HDMI Cables

[fleetingmind]

I've just upgraded from my old 2009 Panasonic HD ready plasma TV to a LG OLED48A16LA. I've got Sky Q (watch HD Channels), Firestick 4k, Nvidia Shield TV 2019 (stream 4k movies), Sony soundbar connected up with very old HDMI cables (over 5 years old) and one HDMI supplied by Sky with the Sky Q.

I know that places like Currys try to make you believe you'll get better picture with a £50+ HDMi cable and i know build quality is the important thing but i've found myself going round in circles and talking myself out of things. But my questions are if i may:

1. if i replaced the old cables with new ones would i notice any difference at all with say 4k viewing?
2. I do need to buy one so would one from Amazon basics or Kenable or these (Amazon product) be ok for the job or are there better options?
3. Do the cables need to be certified?
4. Is it true it's better buying at at least 2m ones rather than 0.5m-1m (i hate excess cables behind the TV and the soudbar is so close to the TV!!)?

MANY THANKS!

 

[Joe Fernand]

Plug your kit in, power the system on, configure your Sources for the highest resolution your TV supports, hit play.

Unless you see any (very) obvious errors, picture flashing or drop out there is zero reason to replace your cables.

Joe

PS It is true that some kit combinations can get unhappy if you have shorter than 2m HDMI cables.

 

[fleetingmind]

Plug your kit in, power the system on, configure your Sources for the highest resolution your TV supports, hit play.

Unless you see any (very) obvious errors, picture flashing or drop out there is zero reason to replace your cables.

Joe

PS It is true that some kit combinations can get unhappy if you have shorter than 2m HDMI cables.

Thank you for your reply. It's most appreciated.

Interesting that the new 2.1/8k cables being advertised are no better than my old ones. So reviews where people say they got a new cable and noticed a difference are it to be entirely believed.

Just saved me some money, thank you.

 

[Joe Fernand]

Swapping out your current cables for an Ultra High Speed certified cable may mean you can push 8K over the cable when you upgrade your Source and Display gear but it will make no difference to the HD or UHD signal you are pushing over your current cable.

Save your money

Joe

HDMI Cables - Different Cable Types

HDMI cable overview with the different HDMI cable types, their port capabilities, and how to tell the HDMI connector types apart. HDMI 2.1a

www.hdmi.org

 

[KBD]

When I first got my UHD television, I tested every HDMI cable I had & looked up their certifications.
I only had one cable that went dodgy with UHD, so I binned it.

I bought three 48 Gbps certified HDMI cables just to be sure, one of which is a pricey AudioQuest.
I could tell absolutely no difference between the AQ cable & other cables I have here that are only rated/certified for 10 Gbps.

However, I still relegated those lower-certified cables to lesser tasks, like a HD Roku.

 

[Otto Pylot]

When I first got my UHD television, I tested every HDMI cable I had & looked up their certifications.
I only had one cable that went dodgy with UHD, so I binned it.

I bought three 48 Gbps certified HDMI cables just to be sure, one of which is a pricey AudioQuest.
I could tell absolutely no difference between the AQ cable & other cables I have here that are only rated/certified for 10 Gbps.

However, I still relegated those lower-certified cables to lesser tasks, like a HD Roku.

AQ cables are overpriced and overhyped for what you get. If you want ATC certified cables for the HDMI 2.1 option sets, then active cables from Ruipro, Cable Matters, Phoossno, etc should be considered. If you want passive cables, then Ruipro, Zeskit, or Maxonar are brands one should consider.

 

[JemCollector]

I recently bought an Anthem AVM 70, and connected my Blu-ray player and Xbox to it with my existing Audioquest cables, then used my other existing AQ cable to connect ARC from my Samsung TV. Everything worked fine except for some reason entirely unknown to me I wasn’t getting any Atmos. I contacted the retailer from whom I purchased the processor ([email protected]) who advised me to buy these:

Amazon product

I did so and all is well - I’m getting Atmos and the picture, from what I can tell, is no different from before. I have since changed the previous AQ cables from the Blu-ray and Xbox too.

 

[ChuckMountain]

It does seem AQ do something strange with their ARC and eARC and that people are having to upgrade their AQ cables to either newer AQ ones or better to just "normally priced" cables for ARC\eARC to work properly particularly with Dolby Atmos. Given the cables should just be wired identically then it is a bit bizarre.

Independent tests have been done that analyse every single pixel on multiple frames and test differences between cables and surprise surprise no difference...