Q. Do I need to buy a v1.3 HDMI cable to play my PS3?

Typically, no. Any Cat 1, Type A cable will work, especially if the cable is under 10 Meters.

Q. What are the technical and branding requirements for cables?

While many cables that are branded as Standard cables will work at higher speeds (especially at cable lengths of less than five meters), to guarantee performance, consumers should purchase a cable that is tested and rated for the specific speed required by their system.

All from HDMI.org, these two Q&A's just render your whole argument invalid.

Everyone just keep your cables under 5 meters and you're fine.

bro if we do the test without him there will be dispute abt how the test was done, the equipment used bla bla bla..  i also wanna see the true potential squeezed out by monster cables that kenot be done by a 6' monoprice...  it is better for him to be there .. so he can shut us up once and for all, increases his sales too .. by the way is he on holiday or something.. maybe we should file a police report abt this missing person .. helOOOooooOoooo where r u 

Those are just your excuses. Secretly you're afraid of the outcome. Because if you're there and you can't also tell the difference then your whole case and credibility goes down the drain.

IMHO, for digital cables, if the source throws out 1010 and U get 1010 at the receiving end, that's all that matters. RM10 or RM1000 cables.

"See, this shows you don't fully understand what you're selling. SimplayHD, THX, HDMI.org talk about technical standards. Most of which relate to bandwidth and length. They talk about quantitative measures, not qualitative ones."

Again you are confusing the issues and trying to relate it to banking licenses which are not relevant.

Like I mentioned before those certifications are related to quantitative measures, not qualitative. Do you understand the difference?

With the certification, you can say this cable is certified to support up to 10.2Gbps. In terms of speed (which is a quantitative measure) you can say that certified cable has better performance than a cable which only supports up to 4.5Gbps. Or if a cable is certified to work up to 15' vs another one which is 6' only (you can say the former has better performance in terms of distance).

But the real question is can you say that the certified cable is certified to give you more vivid colours, or deeper blacks (these are qualitative measures)?

Look closely at the test criteria for THX or SimplayLabs, they can certify for speed or signal degradation over length, etc. Where do they ever say "cables that meet THX standards will give you the deepest blacks" or "tested to ensure the most vivid colours" or "certified to give you the clearest picture possible". None of them ever say that.

I asked you earlier: "Assuming two different cables with the same bandwidth capacity, how will that impact image quality?" Can you answer this?

Ok, so now we get to the heart of your argument. So in summary you are saying that no certification = no good because they cannot confirm the bandwidth or speed.



Also just to clarify with you, are you also saying that certified cables will give better video quality compared to non-certified cables? Please answer.

If a cable is not certified, why bother comparing, because they cannot proof the specs they mentioned. If they say it's High Speed HDMI, do you believe them? So, no point comparing it, because they are not certified.

It's like comparing education merits of 2 person, 1 with a degree from a reputatble university (certified) and the other is from a self proclaimed graduate (no certification). How to compare?

If you are saying both cables are certified and you want to know which is better, then it is more sensible to debate.



And you still haven't answered my question: "Assuming two different cables with the same bandwidth capacity, how will that impact image quality?"

First, both cables need to be certified to confirm the specs before you start comparing. Because you need to confirm that it is running the same bandwidth. Then run the test and see the results.

Conclusion, manufacturer of al-cheapo cable will not spend that kinda $$ to get certified or they already know they will fail in the certification. Why bother? They are targeting customer will low budget and don't bother about video/audio quality. If they can see picture and hear the sound, that's enough for them.

I would agree to this statement.

What about you DigitalTech? Agree or not?

Glad we all agree on this.
Using the car analogy is a little flawed.

What is the basic function of a car? Get from point A to B. Cheap or expensive car can also do the same.

But apart from the basic function, there are important secondary functions of a car:

* Safety - as you pointed out. Relevant here are crash test standards, safety equipment like air bags, ABS, EBD, etc.
* Comfort - noise insulation, suspension, etc.
* Handling, etc.

The secondary functions are real and practical. And people will pay more to get these functions because these functions make a real world difference.

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Let's look now at HDMI cables.

Basic function: to transmit the signal from one device to another. In short lengths cheap or expensive cable will be able to transmit signal.

Next, are there secondary functions of the cable that are real and practical?

* Length rating - this is quite important and real, since many people might want to run long HDMI cables (e.g. to projector). Thankfully this is certifiable but you really need to ask about it. Here is where clearly price or brand doesn't dictate performance. Say I need a ~10m HDMI cable to my projector for Blu Ray. Basic bandwidth needed is 4.95Gbps. Look at the table here again: http://www.audioholics.com/education/cable...testing-results

A cheapish cable like the BJC Series 1 passes the test. The more expensive Cobalt Cables fail. All the Monsters pass The WireWorld Starlight 5 at a shocking US$1399.95 fails (though tested at 12m).

* Build quality - a rather vague term, but yes we don't want connectors to snap or pop off. We want cables that can flex and not break internally. Trouble is, since you're so keen on certifications - is there a certification for build quality?
* Safety - I think mainly the building inspectors in USA are fussy about this - whether cables, especially those which are meant to be buried in the wall or ceiling, are safe. They have CL2, CL3 rating certs. Does this really make any real world difference?

So you say expensive cables are due to build quality. First thing, what is the certificate to prove build quality? You claim Monster cables have superior build quality - how can this be proved? Any cert to show for build quality? I'm genuinely interested in this because if I want to buy a cable with better build quality, how can I tell?

Hi neb,
I am using this technika cable and so far so good. I would be interested to know how we can verify that it's cat 2 high speed cable.

Same song. Same singer. Same 0 & 1. Same house. Same time. Same stars in the sky. Same Tenaga electricity. Same popcorn. Same wife. Same gf holding my hands. But different CD from different country or placed on different CD-R can sound same in car stereo system but can sound different in some higher resolution Hi Fi set up. Any idea why?