Question Which HDMI cable is recommended

Alex34

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Hello again.

Recently I bought some of the Van Damme Blue Series speaker wire that is highly recommended on avforums and I'm very pleased with it. Now I am looking to purchase a quality equivalent in HDMI cables.

I currently need a 3m long piece for my bedroom just to run HD content from Sky box to HDTV mounted on a wall. In a few weeks I will also need a couple 5m - 6m pieces that can easily carry 4k signals. So I would like to know what the "forum favourite" is for HDMI cable for my requirements?

The Van Damme speaker cables were purchased from ukhdmi.com and I would like to support them again if possible.

Many thanks in advance!
 
HDMI cable - look for a cable carrying the official High Speed or Premium High Speed logo for your 5m or 6m cable to carry 4K UHD and ensure you test the cable at all required resolutions before you 'install' the cable.

HDMI cables can and do fail or become damaged so ensure any cable you 'install' is simple to replace.

As you get closer to 8m you can run into issues with 4K signals.

Joe

VanDamme Blue Series - not convinced about your supplier :D
 
HDMI cable - look for a cable carrying the official High Speed or Premium High Speed logo for your 5m or 6m cable to carry 4K UHD and ensure you test the cable at all required resolutions before you 'install' the cable.

HDMI cables can and do fail or become damaged so ensure any cable you 'install' is simple to replace.

As you get closer to 8m you can run into issues with 4K signals.

Joe

VanDamme Blue Series - not convinced about your supplier :D

Thanks Joe. Is it safe to say the build quality will be very similar with most "Premium High Speed" cables?

Are you affiliated with ukhdmi.com then?
 
I'll let Joe answer that but he is very helpful and knows his stuff.
 
No.
AVF has a strong community spirit and we have a number of professionals who give to the community.
 
HDMI cable - any 'working' cable will deliver the same performance as any other working cable. Certified cables have been built to a standard which can be verified/repeated so it can be worth a little extra to seek them out especially for 4K UHD once you get out past 2m.

VanDamme Blue - I know your supplier team very well (we supply a few similar lines and supply support at times on some of the lines we supply to Trade customers) for a while their link would not be allowed here on AVF :)

Joe
 
Shop for the officially certified logos.
See the QR type code sticker here as an example....
All cables carrying such a logo will be identical and are as good as it gets.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B072LRKP1S/ref=twister_B071P5CFN3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Incidentally, when you get your product...you should be able to scan that QR code with your phone and it will take you to the official hdmi.org certification.
Hdmi.org are the sole licensee and testers for HDMI products.
 
— As an Amazon Associate, AVForums earns from qualifying purchases —
Shop for the officially certified logos.
See the QR type code sticker here as an example....
All cables carrying such a logo will be identical and are as good as it gets.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B072LRKP1S/ref=twister_B071P5CFN3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Incidentally, when you get your product...you should be able to scan that QR code with your phone and it will take you to the official hdmi.org certification.
Hdmi.org are the sole licensee and testers for HDMI products.

Perhaps not identical, HDMI isn't just a piece of wire, even approved products don't always work under all conditions or component interoperability. Certification is only as good as the test process and where you set the pass bar regardless of who does it

HDMI Corner: Is There a Traffic Jam on the HDMI Highway?
HDMI Corner: Black Magic in High-Speed Signaling
Small Testing Glitch Leaves More HDMI Rev 2.1 Questions Looming
HDMI Corner: Are All HDMI Cables Really the Same?
HDMI Corner: Navigate Noise & Voltage When Vaulting to 4K/60

As an example, my 4k apple tv sometime complains about holding a stable 18gb connection despite using apple's approved belkin cables (quote: Cables are tested by HDMI Authorized Test Centers to the full 18Gbps to ensure that every guarantee is upheld not only in the testing facility), however it does work 99.9% of the time
 
— As an Amazon Associate, AVForums earns from qualifying purchases —
Bill,
I looked at the DPL articles and quite frankly the language used is not what I would expect of a professional engineer let alone one focusing on testing.
The only search results for the emotive term "HDMI Abyss" come back to DPL Labs.
I suggest you look at a range of sources for information rather than just one.

There is a difference between test results and real world as you mention, often because effects of handling HDMI cables can affect the signal integrity, heavy/stiff cables can compromise the connection etc.
Or you could have stood on it, that reduce performance.
 
I am aware of the certifications and I'm just looking for a quality brand/model recommendation. Something that is certified to carry 4K no problem at 6m.

What brands/models are highly regarded and very reliable is all? I've done research on what to look for but you guys have the hands on experience of what is well constructed and reliable.

Something that isn't going to break the bank and is preferably not from amazon.
 
Look at the book title "HDMI Uncensored". Another emotional label.
Also his LinkedIn profile is empty and his profile on "HDMI Uncensored" shows he is really a small businessman.
 
@Alex34
Up to 4k @ 30FPS you can use a certified High Speed cable, beyond 30FPS you need a certified Premium cable (Andy is the expert there).
Note that part of the certification requires that the speed rating is printed on the cable and that HDMI versions apply to the electronics not the cable - be suspicious of a cable that is described by HDMI versions.
Sorry I can't advise on cable brands, got a crate full of the things built up over the years.
 
doesn't make him incorrect, I disagree with your assertion, there we are equal on opinions :D By the linkedin has him as DPL president - do you say they a fraudsters?

Seems a shallow argument, what about the technical content, what do you disagree with?
 
The technical comment is all qualitative and none quantitative.
It is opinion.
BTW, I am a qualified test engineer who has worked for/with various corporations including semiconductor manufacturing businesses.
 
I hate it when people start mentioning jobs :) Do you work for hdmi.org or test their stuff or have some inside info?

So going back to the question, it maybe qualatitive but until someone posts quantative data is what is written incorrect or misleading in some way?
 
Jeff Boccaccio is quite a character - his presentations are always enlightening and entertaining, 'Good JuJU' as he puts it. I have the badge to prove it :)

DPL Labs undertakes design and test work for all manner of Manufacturers - though not convinced the DPL Labs Certification carries much attraction for folk purchasing kit or cables.

Joe
 
Thanks Joe

My assertion is that hdmi consists of source, channel, sink - physical, electrical, firmware and must be considered as a closed system not in isolation of a single component

Adopter Responsible

Use of this document and/or the HDMI Compliance Test Specification does not guarantee that any product will conform to the HDMI Specification, function correctly or interoperate with any otherproduct. It is Adopter’s sole responsibility to establish its own testing specifications, guides andreference designs in order to establish conformance with the HDMI Specification and Adopter Agreement, and to provide correct functionality and interoperability. Adopter shall be solely responsible for all testing results

https://www.hdmi.org/download/2011_11_08_HDMI_ComplianceTesting_PoliciesProcedures_FINAL.pdf

From Tektronix hdmi test guide

Section 5: Jitter vs. Bit Error Rate

“An approximate answer to the right question is worth a good deal more than the exact answer to an approximate problem.” - John Tukey



5.1 The Jitter Budget

A real communications system consists of transmitter, channel and receiver, as modeled in Figure 5.1. The channel may include cabling, interconnects, and active devices that don’t perform clock regeneration. The channel may introduce filtering, non-linearity, DC offset, impedance mismatches and additional random jitter. Various circuit test points and system connectors will provide access points where the signal quality may be monitored. As one progresses from the transmitter to the receiver and monitors the signal quality at each access point (perhaps using an eye diagram), the signal jitter generally gets worse.

Simplistically, one might assume that success has been achieved if the eye is still open, even just a little, when the signal reaches the input to the receiver’s clock-data recovery circuit (access point D). However, the receiver circuit isn’t perfect. The received signal’s eye must be sufficiently open horizontally to account for timing uncertainty in the receiver’s decision circuit, and open enough vertically to accommodate noise influencing the decision threshold.

Thus, a thorough system design specification will allocate a jitter budget so that each well-defined access point has known jitter limits, and that adequate margin remains when the signal enters the receiver to be resynchronized.

So in the example the result of a just good enough component can affect another - note the word system above (source,cable,sink) all have to be OK or there can be interoperability issues creeping in
 
Hi billhinge

'My assertion is that hdmi consists of source, channel, sink - physical, electrical, firmware and must be considered as a closed system not in isolation of a single component' - exactly what many of us have been 'preaching' for the past 15 years here on AVF :)

Joe
 
Perhaps not identical, HDMI isn't just a piece of wire, even approved products don't always work under all conditions or component interoperability. Certification is only as good as the test process and where you set the pass bar regardless of who does it

We are talking about cables here.
HDMI cables are 19 wires, and are tested separately under the cable test specifications.
Category 1 or standard speed.
Category 2 or high speed/ premium
Category 3 or Ultra ( brand new cable Type.)
All official cable testing is via ATCs ( Authorised Test Centres) , its the only way to get your cable logo.

Ive come across Jeff lots of times.
Im not saying anything that disagrees with him.

Make sure your cables are officially tested...check.
Dont steal power from the 5v line...check.
Glitches in the 2.1 spec....the CTS document is only just available after almost 18 months of delay...all of us in the industry have seen them, All the major ones are sorted....fingers crossed!
 
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Hi billhinge

'My assertion is that hdmi consists of source, channel, sink - physical, electrical, firmware and must be considered as a closed system not in isolation of a single component' - exactly what many of us have been 'preaching' for the past 15 years here on AVF :)

Joe

great, just checking, we are in agreement then :)
 
Jeff Boccaccio is quite a character - his presentations are always enlightening and entertaining, 'Good JuJU' as he puts it. I have the badge to prove it :)

DPL Labs undertakes design and test work for all manner of Manufacturers - though not convinced the DPL Labs Certification carries much attraction for folk purchasing kit or cables.

Joe

I’m sure I still have my “Good JuJu” badges somewhere at the back of a drawer from one of Jeffs Cedia training courses from many years ago. He certainly had an entertaining (if slightly US-centric) training style but was also very straight forward when it came to what was fact and what was FUD surrounding all things HDMI. That was back in the days when everyone was worried about the move to HDMI 1.4!! While he has a commercial interest in maintains work for his testing labs and consultancy practice he also gives plenty of his time, expertise, and experience FOC to the AV trade & enthusiasts too (much like some of the members who have commented here).
 
90 degree adapters... would they affect the connection quality? Meaning if I were to get a Premium High Speed cable and use it in conjunction with a 90° adapter (to get the slimmest profile possible with wall mounting) could the adaptor negate the Premium High Speed connection?
 

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