CBC Market Place tests HDMI cables

[Gentle Ben]

CBC Marketplace tests 3 brands of HDMI cables, Monster, Best Buy's brand and a no name brand(purchased online)

Monster cable was $265, the Best buy brand I forget the cost, and the no name brand was $12 online,including shipping, all cables were tested on an oscilliscope and found to perform equally, there was no loss in pixels or quality.

 

[LoveThemGirls]

Monster cables are one of the biggest scams of the electronics industry, "let's put the cables in a slick package with lots of marketing materials and charge $265 for them". I get my cables from monoprice.com, I think my 5 ft. hdmi cable was $12 and I also got a longer one I think 10 ft for $20. Not only hdmi cables, but all cables are available on that site, far cheaper than you can get anywhere here.

 

[KBear]

another thread on this subject
https://terb.cc/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=183332

Never understood the point of these shiny expensive wires.

 

[emvee]

Monoprice!

Monster cables are one of the biggest scams of the electronics industry, "let's put the cables in a slick package with lots of marketing materials and charge $265 for them". I get my cables from monoprice.com, I think my 5 ft. hdmi cable was $12 and I also got a longer one I think 10 ft for $20. Not only hdmi cables, but all cables are available on that site, far cheaper than you can get anywhere here.

And the monoprice cables are of damn good quality too!!

 

[my2cents]

Cables can make a difference over a long distance for the HDMI digital signal compared to analog which is more robust over a long distance. But for the most part the distances that are common in most home setups a basic HDMI cable is fine. Over a long distance for HDMI cable you may see sparkles in the picture then as you go longer you may not get a signal. SDI cable is often used for HD over a long distance.
There is a lot of hype about cables. For the most part if you get the digital signal to the reciever it will be exactly as transmitted. The stores try to play on people's expereince with analog systems but with digital it basically works or it doesn't.

 

[Papi Chulo]

Cables can make a difference over a long distance for the HDMI digital signal compared to analog which is more robust over a long distance. But for the most part the distances that are common in most home setups a basic HDMI cable is fine. Over a long distance for HDMI cable you may see sparkles in the picture then as you go longer you may not get a signal. SDI cable is often used for HD over a long distance.
There is a lot of hype about cables. For the most part if you get the digital signal to the reciever it will be exactly as transmitted. The stores try to play on people's expereince with analog systems but with digital it basically works or it doesn't.

I think on HDMI cables over 32ft, a repeater must be used.

 

[Garrett]

CBC Marketplace tests 3 brands of HDMI cables, Monster, Best Buy's brand and a no name brand(purchased online)

Monster cable was $265, the Best buy brand I forget the cost, and the no name brand was $12 online,including shipping, all cables were tested on an oscilliscope and found to perform equally, there was no loss in pixels or quality.

The CBC test makes no sense to me. An oscilloscope? Why not test HDMI 1.3 over a long distance where bandwidth and quality matters.

I am no fan of monster, but there are differences in cable. They are also retailer friendly as they provide a reasonable margin (and if everything has zero margin, you will get the level of service and warranty that comes with that). People have shown that cable differences do exist, and monster does make nice cables.

For video cables, little doubt monoprice is king. However, their shipping is not cheap and you have excessive border delays.

 

[freakshow]

guys for cables go to this place, little more than monoprice......but its local in Markham and you can pick up, i use these cables and the are great...


http://www.infinitecables.com/

 

[ThePunkPanther]

I'm kinda old fashioned in that when i need a cable.... I goto an old fashioned "brick & mortar store" and buy one.

OTA on college street has been generally really good and the last time I got an HDMI cable from them [for a projector installation] I think I payed maybe $30 for a 20 foot cable. [that worked perfectly well]

the one benefit of stores over online shops is that you can see and look at the item, pick it up, see how it feels, test it etc.

but maybe i'm just old fashioned.
cheers

 

[Quaggitty]

If you are in Missisauga, Just south of the 401 on Matheson East there are a whole bunch of little tech shops in a little strip mall. These shops have all kinds of cables and their prices ar good. Sayal(SP) is the shop I use. They are kind of how Radio Shack used to be in the 80's as the sell individual circuits, switchse, diodes ect..... The also sell OTA Sat Equpment, if you cant find it there it's not available

Quag

 

[Kang]

I don't remember where I saw this, so I can't provide a link, but they have done tests at much longer lengths and in those tests Monster cable did prove more reliable.

That still doesn't change the fact that for normal runs of optical/coax/DVI/HDMI and other cables that carry digital signals Monster and other boutique brands don't make any difference, except to your wallet.

 

[hunter001]

Thanks for the link. It was funny the Future shop guy basically said it was a ego boast to own "Monster Cables" brand... lol

 

[21pro]

monster cables worked well for analog speakers that are high output... other than that, their product diminishes in improved quality over it's cheaper competitors... and, with digital signals, almost anything that works, works perfect.

 

[thewheelman]

While I'm certainly not advocating Monster Cables, there is a quality of construction factor to consider over the long run.

Sure, testing cables right out of the box, (probably not even streched out) may not uncover any differences. But, pull that cable through some joists, or run it around a tight bend radius, cross a doorway, or just be moving the connector quite a bit, and you might wish you had spent a few dollars more on better cables.