HDMI Cable Question...

Greetings..

I just purchased a Pioneer PDP-5071HD 50" Plasma TV at Best Buy. I also purchased the DirecTV HR20-700S HD DVR.

The sales person told me that the HDMI cable that Pioneer provides is extremely substandard. He claimed that the Best Buy HDMI cables they sold were the difference between "a Mercedes and a Yugo."

Does anyone have the Pioneer 5071? If so, did you use the HDMI cable that came with the TV? What type of experiences does anyone have with Pioneer HDMI cables?

I know very little about HD televisions. This is my first venture into a complete home theatre system. The sales person had me buy a $79.99 Monster Cable 600 4ft HDMI cable. Before I open it, I need some advice if this is something I really need. If not, I will return it.

Any help is appreciated.

MrTwix

In my opinion! Cables make a big difference in analog, but with a digital signal the cable difference is minimum. That said, the Monster cable will have better shielding and connectors. Whether it's worth the $80 is your call.

Greetings..

I just purchased a Pioneer PDP-5071HD 50" Plasma TV at Best Buy. I also purchased the DirecTV HR20-700S HD DVR.

The sales person told me that the HDMI cable that Pioneer provides is extremely substandard. He claimed that the Best Buy HDMI cables they sold were the difference between "a Mercedes and a Yugo."

Does anyone have the Pioneer 5071? If so, did you use the HDMI cable that came with the TV? What type of experiences does anyone have with Pioneer HDMI cables?

I know very little about HD televisions. This is my first venture into a complete home theatre system. The sales person had me buy a $79.99 Monster Cable 600 4ft HDMI cable. Before I open it, I need some advice if this is something I really need. If not, I will return it.

Any help is appreciated.

MrTwix

I vote to return it. I am sure the Monster cable will work fine and as well as a $15 cable you can find at Wal-Mart or a $10 cable you can purchase online.

Chris

In my opinion! Cables make a big difference in analog, but with a digital signal the cable difference is minimum. That said, the Monster cable will have better shielding and connectors. Whether it's worth the $80 is your call.

I proved to myself years ago that cables make no difference at all in analog unless they are defective or incompetently designed. Others may believe what they like but it is a belief not an experience.

However, it is impossible for a digital cable to matter. It transmits data and the data either arrives at its destination or it doesn't. A cable can only perform or not perform. It can't change the value of the data. Any cable that delivers the data to the destination will provide the same results as any other.

Take a look at http://tendonusa.com/shop/home.php

Take a look at http://tendonusa.com/shop/home.php

Wow. That's the cheapest I've seen. Have you tried them?

Wow. That's the cheapest I've seen. Have you tried them?

Yes I have. What I like is the solid constuction, reasonable cost and performance equal to the big brands. They lock in well and do not seem to put much stress on the connection. The wire it self is very pliable which is goo for tight locations.
I am a big Monoprice fan for cost and quality. For value Tendon is equal to Monoprice and a far better deal than any store bought cable.

Take a look at http://tendonusa.com/shop/home.php

Those cables look great. Thanks for the link.

Chris

Your welcome, for the record I have no connection with Monoprice or Tendon other than I am in the process of reviewing Tendon's cables for 2 other forums I am affiliated with.

It has been my experience that the best way to determine the value of a particular cable(brand)is to try it - I've just received back my HDMI400 replacement from Monster as the original failed and my Comcast supplied cable works!
My system calls for two HDMIs, so I will try the new Monster versus cheepo...............

I have the Sony KDS50A2020 hooked up to a Sony Blu Rey player. When I'm watching a Blu Rey movies it appears that large solid objects have a grain type texture to them, almost fuzzy. People's faces look extremly detailed; however the grain texture on the other larger surfaces make me wonder if the cables may getting some interference. Thanks

I have the Sony KDS50A2020 hooked up to a Sony Blu Rey player. When I'm watching a Blu Rey movies it appears that large solid objects have a grain type texture to them, almost fuzzy. People's faces look extremly detailed; however the grain texture on the other larger surfaces make me wonder if the cables may getting some interference. Thanks

No, most likely you are sitting too close to the TV. The cables just transmit data. It either arrives or it doesn't. The cable can't change the value of the digits.

I proved to myself years ago that cables make no difference at all in analog unless they are defective or incompetently designed. Others may believe what they like but it is a belief not an experience.

Correct, and it is more than a belief, it is a fact, based on physics.
The only relavent factor in analog cables within the home environment is attentuation; and for hook-up where cables are relatively short (less than 12') the cheapest flimsiest analog cable will work just as well as RG6 or even RG11.
The only other factor might be connector attachement which if done incorrectly can make any cable a bad cable.

However, it is impossible for a digital cable to matter. It transmits data and the data either arrives at its destination or it doesn't. A cable can only perform or not perform. It can't change the value of the data. Any cable that delivers the data to the destination will provide the same results as any other.

Not quite.
The precision of connector attachment and exact lengths of twisted pairs are very critical to maintaining bandwidth and bit-rate - that's why we don't want to "try this at home"; ie., always purchase HDMI cables preassembled.
Most HDMI cables of 12' or less in length are perfectly adequate for most in-home applications. However there are potential problems when transferring at very high bit rates required for 1080p/60Hz or 120Hz signals and some cables have been found to be unable to function at these bit rates, particularly at or above 25' in length.
The problem with digital is that is does not have "graceful degradation" like analog. With analog, the picture quality change as the signal strength is decreased by attenuation is gradual and relatively linear - so we can add increasing 10' or 25' lengths of coax and gradually see the picture quality diminish slowly. As you have pointed out, with digital, either the signal is there or it isn't, so as the cable length increases, the change is rapid (logrithmic rather than linear); increasing a cable from 6' to 12' could, conceivably result in a picture with apparent noise, squigglies, lines, etc.; increase the length to 13' or 14' and you will have zip, nada, zilch.
I got my HDMIs from monoprice - work great.