# Does spending soo much money on a HDMI cable make a huge difference?



## Moyt (Aug 20, 2011)

Hi,
I've only ever bought standard cheap HDMI cables no more than $20. But then you have all these 'high end' HDMI cables, some that easily reach over $100, like the 'monster' brands.

From anyones personal experience does spending so much on a HDMI cable really make that much of a difference in visual quality?


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## btarunr (Aug 20, 2011)

No. HDMI is essentially a digital data transfer cable. It either works, or it doesn't. There can't be a quality difference between cables.


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## blu3flannel (Aug 20, 2011)

btarunr said:


> No. HDMI is essentially a digital data transfer cable. It either works, or it doesn't. There can't be a quality difference between cables.



What he said. Spend the money on a cheap one off Amazon or Newegg and it's just as good.


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## Widjaja (Aug 20, 2011)

Bling factor.
Like owning an Apple over a PC.
Or owning a BMW over a Honda.

Do the same things but one has a premium.


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## Batou1986 (Aug 20, 2011)

The only time i would bother with a "quality" cable is runs over 25ft


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## de.das.dude (Aug 20, 2011)

Widjaja said:


> Bling factor.
> Like owning an Apple over a PC.
> Or owning a BMW over a Honda.
> 
> Do the same things but one has a premium.



WIN.

and +1 to what bta said.


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## Moyt (Aug 20, 2011)

Cool, in that case there's no need to overspend. 
I'm already happy with my HDMI cables, I just always wonder what the fuss is all about when these high brands go on about high copper shielding, 24K gold contacts etc.

Cheers


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## MilkyWay (Aug 20, 2011)

There may be a quality difference in construction, my cheapo cables work well but the connector came off one of them but it still works fine when i pushed it back on.
Also for 3D i think you need a cable with ethernet carried through it or something like that.

EDIT: Other than that no a 1 is 1 and a 0 a 0 its not like analogue where the signal degrades.


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## digibucc (Aug 20, 2011)

shielding and contacts mean nothing with digital signal.  again, it either works or not.  it's analog where shielding and contacts can prevent interference and increase quality.  as long as your contacts connect and conduct, they're good.

the only time quality can matter, as batou said, is with length.   over 16-20ft poor materials in an hdmi cable COULD make it unable to transmit the information.  that being said, it is rare, and as long as you buy your cable from a reputable dealer, there will be no problems.


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## Easy Rhino (Aug 20, 2011)

like kieran said, it mostly comes down to the materials used and the quality of construction. monster says they hold their products to a higher standard and they do when it comes to materials and construction but it does not justify the cost. ive bought a number of generic brand hdmi cables in my lifetime and they all still work great.


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## Soylent Joe (Aug 20, 2011)

It's insane that people are still gouging for HDMI cables after this shit has been going on for 5 years. Where I work the cheapest one (3 ft.) goes for $25 + tax. Just a month or two ago I bought a 40 ft. HDMI for $18 online, fee shipping & no tax.

I've used HDMI cables ranging in price from $18 to $80, they have all looked the same.


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## BumbleBee (Aug 20, 2011)

I buy mine for $2.50/ea and they come in the color of my choosing with ferrite cores.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10243


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## eidairaman1 (Aug 20, 2011)

Widjaja said:


> Bling factor.
> Like owning an Apple over a PC.
> Or owning a BMW over a Honda.
> 
> Do the same things but one has a premium.



car comparisons, Chevrolet myself lol


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## newtekie1 (Aug 21, 2011)

There actually can be a difference with HDMI cables, but not generally with shorter cables(sub-10ft).

Longer lower quality cables can actually artifact at higher resolutions.  For example, I've got a 25ft cable that shows green spots on the screen when used at 1080p, but works fine at 720p.  I have a slightly higher quality 25ft cable that handles 1080p flawlessly.  Mind you when I say slightly higher quality, I mean I spent $30 for a 22AWG cable vs. $20 for the 24AWG cable. No need to spend $100 on an HDMI cable, that is just ripping people off.


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## claylomax (Aug 21, 2011)

This reminds me the debate about HIFI cables, both connectors and speakers.


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## The_Ish (Aug 21, 2011)

btarunr said:


> No. HDMI is essentially a digital data transfer cable. It either works, or it doesn't. There can't be a quality difference between cables.



This. I have nothing to add, I just posted to reaffirm this.


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## eidairaman1 (Aug 21, 2011)

newtekie1 said:


> There actually can be a difference with HDMI cables, but not generally with shorter cables(sub-10ft).
> 
> Longer lower quality cables can actually artifact at higher resolutions.  For example, I've got a 25ft cable that shows green spots on the screen when used at 1080p, but works fine at 720p.  I have a slightly higher quality 25ft cable that handles 1080p flawlessly.  Mind you when I say slightly higher quality, I mean I spent $30 for a 22AWG cable vs. $20 for the 24AWG cable. No need to spend $100 on an HDMI cable, that is just ripping people off.



AWG can u inform me what that is


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## v12dock (Aug 21, 2011)

Widjaja said:


> Bling factor.
> Like owning an Apple over a PC.
> Or owning a BMW over a Honda.
> 
> Do the same things but one has a premium.



there is a difference between BMW and Honda btw 

I have purchased several HDMI cables from Monoprice I can assure you there quality is bar none, I suggest you try them


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## m4gicfour (Aug 21, 2011)

eidairaman1 said:


> AWG can u inform me what that is



AWG = American Wire Gauge.

Lower number = larger wire.

So a 22AWG cable has larger conductors than a 24AWG cable does. 



v12dock said:


> I have purchased several HDMI cables from Monoprice I can assure you there quality is bar none, I suggest you try them



+1 I have to pay to ship them to Canada, and I still buy Monoprice. If that doesn't convince you, not much will.



newtekie1 said:


> There actually can be a difference with HDMI cables, but not generally with shorter cables(sub-10ft).
> 
> Longer lower quality cables can actually artifact at higher resolutions.  For example, I've got a 25ft cable that shows green spots on the screen when used at 1080p, but works fine at 720p.  I have a slightly higher quality 25ft cable that handles 1080p flawlessly.  Mind you when I say slightly higher quality, I mean I spent $30 for a 22AWG cable vs. $20 for the 24AWG cable. No need to spend $100 on an HDMI cable, that is just ripping people off.



Exactly.

 This is the difference between analogue and digital. Digital is 100% picture quality until it doesn't work (Artifacts, signal drops, etc). Analogue would degrade steadily with distance, and material quality (whether or not a perceptible difference is another story). 

What newtekie is saying here is basically: Buy the cheapest cable that works at the length you need.


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## AsRock (Aug 21, 2011)

MilkyWay said:


> There may be a quality difference in construction, my cheapo cables work well but the connector came off one of them but it still works fine when i pushed it back on.
> Also for 3D i think you need a cable with ethernet carried through it or something like that.
> 
> EDIT: Other than that no a 1 is 1 and a 0 a 0 its not like analogue where the signal degrades.



Indeed, you just need to make sure the connectors are good quality.

These have been very good for me, all 5 of them i currently use.
Nippon Labs Premium High Performance HDMI Cable 6 ...


How ever i have had issue's with these ones. Problem always been the metal part comes loose.  I have never understud the good reviews on the egg when i have had 3 of these and all failed.
Link Depot 6 ft. Ultra High Speed HDMI  cable Mode...


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## Widjaja (Aug 21, 2011)

eidairaman1 said:


> car comparisons, Chevrolet myself lol





v12dock said:


> there is a difference between BMW and Honda btw



Lol true I could have chosen a better comparison in car brands since the last impressive super car Honda had was the NSX.

Anyway back on topic


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## eidairaman1 (Aug 21, 2011)

Widjaja said:


> Lol true I could have chosen a better comparison in car brands since the last impressive super car Honda had was the NSX.
> 
> Anyway back on topic



the only super car that Honda had lol.


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## LAN_deRf_HA (Aug 21, 2011)

I've had no problems with those $1 free shipped 6ft cables from ebay. Hard to get cheaper than that and they work fine. I might splurge for a new 6ft 3d cable from my receiver to the tv though.


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## H82LUZ73 (Aug 25, 2011)

Batou1986 said:


> The only time i would bother with a "quality" cable is runs over 25ft



What he said,I am using the cable that came with my video card for the pc and the second one is for my Samsung blu ray player....



LAN_deRf_HA said:


> I've had no problems with those $1 free shipped 6ft cables from ebay. Hard to get cheaper than that and they work fine. I might splurge for a new 6ft 3d cable from my receiver to the tv though.



uhm any 1.4 hdmi cable will work for 3d don`t buy into that crap about it being 3d lol.


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## niko084 (Sep 13, 2011)

Widjaja said:


> Bling factor.
> Or owning a BMW over a Honda.


Myself owning a BMW and Honda I would refute that greatly. 

However, no as many have said previously.

Where you can get a difference is in the quality of the cable and casing which can make it easier or harder to bend turns and also some cheap cables have issues in long runs and do not function but generally only due to the fact that the internal wires used are not high enough gauge to handle the distance of the run. This is rare but does happen from time to time, we are talking about pretty long runs here 25-30ft+

Monoprice is my friend.
For analog cables, I generally buy bulk cable from Belden and some ends and make my own.


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## AsRock (Sep 13, 2011)

newtekie1 said:


> There actually can be a difference with HDMI cables, but not generally with shorter cables(sub-10ft).
> 
> Longer lower quality cables can actually artifact at higher resolutions.  For example, I've got a 25ft cable that shows green spots on the screen when used at 1080p, but works fine at 720p.  I have a slightly higher quality 25ft cable that handles 1080p flawlessly.  Mind you when I say slightly higher quality, I mean I spent $30 for a 22AWG cable vs. $20 for the 24AWG cable. No need to spend $100 on an HDMI cable, that is just ripping people off.



Could not agree more

I  use a 25 foot HDMI cable without any issue but it is thick as hell some were around 10-12mm thick which makes it near as thick as the cable and is triple shielded and claims to be able to handle more than 1920x1080.

There is a limit on whats good and bad although $10 HDMI can be good or bad due to build quality like how well the hdmi plugs are connected.

To me there is no reason to spend more than $30 on a HDMI cable unless your not lucky in finding a good 25 foot one for less.  I got mine on a sale.

To me go for brands that you know people had good luck with unless there falling for the Monster BS which i hated even in the analog days as i found that they strangled the sound..


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## lilhasselhoffer (Sep 13, 2011)

As this horse has been beaten dead, I will simply agree that the HDMI cables I've dealt with either work, or don't.  Even cheap ones generally cover 6' distances without an issue.

That said, there are two places I like to buy from.

Monoprice
http://www.monoprice.com/home/index.asp

Mycablemart
http://mycablemart.com/

Both offer cheap prices, but relatively high quality product.  Monoprice generally comes in a bit more expensive, but offers much higher variety.  Mycablemart is dirt cheap if you're in the Minnesota (Eden Prairie) area.


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## animal007uk (Sep 13, 2011)

Had some guy in pc world trying to sell my dad a £60 HDMI cable, The guy was shocked when i told him he is full of shit and a £60 cable is no better than a cheap £10 job. He tryed to make out its like an audio cable and degrades easy lol, I don't think he liked me being a smart ass or the fact i know what i was talking about.


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## BumbleBee (Sep 13, 2011)

this is all you need to know about HDMI cables.


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## cheesy999 (Sep 13, 2011)

animal007uk said:


> Had some guy in pc world trying to sell my dad a £60 HDMI cable, The guy was shocked when i told him he is full of shit and a £60 cable is no better than a cheap £10 job. He tryed to make out its like an audio cable and degrades easy lol, I don't think he liked me being a smart ass or the fact i know what i was talking about.



the pc world/comet/currys type of shops get some incredibly high number like 75% profit margin on those cables, can't remember the exact figure, but i do remember that one monster HDMI cable has the same profit markup as just over 10 PS3's

that's why they sell them


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## BumbleBee (Sep 13, 2011)

"pack in deals" is where the money is not the television. HDMI cables, financing, extended warranties, extra glasses, etc.


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## cheesy999 (Sep 13, 2011)

BumbleBee said:


> extended warranties



do not buy these, in the UK most of the big companies have actually been found out, espcially in comet, for selling warranty's that don't actually cover you for most problems



			
				http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/2011/09/comet.html said:
			
		

> Unfortunately some staff failed to tell us about some of the policy exclusions. In fact, of the 15 stores we visited, staff in 8 of them told us we would be covered for problems that the warranty specifically excludes. Overall, we found that in* every Comet store we visited staff gave false, misleading or insufficient information*, all of which are potential breaches of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.



overall, do not let any of the larger chains of shops sell you anything, as the 'extras' they sell are usually useless or at the very least a waste of money


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## Funtoss (Sep 13, 2011)

Nope, just get a cheap one


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## thebluebumblebee (Sep 13, 2011)

I'll add another vendor who had (I haven't been in for a while so I don't know if he still has it) a display of 2 identical TV's sitting side by side that had one of those "high end" cables on the one TV and one of his "generic" cables to the other.  Of course there was no difference in the picture.  

http://www.pchcables.com/


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## erixx (Sep 13, 2011)

1) Sorry but Honda is at the core a Motorcycle company, cars is just sort of merchandise haha You know the adagio: more than 2 wheels is redundancy, lol

2) OP: wow wow wow! So in your part of the world a cheap HDMI cable is 20 and a deluxe one is 100 dollar!? wow wow wow! Here, the normal one is 5 euro and the overpriced one is 30-40 euro.


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## caleb (Sep 13, 2011)

BumbleBee said:


> this is all you need to know about HDMI cables.



LOL digital technology and you need to move some sort of potentiometer on an equalizer in that last cable? What a load of BS. How could a receiver care if the signal is too strong if its a pack of 00010100101000101101.


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## eidairaman1 (Sep 13, 2011)

erixx said:


> 1) Sorry but Honda is at the core a Motorcycle company, cars is just sort of merchandise haha You know the adagio: more than 2 wheels is redundancy, lol
> 
> 2) OP: wow wow wow! So in your part of the world a cheap HDMI cable is 20 and a deluxe one is 100 dollar!? wow wow wow! Here, the normal one is 5 euro and the overpriced one is 30-40 euro.



cough stability


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## Frick (Sep 13, 2011)

caleb said:


> LOL digital technology and you need to move some sort of potentiometer on an equalizer in that last cable? What a load of BS. How could a receiver care if the signal is too strong if its a pack of 00010100101000101101.



If a cable is too bad that 00010100101000101101 might turn to 000xxxxx101x0x101x01 and that's not good.

So while it is on or off, the electronics still have to know which one it is. And why is it important with good network cables in big installations if it doesn't matter what you put your signals through? You don't need fancy Monster cables, but the signals still have to make it through and buy a cheap and long enough cable and you might notice degration, like newtekie said.

EDIT: My brain melted and I did not really understand what you said caleb, so forget about it. I still stand by my second paragraph though.


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## BumbleBee (Sep 13, 2011)

caleb said:


> LOL digital technology and you need to move some sort of potentiometer on an equalizer in that last cable? What a load of BS. How could a receiver care if the signal is too strong if its a pack of 00010100101000101101.



when you start getting into longer runs you may need to boost the signal. see below.



newtekie1 said:


> There actually can be a difference with HDMI cables, but not generally with shorter cables(sub-10ft).
> 
> Longer lower quality cables can actually artifact at higher resolutions.  For example, I've got a 25ft cable that shows green spots on the screen when used at 1080p, but works fine at 720p.  I have a slightly higher quality 25ft cable that handles 1080p flawlessly.  Mind you when I say slightly higher quality, I mean I spent $30 for a 22AWG cable vs. $20 for the 24AWG cable. No need to spend $100 on an HDMI cable, that is just ripping people off.





> When we brought in our first test reel of Belden HDMI cable, we found that while we had perfect 480p at 180 feet, we had to shorten the cable up considerably to get perfect 1080i and 720p. With improvements, we've narrowed the difference considerably, but it it still the case that we can run 480p longer (175 feet worked fine in our in-use testing; we didn't try anything longer) than 1080p (125 feet worked perfectly on our source and display), and that 720p and 1080i fall in the middle (150 feet worked perfectly). The hardest thing to get right in HDMI cable is high-frequency performance, and so generally speaking, the lower the cable quality, the more the working distance will fall as resolution or color depth rises.


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## BumbleBee (Sep 13, 2011)

alright let me put it another way

100ft 22AWG HDMI cable with or without ethernet will probably get the job done for $99.

100ft 26AWG HDMI cable with booster might get the job done but it only cost $68.

you use a booster because thicker gauge HDMI cables are slower but cheaper.


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## Jetster (Sep 14, 2011)

Cheep if fine, agreed if it works it works for digital. However there is always some shit company trying to squeeze into a market with extremely poor products. So buyer beware, if its like $2.50 for a 10' cable its most likely made out of recycled tampon holders and not going to last for long. I try to keep it around $1 a foot.


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## cdawall (Sep 14, 2011)

still running my like $2.50 dynex cables. have used the rocketfish ($8) cables and both are nice enough for me.


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## Moyt (Sep 28, 2011)

Don't strangle me for this, but what about a VGA cable as well as an optical audio cable? 
Does more expensive mean better for those cables as well?


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## blkhogan (Sep 28, 2011)

I bought a hand full of HDMI cables from a local thrift shop for $2, all but 1 work just perfectly. Actually using one right now with the monitor Im on.


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## Completely Bonkers (Sep 28, 2011)

I find it embarrassing that there are so many TPUers saying digital 0101 means cable quality doesnt matter! Do these same people think that you can use old CAT4 cable to run 1000ft of gigabit ethernet?!  People need to understand signal characteristics, induction and capacitance in cables, crosstalk, and how this can impact low power devices trying to SEND a signal as well as low power devices trying to RECEIVE the signal.

If you are running short cables, e.g. from your xbox to your TV and the distance is 3ft or less, then a cheap cable is fine. If you have a long run, and other devices or cables potentially causing interference, then you need a higher quality shielded cable. UNFORTUNATELY, these higher quality cables which yes do cost more to manufacture are simply OVERPRICED.


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## animal007uk (Sep 28, 2011)

Moyt said:


> Don't strangle me for this, but what about a VGA cable as well as an optical audio cable?
> Does more expensive mean better for those cables as well?



Simple answer no not realy, All my VGA and DVI cables are cheap £5 jobs from the local store, some of them are 5 years old now and still work perfectly.

I've never used optical cables so no comment on them hehe.


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## m4gicfour (Sep 29, 2011)

Completely Bonkers said:


> I find it embarrassing that there are so many TPUers saying digital 0101 means cable quality doesnt matter! Do these same people think that you can use old CAT4 cable to run 1000ft of gigabit ethernet?!  People need to understand signal characteristics, induction and capacitance in cables, crosstalk, and how this can impact low power devices trying to SEND a signal as well as low power devices trying to RECEIVE the signal.
> 
> If you are running short cables, e.g. from your xbox to your TV and the distance is 3ft or less, then a cheap cable is fine. If you have a long run, and other devices or cables potentially causing interference, then you need a higher quality shielded cable. UNFORTUNATELY, these higher quality cables which yes do cost more to manufacture are simply OVERPRICED.



It's not that quality doesn't matter, it's that once you have sufficient quality for the length you need, getting a better cable nets you 0% gain (unless you have really high levels of variance in your ambient EMI, in which case a cable good enough to run 1080P at the highest level of interference you can expect is as good as you'll ever need). So with digital, good enough is. With analog, better quality always produces better results (subject to diminishing returns, of course)

Quality ALWAYS matters, it's just that digital signals don't degrade in the same way analog ones do, because the signal is *interpereted* in a digital fashion. Digital signals are analog, interpereted in a digital manner. (for a basic example of a potential digital signaling method: 1volt is interpereted as a 0 and 3 volts as a 1, anything between 0.5 and 1.5volts is then interpereted as a 0 and anything between 2.5 and 3.5 volts is interpereted as a 1, anything outside those ranges is considered ERROR and the error correction capabilities of the protocol come into play) so as long as your signal interference doesn't rise to the point that it overwhelms the sensing and error correction abilities of the devices in play, there's 100% quality of the data interpereted from the signal, even though the physical signal is full of interference. (0.95v is interpereted as 1volt in a digital signal hence perfect accuracy where as, in analog a signal which starts as 1volt and ends up as 0.95volts would end up interpereted as 0.95v, hence inaccuracy)

(which is what I and some of the other people here were trying to say, just clarifying on my part, not "instructing")



animal007uk said:


> Simple answer no not realy, All my VGA and DVI cables are cheap £5 jobs from the local store, some of them are 5 years old now and still work perfectly.
> 
> I've never used optical cables so no comment on them hehe.



VGA and DVI-A are analog signals, so the cable quality will directly affect the output, even if you don't notice a difference. DVI-D is digital, so as long as the signal's good enough to run the display, it should be 100% quality (I'm not educated on DVI's error detection and correction cabability so take with a grain of salt). Optical cables are digital, so again, as long as it works well enough, buying a better cable won't get you anything more.


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## animal007uk (Sep 29, 2011)

m4gicfour said:


> It's not that quality doesn't matter, it's that once you have sufficient quality for the length you need, getting a better cable nets you 0% gain (unless you have really high levels of variance in your ambient EMI, in which case a cable good enough to run 1080P at the highest level of interference you can expect is as good as you'll ever need). So with digital, good enough is. With analog, better quality always produces better results (subject to diminishing returns, of course)
> 
> Quality ALWAYS matters, it's just that digital signals don't degrade in the same way analog ones do, because the signal is *interpereted* in a digital fashion. Digital signals are analog, interpereted in a digital manner. (for a basic example of a potential digital signaling method: 1volt is interpereted as a 0 and 3 volts as a 1, anything between 0.5 and 1.5volts is then interpereted as a 0 and anything between 2.5 and 3.5 volts is interpereted as a 1, anything outside those ranges is considered ERROR and the error correction capabilities of the protocol come into play) so as long as your signal interference doesn't rise to the point that it overwhelms the sensing and error correction abilities of the devices in play, there's 100% quality of the data interpereted from the signal, even though the physical signal is full of interference. (0.95v is interpereted as 1volt in a digital signal hence perfect accuracy where as, in analog a signal which starts as 1volt and ends up as 0.95volts would end up interpereted as 0.95v, hence inaccuracy)
> 
> ...



Yup basicly right, I personly havent noticed any diffrence between the cables i use but im talking home use using short cables, Now if your using longer cables then its usualy best to buy better quality made ones but for 99% of home users a cheap dvi or vga should work just fine.


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## micropage7 (Sep 29, 2011)

Completely Bonkers said:


> I find it embarrassing that there are so many TPUers saying digital 0101 means cable quality doesnt matter! Do these same people think that you can use old CAT4 cable to run 1000ft of gigabit ethernet?!  People need to understand signal characteristics, induction and capacitance in cables, crosstalk, and how this can impact low power devices trying to SEND a signal as well as low power devices trying to RECEIVE the signal.
> 
> If you are running short cables, e.g. from your xbox to your TV and the distance is 3ft or less, then a cheap cable is fine. If you have a long run, and other devices or cables potentially causing interference, then you need a higher quality shielded cable. UNFORTUNATELY, these higher quality cables which yes do cost more to manufacture are simply OVERPRICED.



yeah right, some people just take a look at the price and they gonna say no if it looks kinda expensive without asking about quality
like it said theres money, theres quality 
but too much money could make you bankrupt


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## Completely Bonkers (Sep 29, 2011)

I think the last 5 posts sum up the situation! I'm pleased we all agree 

If you want to err on one side of the fence, then choose the slightly better quality cable.

It's always better to have more beer than you think you will need.
It's always better to invite more women to the party than you think you will need.
It's always better to spec your cable lengths and possible EMI a bit more than you think you will need.

Of course, keep the common sense. Don't go around spending double or 5x what you can; choose and select the right/appropriate cable/supplier.


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## Moyt (Oct 2, 2011)

And personal experience on DisplayPort?
In my case I need to quickly find a MiniDisplayPort > DisplayPort cable for my m18x.

Edit:
If anyone knows where to get a good quality 'mini displayport' to 'displayport' cable please let me know, thanks.


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## m4gicfour (Oct 2, 2011)

Monoprice has them. All of the cables I've purchased from them have been high quality.


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## Jetster (Oct 2, 2011)

http://www.dealextreme.com/  Will most likely have one. They ship world wide


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## FordGT90Concept (Oct 2, 2011)

btarunr said:


> There can't be a quality difference between cables.


Lies, thicker gauge wires have lower resistance so they're more likely to not require boosting over long runs.  There's also considerations of insulation (EMI sheilded/fire proofing) and preventing cross-talk (isolation).

Quality of cable doesn't really matter until you're talking 15 feet or more of cable.  In short, try cheap first.


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## m4gicfour (Oct 2, 2011)

Jetster said:


> http://www.dealextreme.com/  Will most likely have one. They ship world wide


Yup, they do.
Mini DP(Male) to DP (Female) 15cm (6")
Mini DP(Male) to DP (Female) 2M (6')

Those were the two I could find in a quick search, they'll need a DP to DP male cable to use them.
Like this one:
DP to DP Male 2m (6')

The DX cables are at least twice the price of the Monoprice ones, but have free shipping. Monoprice ones are probably better quality, but you pay for shipping. Both ship worldwide, price would probably end up in the same ballpark. DX usually takes at least a week to ship, where as Monoprice is 95% of the time shipped by the end of the day you order or next day. You have options.

One thing to be careful about with DX is they sell a lot of nonstandard cables (like HDMI to VGA) that will only work on some very rare devices that have non-standard output through their ports, so be careful not to buy anything wacky unless you don't mind having it be useless if it doesn't work.



FordGT90Concept said:


> Lies, thicker gauge wires have lower resistance so they're more likely to not require boosting over long runs.  There's also considerations of insulation (EMI sheilded/fire proofing) and preventing cross-talk (isolation).
> 
> Quality of cable doesn't really matter until you're talking 15 feet or more of cable.  In short, try cheap first.



Yeah, that one coming from bta kinda threw me for a loop. He should know better, although he was probably just oversimplifying; it's still bad advice.


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## Moyt (Oct 2, 2011)

Ooops I ended up buying one of THESE

I tried hard looking everywhere and I didn't come across those links you guys mentioned. I can always cancel my order anyways. 
Plus I'm not entirely sure if the m18x supports DP version 1.2 (so I might be paying extra for something I can't even fully use), but I do know that the cable is very good quality to say the least; on paper anyways.


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## qubit (Oct 2, 2011)

Yup, it's a little pricey, but at least you haven't spent £100 on it...


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## m4gicfour (Oct 3, 2011)

It's interesting that they don't list the conductor size in the specs of it. It's probably (more than) fine, but it's always nice to have that info. Truth is you probably overpaid by a little bit, but on the upside, if you ever have a problem with it, you won't have to deal with a company on the other side of the world


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## Moyt (Oct 4, 2011)

qubit said:


> Yup, it's a little pricey, but at least you haven't spent £100 on it...


That does make me feel a whole load better 



m4gicfour said:


> It's interesting that they don't list the conductor size in the specs of it. It's probably (more than) fine, but it's always nice to have that info. Truth is you probably overpaid by a little bit, but on the upside, if you ever have a problem with it, you won't have to deal with a company on the other side of the world


I'm sure I won't be disappointed in the quality.
But the most important thing to question is not the conductor size, but.......... of how many online stores chuck in free lolly pops with their Display Port orders?







F'n Chupa Chup's! This alone I'm sure makes up for the money spent on an overpriced cable


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## Sinzia (Oct 4, 2011)

BumbleBee said:


> I buy mine for $2.50/ea and they come in the color of my choosing with ferrite cores.
> 
> http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10243



I use monoprice for nearly all my cable needs, they've never let me down, ever, and they're one of the cheapest places to get cables from.


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## m4gicfour (Oct 4, 2011)

Sinzia said:


> I use monoprice for nearly all my cable needs, they've never let me down, ever, and they're one of the cheapest places to get cables from.



Yup Monoprice is fantastic but the ~$25 minimum shipping charge to people overseas kind of kills the value. It's still worth it to ship them here (Canada) but for Moyt, who's in the UK it may not be.


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## Moyt (Oct 4, 2011)

By the way that overpriced MiniDP > DP proved fully useful and more. Got delivered this morning.
Not only does it give me fantastic visuals, it also gives me audio all in 1. 
So looks like this Alienware m18x has made full use of DisplayPort 1.2.

The HDMI output for me didn't produce very good visual, not only that but it wouldn't display full screen; had horrible purple (not black) borders all around. 
Nothing to do with the HDMI cable, it's the damn laptop. 

Plugged the DP cable in and everything is full screen on my 27" monitor, nice and crisp!
No regrets now, even finished off the free Chupa Chup


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## qubit (Oct 4, 2011)

Moyt said:


> By the way that overpriced MiniDP > DP proved fully useful and more. Got delivered this morning.
> Not only does it give me fantastic visuals, it also gives me audio all in 1.
> So looks like this Alienware m18x has made full use of DisplayPort 1.2.
> 
> ...



Glad it's working for you.  What make and model is your laptop? I'm thinking about mine with AMD Mobility graphics. Connect that up to a 1080p TV with a HDMI cable and no way can you set a 1:1 pixel mapping. It's always underscanned no matter what you do with it and looks terrible. Hey, great driver software guys. 

It's a HP DV6-1216SA with Mobility HD4250 graphics.


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## Moyt (Oct 5, 2011)

Cheers. 
Ahh, well the display port has certainly made a nice difference.

HERE my m18x spec.

To add to that list I just recently upgraded the memory to 16gb's of Kingston Hyper X 1866MHz DDR3, and a Corsair 240gb GT SSD.


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