Any Hd Questions

[Unrelenting]

Hey guys, I've been going around my work with a BUNCH of questions about HD and such, if you guys have any questions I will try to answer them as best as I can. I may be young, but a close family friend lets me work with him as a home theater tech. I'm also attending school for home theater systems. So ask away

[thecoalition]

how much difference is there between monster's 400, 600, 800 etc hdmi cables?
right now i have a 1080i plasma and an upconverter from pioneer until i can afford a 600 blueray player (possibly just going to buy a ps3) so i want some good cables but i cant find someones to let me demo the cables.

[waterboi]

how much difference is there between monster's 400, 600, 800 etc hdmi cables?
right now i have a 1080i plasma and an upconverter from pioneer until i can afford a 600 blueray player (possibly just going to buy a ps3) so i want some good cables but i cant find someones to let me demo the cables.

Well it really depends on the length you are running. The difference that you would probably notice in those cables will be almost not visible. Edited March 3, 2008 by waterboi

[shisha fan]

how much difference is there between monster's 400, 600, 800 etc hdmi cables?
right now i have a 1080i plasma and an upconverter from pioneer until i can afford a 600 blueray player (possibly just going to buy a ps3) so i want some good cables but i cant find someones to let me demo the cables.

there is no difference. hdmi is a digital standard, so the signal is either transfered in 100% the original quality or not at all.

[thecoalition]

see i disagree. i currently have 2 rocketfish hdmi's ( i got them for 8 dolla a piece on my work discount) and then i bought a monster 400. there was a difference but not a huge one. so mainly im wondering if i went with the monster ultra 800 (i think it is) would there be a bigger one.

[shisha fan]

see i disagree. i currently have 2 rocketfish hdmi's ( i got them for 8 dolla a piece on my work discount) and then i bought a monster 400. there was a difference but not a huge one. so mainly im wondering if i went with the monster ultra 800 (i think it is) would there be a bigger one.

just do a search on hdmi, there will be no difference at all. monster cables are only useful for replacing analog cables, where gold coated connectors can make an improvement.

[Unrelenting]

see i disagree. i currently have 2 rocketfish hdmi's ( i got them for 8 dolla a piece on my work discount) and then i bought a monster 400. there was a difference but not a huge one. so mainly im wondering if i went with the monster ultra 800 (i think it is) would there be a bigger one.

when it goes to monster and crappy HDMI cables , there will be a difference. but when it goes into higher models with them, all there really is, is a price difference. I have had people buy top of the line equiptment and never find a difference between them really.

there is no real HUGE or any difference at all when it comes to higher models of the same cable.

[chinamon]

im pretty sure the difference that you guys see is all psychological.

its like saying that you see a difference when you stream video across your LAN with different brands of category 5 cable.

[mjdx88]

a cable is a cable the only time you will see a difference is when you are exceeding 100ft and gold does nothing

[zeppyrkr]

i got a 5 dollar hdmi cable lol, cant complain ...

[chinamon]

a cable is a cable the only time you will see a difference is when you are exceeding 100ft and gold does nothing

that is only true if the cable is transferring a digital signal.
if the cable is transferring an analog signal then many factors could determine the quality (thickness of conductor, shielding, etc.)

[Stinkyfisherman]

how much difference is there between monster's 400, 600, 800 etc hdmi cables?
right now i have a 1080i plasma and an upconverter from pioneer until i can afford a 600 blueray player (possibly just going to buy a ps3) so i want some good cables but i cant find someones to let me demo the cables.

The advantage to Monster is the number of wires in the cable and its shielding is much thicker than most, it has over all higher quality build than say rocket fish (I do love the fact that we can get them for only $8) or other brands. if you look at the difference in them it goes like this... 400 basic copper, 600 basic copper with more shielding, 800 refined copper (its just purer), 1000 is copper that has silver plating around it, and the M series is the same as the 1000 but with tons more shielding. You can run an M series through a microwave and the picture wouldn't be distorted. You not gonna get any signal loss in HDMI until about around 125 feet and I doubt your running them that long. For the best picture on your plasma keep it in its native resolution aka only play stuff in 1080i.

I know a fair amount about home theater and likewise with car audio and wiring, im a car audio installer for a living. I have been trained by some really good people. I’m not calming that I know it all cuz I don’t but I do know quite a bit.

[zeppyrkr]

but lets be honest i think 90% of people will be completely fine with a 5 dollar hdmi cable, it kind of gets anal when you have to dish out a nice amount of money for not alot of improvement, thats just my 2cents...

[Stinkyfisherman]

but lets be honest i think 90% of people will be completely fine with a 5 dollar hdmi cable, it kind of gets anal when you have to dish out a nice amount of money for not alot of improvement, thats just my 2cents...

I do agree with you i dont see the need to spend $200 of a cable when the one that i have now is just fine for me.

[mjdx88]

a cable is a cable the only time you will see a difference is when you are exceeding 100ft and gold does nothing

that is only true if the cable is transferring a digital signal.
if the cable is transferring an analog signal then many factors could determine the quality (thickness of conductor, shielding, etc.)

Just sheilding really, Even professional grade cables are just plain copper maybe some will have gold tips but thats it. This applies to both analog and digital.

I will say if you really have the money and this has been pretty much been stated, go with the monster cable. I have one for my bass and love it. I have had it for almost 8 years, looks and feels like new. But in terms of quality as long as its sheiled and your not going past 100Ft it makes no difference, even after 100ft you wont see much of a change.

Just to add one more thing, this applies to any cable, so when your asked to buy that gold plated usb cable with your printer at staples just pass on it, its a money scam.

EDIT: If you read my post about balanced cable forget that, I made a mistake and forgot balanced cable is for audio only. Edited March 4, 2008 by mjdx88

[chinamon]

I will say if you really have the money and this has been pretty much been stated, go with the monster cable. I have one for my bass and love it. I have had it for almost 8 years, looks and feels like new. But in terms of quality as long as its sheiled and your not going past 100Ft it makes no difference, even after 100ft you wont see much of a change.

you noticed a big difference because the subwoofer cable transfers ANALOG signal.
when buying a cable that transfers analog signal you should definitely buy something good. if its a digital signal it really doesnt make a difference if you buy cheap of expensive.

[erufiku]

Just to add one more thing, this applies to any cable, so when your asked to buy that gold plated usb cable with your printer at staples just pass on it, its a money scam.

+1
I got a USB printer cable from a dollar shop, and (gasp) my term papers print just fine. A bit short, but then again why would I pay 25$ for something I can get for $1?

[Unrelenting]

I agree, when some customers say "I want the best." I say "you could save money by getting this" but before I finish they're like "no this is what we want". I could do just fine with a bottem of the line HDMI cable as well. I bet everyone can, like zepp said.

Any other questions, trouble shooting

and Stinky, you're more than welcome to help too.

[thecoalition]

yea as a computer person i use the cables that i get the biggest discount on. aka the best buy dynex cable because as opposed to 25 or 30 bucks i get the longest ones for 4 bucks.
the monster cables i get for half off. same with any monster product thats why i bought a monster power cent for my home theatre stuff.

[mjdx88]

you noticed a big difference because the subwoofer cable transfers ANALOG signal.
when buying a cable that transfers analog signal you should definitely buy something good. if its a digital signal it really doesnt make a difference if you buy cheap of expensive.

Im sorry man, but it doesnt matter if it is digital or analog regardless of signal type it is an electrical pulse on a wire, one happens to be 1-0s the other being an increase and decrease of current/volts. You need good shielding (could be a monster cable but IMHO it is not needed) I did make an error before about balanced wiring which in this case is better for analog and can help with digital which could be considered the better wiring. But to my knowledge this is not offered on consumer/prosumer equipment no matter how much you pay its not needed/offered. I am studying TV systems and even most professional systems go to a hardware supplier and purchase X amount of heavy shielded cable and make their own wire systems, they dont use an fancy wiring, the only time you may see something fancy would be in a room with multiple grounds, and a system were audio is the main focus and any slight unwanted signal will be magnified by 100 in the final product.

This is what I have been taught by my professors. Please if you feel this information is wrong correct me, I love learning and this is my field,(unlike writing if you couldnt tell, lol) I know im new around here and dont want to be coming off like an ass , I just debate a lot.

That aside, I have a question for OP and the other guys who install theater systems, on your new installs within the last year, have customers been asking about installing DTV /ATSC tunners on their HD setups? Does your company just go ahead and install them and add it too the bill?
I ask this because I know many companies in the industry are shitting themselves because they just upgraded to HD and havent focused enough on digital and now dont have the funds for converting to digital.

Mike

[chinamon]

Im sorry man, but it doesnt matter if it is digital or analog regardless of signal type it is an electrical pulse on a wire, one happens to be 1-0s the other being an increase and decrease of current/volts.

im pretty sure the wave types are different between analog and digital signals if i recall correctly from what i was taught in first year electronics engineering.
if they are different, then isnt it possible that copper would affect these signals differently?
you would know more than i do since you are studying this stuff in school. i never finished electronics engineering. i only remember reading somewhere that expensive hdmi cables do the exact same job as the cheap ones because digital signals arent affected the same way as analog.

[Bulldog_916]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_television

It does matter the type of connection you are using. You can cram a lot more data into a digital connection as opposed to analog. And you dont have to dedicate and entire band to a single broadcast.

[Unrelenting]

That aside, I have a question for OP and the other guys who install theater systems, on your new installs within the last year, have customers been asking about installing DTV /ATSC tunners on their HD setups? Does your company just go ahead and install them and add it too the bill?
I ask this because I know many companies in the industry are shitting themselves because they just upgraded to HD and havent focused enough on digital and now dont have the funds for converting to digital.

Mike

When I did an install i think around 2 months ago(dont remember) I told them about the switchover. They said "they would handle it themselves" (got a call 2 weeks later to install a DTV tuner from the same people ) Now, my buddy and I just include it, as in they have no choice but to, because we dont want to deal with the bitching and moaning of customers(gives us bad reviews). So yes, our small company adds it to the bill. It's all customer preference really