Gold Plated HDMI Lead for Full HD/HD Ready TVs

scottishblondie

fwor wrote: »

Generally I agree that the £30 ones are a waste of money, but you have to be careful going that cheap, as the connectors themselves have to be made with a fair bit of precision, and if you go too cheap the maker will have skimped on plasticiser, so the cable will be like a coiled spring.

Personally, I'd go as far as £4-5 for one that's going to fit properly and not fall apart after a few weeks use.

I've always used the cheap "PS3 HDMI" cables from Amazon - used to be 89p + postage now they're a bit more. I've never had any issues with them, and I must have purchased about a dozen over the last few years for myself and my family and friends.

Francesanne

Dave_C wrote: »

Cheapskates. These are the cables to buy

In the real world I think they are $995 too expensive.

For the girl that has everything! just joking.

Empty_pockets

A vote for 'That cable' very good leads, cheap and quick delivery.

Gold connections are pointless unless the entire signal path from start to finish is also gold.

Derivative

As above: on digital signals, either the cable works or it doesn't. The strange blocky artifact pattern you get when it's raining on Sky Digital is the effect of a broken cable.

All you want is a connector that won't fall apart, and I've never had a problem with a cheap cable of any type.

Now, analog signals.... best not to open that box, all sorts of issues :P

birkee

Simple answer:

Gold is a better conductor than other materials. Passes lower signal currents better.
Gold not subject to the same oxidisation as other materials. Degradation with age is less of a problem.

Gold plated can be had in the £5 - £10 range and are perfectly O.K.

Inactive

birkee wrote: »

Simple answer:

Gold is a better conductor than other materials. Passes lower signal currents better.
Gold not subject to the same oxidisation as other materials. Degradation with age is less of a problem.

Gold plated can be had in the £5 - £10 range and are perfectly O.K.

Utter twaddle, a gold plated connector may be of limited benefit if it is being used with a gold plated socket.

As 99.9999% of sockets are nickel plated, then a cheap nickel plated cable is all that is required.

The " gold plating " is pure marketing hype.

birkee

Inactive wrote: »

Utter twaddle, a gold plated connector may be of limited benefit if it is being used with a gold plated socket.

As 99.9999% of sockets are nickel plated, then a cheap nickel plated cable is all that is required.

The " gold plating " is pure marketing hype.

Logic fail!

As an ex electronics engineer, I've SEEN the difference in performance between gold plated and nickel plated connections.

There is a price premium in the electronics industry for gold plated connectors, but of course THEY don't know what they're doing do they?

For info: I'm talking up to aerospace industry level, not flamin' home entertainment connections.

Inactive

birkee wrote: »

Logic fail!

As an ex electronics engineer, I've SEEN the difference in performance between gold plated and nickel plated connections.

There is a price premium in the electronics industry for gold plated connectors, but of course THEY don't know what they're doing do they?

For info: I'm talking up to aerospace industry level, not flamin' home entertainment connections.

Reality Fail;

Gold plating in to nickel plating has no benefits.

We are talking digital anyway, so it either works or it doesn't.

By all means waste your money on the hype, I will use cheap nickel plated ones that match the metal used in the sockets.

birkee

Inactive wrote: »

Reality Fail;

Gold plating in to nickel plating has no benefits.

We are talking digital anyway, so it either works or it doesn't.

By all means waste your money on the hype, I will use cheap nickel plated ones that match the metal used in the sockets.

Sigh!
One last try.
Nickel is not a good conductor compared to a number of other metals.
They use it because of it's resistance to wear, plugging and unplugging connectors compared to softer metals, and it's cost.

If nickel, not being a good connector, loses (I'll use arbitrary numbers for indication purposes) 10% of signal at an interface, then that's 10% at the plug pin , and 10% at the socket pin, making 20% loss of signal in total.
If you change one half to gold plated at say 2% loss of signal at an interface, then you have 10% loss of signal on the socket, and 2% loss at the plug, making a total of 12% instead of 20% loss in total.

Finally, if you refer back to my post #16, it was to comment on the benefits of gold plated contacts. It was not advocating the use of it. That's up to the individual.
Before your scream of "TWADDLE" provoked a response, that's where it would have been left.

See http://www.wisetool.com/designation/cond.htm
which shows that gold is about 5 times as conductive as nickel.
But your opinion outweighs science doesn't it?

aliEnRIK

Most of the cheaper end gold plated cables (im talking any - phonos etc) will actually deteriorate over time due to the bonding process, making them worse than standard

Also depends on composition etc. You can get more pure copper than you can gold and vice versa.