HDMI Event Part 1

[Phil Hinton]

We meet Jeff Boccaccio from the Digital Performance Level program, who fully test and certify HDMI cables. He explains what issues you may encounter and why, with HDMI. Part One of three.

We hope you enjoy this production from the AVForums team. Please reply with your comments.
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[mabo]

Excellent video. I think i've heard more differing opinions about HDMI than any other piece of home cinema set-up, so it's nice to hear from someone truly knoledgable on the subject.

[David Mackenzie]

My thoughts exactly. It's also nice to see that the non-differences I've observed time and time again with my own eyes finally being clarified by an HDMI expert.

[IAN P]

Another great video.No differences in the cables except build quality.Picture will work or it won't.

Make it a sticky in the HDMI section.

I wonder if he got a Christmas card from Monster?Probably not.

[kingfats]

Originally Posted by IAN P

I wonder if he got a Christmas card from Monster?Probably not.

No i guess he not yeah.....good video.

[namuk]

excellent , explains why some some get handshake issues and some people do not.. with the same connected equipment

Top vid

[Andris L]

Originally Posted by IAN P

I wonder if he got a Christmas card from Monster?Probably not.

I think instead of Christmas Card he got blacklisted .

[Pecker]

So, a bit of theory here.

The idea that 'more expensive' automatically must mean 'better' is now in the bin.

As long as a component is up to the minimum spec of the system (the format) then it cannot impact on the performance limitations of that format.

BINGO!

Steve W

[Phil Hinton]

Originally Posted by Pecker

So, a bit of theory here.

The idea that 'more expensive' automatically must mean 'better' is now in the bin.

As long as a component is up to the minimum spec of the system (the format) then it cannot impact on the performance limitations of that format.

BINGO!

Steve W

Well nearly right. It won't or shouldn't impact on the video signal being trasmitted if the cable is well built and designed. Whether thats a budget cable or not. But the important thing is that the more you want from your system, such as new BD players doing upsampling of 8 bit video etc, you need a cable that has the required bandwidth to meet the demand. So, what Jeff is ultimately saying is that look for a cat 2 certified cable at the very least, check its build quality and ultimately look to see if DPL have rated it. You should then have a better understanding of what to look for and avoid issues in the future with cables suddenly packing up or just not working at all.

Obviously where it gets really important is for longer runs of HDMI cables as thats when design, materials and quality will come into their own, over a poorly put together unit. And just because a Manufacturer has HDMI license, doesn't mean that their longer cables are to even the minimum spec, its a loop hole and one that DPL are trying to close.

[David Mackenzie]

The thing that's always got me is that, the people spending hundreds on usually useless HDMI cables would do much better to spend the money on having their system calibrated. THEN they would see a real difference they were looking for!

[Phil Hinton]

Originally Posted by David Mackenzie

The thing that's always got me is that, the people spending hundreds on usually useless HDMI cables would do much better to spend the money on having their system calibrated. THEN they would see a real difference they were looking for!

Very true and it always puzzles me that one. And remember if you want deeper blacks and whiter whites, don't read magazine reviews of HDMI cables The poor guy from a certain magazine saw his whole review world fall apart in front of his eyes at this event.

[mabo]

Originally Posted by Phil Hinton

Obviously where it gets really important is for longer runs of HDMI cables as thats when design, materials and quality will come into their own, over a poorly put together unit. And just because a Manufacturer has HDMI license, doesn't mean that their longer cables are to even the minimum spec, its a loop hole and one that DPL are trying to close.

It's nice to know that i haven't necessarily completely wasted my money on the recent purchase of a 7m QED cable then. It wasn't a boost in image quality i wanted, rather just to get an actual image as the previous cable i tried (cheap) refused to give me anything even vaguely usable, just intermitent interference of some kind.

[Graham27]

Originally Posted by Phil Hinton

Very true and it always puzzles me that one. And remember if you want deeper blacks and whiter whites, don't read magazine reviews of HDMI cables The poor guy from a certain magazine saw his whole review world fall apart in front of his eyes at this event.

I can't actually watch the vid (very annoyingly, due to awfully slow 'net speeds in this part of the world) so I'm just wondering what this event actually was?

Was it attended by the hi-fi press, or was it a private event for AVF? Are the company involved in the event fairly well regarded?

From others comments, I guess at least some of the HDMI 'myths' have kinda been banished?!

[StuartM]

This HDMI event was held by a UK distributor of HDMI products who wanted to finally bring some useful information about HDMI, how it works and why certain errors and problems are experienced.

This was provided in the form of a training course aimed at the UK Custom Installers and was primarily to get definitive answers the most common questions and issues experienced by our customers.

There are plans this year to run more of these events due to the popularity of the first

[Neil Davidson]

Hi Everyone,

It is good to see a frank and sensible discussion about HDMI for a change.

People may also be interested to read the following document which contains similar useful data to the video but with some interesting graphics and measurements to explain the theory.

http://www.dvigear.com/documents/DVI...he_Hood_v2.pdf