HDMI cable reviews
Having read your reviews on cheap cables in your magazine and only having cheap Amazon BAsics 2.0m HDMI I decided i would splash out and buy a more expensive cable, after all you mention over and over how a better picture can be hard by spending more money on a better cable. So I decided on a Chord super shield to make the most of my Panasonic plasma tv and give the best picture and sound quality. The cable has 5 stars and is highly recomended by yourselves so should be far superior to my cheapo Amazon basic cable right, except that it wasnt and there was absolutely no improvement in sound or picture quality, sharpness or anything for that matter. So much for your review what hifi. Its a bit late now to send it back now and get my money back. How do you explain that.
Well I didnt have any reason to question the review validity until I spent £45 on cable that i should have made a visible difference as per their review but didnt.
The general advice is to always demo a product before you buy. I didn't notice any difference either, so I'm happy with my cheap cables.
As ever, I shall request input from the review team.
How long has it been? Have you contacted the retailer to say you're unhappy with the purchase and you'd like a refund? If it was a recent purchase and they're unwilling, then I wouldn't purchase from them in future - make sure they're aware of this and post your experience in a new thread so others are aware of their customer satisfaction policy (or lack of it).
i bought the 5 star rated 2008 award winning cable van den hul flat 1.4 (new version though), the sound quality is immediatley apparent, the clarity and detail in sound has transformed my home cinema system, i tryed chord but my sound fell flat again, i would'nt use any other hdmi lead unless it was van den hul. pictures pretty good to
Hang on a minute! If a tactical nuclear weapon went off nearby while you were watching a BluRay, the Chord Supershield might prevent annoying interference from the resultant electromagnetic pulse. Not sure WHFS&V have tested this scenario though.
Another experiment worth trying:
1) Write the binary number "10101010" on a piece of paper using a 10p biro.
2) Write the binary number "10101010" on a piece of paper using a £1000 gold-nibbed fountain pen.
3) Compare the two numbers. Are they the same?
Rant over.
That was a rant?
Yet another experiment worth trying for those who can claim to see or hear a difference in HDMI cables:
Do a blinded comparison (not literally, which would of course make the picture somewhat difficult to assess).
Have a friend swap the HDMI cables over and then, without knowing which cable is in use, see if you can consistently tell which cable is which. If you are able to, freed from any 'psychovisual' effect, then you have some evidence to back the subjective claims up.
Just to add to the pile - I stupidly spent £101.90 on 2x Wireworld Chroma 6 HDMI Cable
Chroma 6 1.0M/A. Should've bought cheaper version and saved £90. More fool me.
I swapped the Cables with cheaper ones and I couldn't see the difference on my Pansonic TX-P55VT30.
A. Blind.
B. Deaf.
C. Have an incorrectly set up TV.
D. Have dirty mains which means everything is so terrible that this is masking the difference.
E. Some combination of the above.
Another experiment worth trying:
1) Write the binary number "10101010" on a piece of paper using a 10p biro.
2) Write the binary number "10101010" on a piece of paper using a £1000 gold-nibbed fountain pen.
3) Compare the two numbers. Are they the same?
Rant over.
Yeah but it does not quite work that way. In practice though the 1's and O's are passed down the line as variations in voltage. This can lead to errors, inteference spikes can cause the zero voltage to be interpreted as a 1 by the time it reaches the other end. The longer the cable the more chance of inteference and errors. Expensive cables tend to be contructed better, and less prone to errors.
I have ixos and chord company 5m cables(less than £20 ebay) both perform satisfactorily on my set up. I also have a gametek? or similar from Game which I got free with PS3. I can easily see a difference on my tv when swapping between the gametek to either of the other cables.
When we group test HDMI cable we see and hear clear differences between them. The differences are more obvious in sound quality than they are in picture. We did a Big Question feature on this many months ago where the readers did not know what part of the system we were changing, and even then all three reliably spotted the differences between HDMI cables.
As with every other type of product we test, we can only report as we find. We always say that you should try something before buying it. That applies to cables as much as with everything else.
If people don't notice any difference between premium cables and cheaper (or free) alternatives, then that's fine too. At least you'll save some money.
Another experiment worth trying:
1) Write the binary number "10101010" on a piece of paper using a 10p biro.
2) Write the binary number "10101010" on a piece of paper using a £1000 gold-nibbed fountain pen.
3) Compare the two numbers. Are they the same?
Rant over.
Yeah but it does not quite work that way. In practice though the 1's and O's are passed down the line as variations in voltage. This can lead to errors, inteference spikes can cause the zero voltage to be interpreted as a 1 by the time it reaches the other end.
BEGONE FOUL DEMON AND TAKE YOUR FACTS WITH YOU! THEY AREN'T REQUIRED HERE!
I think you've just ignited another religious debate. As an ex electronics engineer, I'd say if a digital cable works, it works. Others on this forum say they can detect differences and I've no reason to disbelieve them.
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