Gold Plated HDMI Lead for Full HD/HD Ready TVs

KillerWatt

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.

I have to agree with Birkee on this one.

It is quite possible to see the difference between various conductor types using various test equipment, but what Birkee hasn't made quite clear is whether we (humans) will be able to notice it when we see the end result.

Invariably we can't tell the difference, so while you are correct in what you say about the cheap cables (and I use the cheap rubbish myself) - Birkee is also right about the properties/performance characteristics of various conducting metals.

debitcardmayhem

All this talk about which is better hmmm, if a cable is HDMI then it has to conform to the standards. Any one interested shoud read this
the spec for HDMI 1.3 . Read the bits about error correction . Of course it is 230 + pages so you may find it a bit tedious. If the cable and or its connectors stray outside the specs send it back, not fit for purpose, and tell the HDMI.org folks, mind you no one thus far has discussed the fact that cables don't have error correction, its the bit behind the socket that does that:D

almillar

There is a problem with recommending a £5 cable instead of a £1 one - how do you know it's not the same cable?! Start with cheap stuff, and upgrade it if you have problems. You don't want a flimsy cable though, especially if it's going to be plugged/unplugged though.

moonrakerz

birkee wrote: »

Simple answer:
Gold is a better conductor than other materials. Passes lower signal currents better.

Even simpler answer:

Silver is a far better conductor than gold - and so is copper !

kwikbreaks

Gold isn't used on connectors because it is a good conductor it is used because it doesn't corrode. A few microns of better conducting material on a lead at least a meter long would clearly improve nothing.

Francesanne

penrhyn wrote: »

I bought a couple of HDMI cables from ThatCable, they seem well made and not too expensive.

http://www.thatcable.com/

Amazon do their own brand which I've used.

Thanks for recommending. Have order a pair today from them today.

wt536

dg1dd1ngs wrote: »

Gold conducts electricity better than most other metals, so in theory a gold cable will give you a better picture. You won't really be able to tell the difference on a shorter cable though... but on a longer one it will make a noticeable difference

Taking the conductivity of copper as 100%, gold comes in at 75.6% and silver comes in at 105.4%.

So a silver contact would conduct better than a gold one (only just when you look at how much copper the current passes through and how little silver). For high frequency work, silver plating is prefered due to the skin effect that puts the current flow at the surface.

picture quality depends on how accurately the picture is described, getting a higher data rate on a digital connection will give allow more detail (such as more pixels and a wider range of shading per pixel).

If a poor connection causes errors in the digital data transfer so that data are seen to be duff and then rejected with a repeat transmission requested, then the oveall data rate would be reduced.

However, the cable can have considerable influence on the transmission of fast digital signals. If there is a difference between cables, it would be due to the type and layup of the copper conductors rather than the few atoms of metal at the joints.

The HDMI spec allows for various ways of packing the signal into the bandwidth supported by the cable.

Ask what the copper in the cable can do not what covers the ends.

The connection at the back of an aerial wall plate uses a couple of screw terminals just like a bell push, so you don't need a gold plated coax plug in the front.

asbokid

A.Penny.Saved wrote: »

It won't give you a better picture because it's digital. With Analogue connections it could make a difference. But with digital HDMI it either works or it doesn't with very little in between.

That said, I saw in Aldi 2x2mtr Gold HDMI cables for I think it was £6.99 but it's whether they still have any left.

I bought those leads from ALDI.. they were half price @ £3.49 for a pair of HDMI leads.

I think there's some sense in buying a decent quality cable, if only for the extended durability..

I bought a replacement mini-USB lead for the Blackberry from ebay.. At the time, very pleased at the price.. 26p or some such.. But it only worked for a few weeks before the terminals in the moulded plug failed.

Leads with gold-plated plugs will in general be of better quality, since the gold-plating is seen as a mark of quality. The plugs will be sturdier and the cabling will be heavier, in general. All in all, a better cable, overall.

A case in point are those dreadful optical cables that are bundled free with a CD player or an optical audio card for the PC. The optical plugs are poor quality plastic and the cable itself is the thickness of pencil lead. Very soon they snap.. Yet, when you spend £5 or £10 on a Cambridge Audio optical lead, while it won't give you any better audio quality, it will outlast half a dozen of the free optical cables.

wt536

From looking at the Farnell catalogue website, it appears that you can expect even the cheap connectors like the RJ45 on Ethernet leads (by "cheap" I mean about seven and a half pence each if you buy 500) or the USB connectors to have gold flashed contacts to avoid the tarnish that appears on copper. So I would say that any HDMI with 19 yellow contacts will already have gold flash where it matters even if not sold as a "GOLD" connector.

The metal shell is only a retaining/support sleeve and carries no electrical connection, so does it matter whether it is gold, tin, chrome or silver plated etc?

Toxteth_OGrady

Funny how SATA III connectors, at similar data throughput rates to HDMI, seem to work just fine with plastic connectors. Perhaps AV = snake oil?