Video Benefits of WW HDMI Cables

[MyPal]

There is no error correction to "resend" in the crappy HDMI standard given that it is a streaming protocol. Both audio & video continue to degrade over distance to a sudden point of failure called the "cliff effect". What is reconstituted on the other side approximates what was transmitted & is hardly ever the same. You will only ever get a bit perfect data transmission with a protocol that has retransmission capabilities. Short runs using a quality cable with a high attenuation to crosstalk ratio is key to minimising variable bit loss.

Premium cables are capable of reliably going longer distances at higher data rates. Because of this, most of the grumbling and pushback from naysayers is in regards to shorter cables.

It should be said though, that errors do still exist on shorter cables and HDMI's rudimentary error correction is never ideal. A premium cable, even in shortlengths, will result in less error correction and a measurably better signal, even though the human eye might be easily fooled.

The human ear is in many ways much more perceptive than the eye. Think of this…if you are trying to really hear something, what is the first thing you do? Close your eyes! This is because vision can be so deceptive. Don’t forget that HDMI is not just a video cable, but is also an audio cable. It is THE audio cable for our most sophisticated consumer level surround formats, but audio is rarely mentioned, leaving all of the focus on video. For many reasons, audio is far more complicated to reproduce, and error correction is rarely proven effective. This is partly due to the more freeform nature of audio verses video, as well as the ear’s sensitivity to timing errors (jitter). The audio differences in HDMI cables can be heard just as dramatically on even the shortest lengths, and improvements in the cable materials make a marked difference in the sound quality from all HDMI enabled devices.

If HDMI was ideal for critical listening we would not be playing with SPDIF, AES3, USB etc. The fact remains that the HDMI standard is a crappy standard at that but they were quick to license, roll out & evolve while the alternatives have been stuck in committee cross talk so to speak.

There are more than a few groups taking up arms to replace HDMI with a full-blown, wired or wireless, networkable digital pipe that not only carries AV, but also emulates USB, sends and receives commands, and even transmits power to remote devices. Looking at the big picture, that’s where our industry is headed.

HDBaseT is one of those emerging standards that may have a show in the future. Until then, keep your cables short else use a HDMI converter over CAT6 for those longer point to point runs. You could be future proofing yourself in the process.

After that mouthful, vinyl still rules.

[Face]

I have no issue conducting blind tests to see which cable or DAC I enjoy more. In fact, my local dealer and I have done this on more than a few occasions. And due to blind testing, I ended up with interconnects that are worth about 10 times what my speaker cables are worth.

[BlueSky]

Originally Posted by Thebenz

I agree with the comment that different HDMI cables do not change anything. There is lengthy discussion on this all over the internet proving the cable does not matter with the picture. One other thing to consider with optics is that the human eye cannot distinguish resolutions beyond a certain distance depending on the size of the screen.

My experience says the same thing. As opposed to the analog world, with HDMI, it's either there or not there.

[uwbadger]

I am discussing video ONLY over hdmi. My brothers engineers think this discussion is comical unless you run long lengths of cables.

I agree for audio there are differences

Why does it matter for video - because you can save the $500 for something else like paying for our 17 trillion dollar debt!

ayre dx-5, kxr, mxr, Vandersteen 5A

[Thebenz]

Originally Posted by uwbadger

I am discussing video ONLY over hdmi. My brothers engineers think this discussion is comical unless you run long lengths of cables.

I agree for audio there are differences

Why does it matter for video - because you can save the $500 for something else like paying for our 17 trillion dollar debt!

ayre dx-5, kxr, mxr, Vandersteen 5A

What is considered "long length" in HDMI?
The way I understand HDMI is that the only way you get degradation is length and that degradation is then "interpreted" further to display what it "thinks" is correct. Kind of like saving a picture as JPEG versus RAW.

[MyPal]

Originally Posted by Thebenz

What is considered "long length" in HDMI?
The way I understand HDMI is that the only way you get degradation is length and that degradation is then "interpreted" further to display what it "thinks" is correct. Kind of like saving a picture as JPEG versus RAW.

I believe that 5m or more & you start to get some sort of deterioration & what you rightfully describe as interpolation. I have seen cheap cables that "twinkle" at 3m. If you can see video deterioration, then audio quality is already well down too.

The current HDMI high speed certification standard requires bandwidth disclosure for each cable length. The higher the better. You will see with some vendors that the number drops as the length increases.

Gauge matters, no matter what the cable application...