly - if the DVD has HDMI, use it!

savemoney

I have a cheap ebay cable for my blue-ray player works fine

aliEnRIK

Ive tried quite a few and my personal viewpoint is theyre NOT all the same

Id buy this for a start price ~
http://whathifi.com/Review/ThatCable-HDMI/

kwikbreaks

aliEnRIK wrote: »

Id buy this for a start price ~
http://whathifi.com/Review/ThatCable-HDMI/

Last of the big spenders eh?

I've got some cheap cables and they seem fine to me too. People who spend a fortune on HDMI cables can see a difference (in their bank balance certainly).

aliEnRIK

kwikbreaks wrote: »

Last of the big spenders eh?

I've got some cheap cables and they seem fine to me too. People who spend a fortune on HDMI cables can see a difference (in their bank balance certainly).

Ive tested a Molex, QED, Chord Silver, Wireworld Starlight and Van Den Hul Flat
My equipment goes through a very expensive mains conditoner and everything is wired up with 16 core braided mains cables to reduce RFI and EMI
On 'my' setup the molex had a 'soft' look to the picture (Compared to the others)
The QED was fine and had really god results
The other 3 were all better than the QED for very fine detail and movement
People can buy one for 3 quid and it 'work'. But it sure as hell wont be as good as a half decent one

maid020279

I have this one from Amazon, search for the description below...

1.8M HDMI to HDMI Cable - Gold Connectors - For Use With HD TV's / Xbox 360 / PS3 etc

Only £1.69 delivered, works perfect and is of a good build quality; I would highly recommend!!

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aliEnRIK wrote: »

Ive tried quite a few and my personal viewpoint is theyre NOT all the same

Id buy this for a start price ~
http://whathifi.com/Review/ThatCable-HDMI/

Ignore advice like this.

What hi-fi don't know their behind from their elbow. There is no way that a HDMI cable can alter blacks, noise (plasma PWM noise), contrast, or sharpness, it's technically impossible unless one cable is faulty (leading to sparklies and loss of image, or even no image at all).

Pop over to avforums and navigate to their 'avforums tv' section. Scroll down to the 'HDMI Event' and watch all of those 3 parts if you can handle how technical it is. As a note, what hi-fi ban all mention of avforums on their site as evidence and opinions other (and more knowledgable) than their own regarding HDMI cables cannot be permitted to hurt their magical and made up reviews

http://www.avforums.com/tv/index.php

Essentially, these more expensive HDMI cables CANNOT improve picture quality. The only time investing in a better constructed cable will be beneficial is when someone is putting cables into walls or needing a long run (say to a projector). The audioholics supertest below sums it up pretty well and even joke that you could just about use silly string at under 4m with no detrimental effects :rotfl:

http://www.audioholics.com/education/cables/long-hdmi-cable-bench-tests

Dave101t

the only thing that could possibly make a difference in quality of the cable is gold connectors. i always buy gold ones but whatever the cable, ebay or playtrade is your friend.

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Dave101t wrote: »

the only thing that could possibly make a difference in quality of the cable is gold connectors. i always buy gold ones but whatever the cable, ebay or playtrade is your friend.

:wall:

Gold will do nothing to the picture quality, please read my above post and read the audioholics article to educate yourself a bit more on the format.