LTT Test $1000 of HDMI Cables

[BMXTRIX]

If someone uses the last as a criterion for buying HDMI cables, why would they expect less than your 15%-20% failure rate? The least expensive HDMI cables I buy at wholesale cost more than that but the good part- they rarely fail. If I was seeing such a high failure rate, I would switch to something else.

The cost should always be a factor in purchasing, but it is the final build quality that is king. A quality connector, with a crap build will fail just as often as a crap connector with good build quality. But, it doesn't take a great connector to have solid connectivity. A good connector plus very good build quality should give a good connection.

In their actual testing, they had a near 100% success rate on all HDMI cables which were 6' or less. So, while their overall testing, which included cables 10 and 15 feet long, did have a fairly high failure rate, their 6' cables, regardless of price, worked great.

But, you should download the Excel file which they published which shows their test results as well as some notes and pricing for all the cables tested. It likely took them hours to put together, and is the heart of the video itself. I fully expect that there will be a great deal of clamoring about their testing and a TON of requests for more cables to be independently tested in this fashion.

Test results at the top of this page:

I Spent a THOUSAND Dollars on HDMI Cables.. for Science

We told you we’d do it, and here it is! Testing a whackload of HDMI 2.1 and 2.0 cables to find out if you’ve been wasting your money on cables for no good reason. Data from tests is attached to this post. If you are an educator or otherwise have a legitimate reason for wanting to look at the .jso...

linustechtips.com

 

[highfigh]

The cost should always be a factor in purchasing, but it is the final build quality that is king. A quality connector, with a crap build will fail just as often as a crap connector with good build quality. But, it doesn't take a great connector to have solid connectivity. A good connector plus very good build quality should give a good connection.

In their actual testing, they had a near 100% success rate on all HDMI cables which were 6' or less. So, while their overall testing, which included cables 10 and 15 feet long, did have a fairly high failure rate, their 6' cables, regardless of price, worked great.

But, you should download the Excel file which they published which shows their test results as well as some notes and pricing for all the cables tested. It likely took them hours to put together, and is the heart of the video itself. I fully expect that there will be a great deal of clamoring about their testing and a TON of requests for more cables to be independently tested in this fashion.

Test results at the top of this page:

I Spent a THOUSAND Dollars on HDMI Cables.. for Science

We told you we’d do it, and here it is! Testing a whackload of HDMI 2.1 and 2.0 cables to find out if you’ve been wasting your money on cables for no good reason. Data from tests is attached to this post. If you are an educator or otherwise have a legitimate reason for wanting to look at the .jso...

linustechtips.com

The industry's test procedures and leeway left to the manufacturers has caused a lot of problems because the shortest cable offered was often the one sent in for testing and there was little to prevent their advertising from containing "Our cables meet industry standards". That one may, but the longer ones didn't.

Then, there's the issue of updates to the HDMI standards/AV equipment that makes a cable fail- I had a cable stop passing video in an installation and both ends were immobilized to prevent stressing the ends. The cable was supposed to have a three year warranty, but the manufacturer refused to cover it, saying that its serial number put it outside of the warranty period. Well, that would have been OK if the cable had been sold/installed more than three years earlier, but it only lasted about six months- they counted the time it was in the distributor's system and on the shelf, which isn't the way it's supposed to work. That distributor had discontinued the brand in the time between me buying it and needing to return it, so I was left to explain this BS. It wasn't terribly long and it wasn't passing 4K, it was just 1080 resolution.

I have thought HDMI sucks since the beginning and that opinion hasn't changed.

 

[BMXTRIX]

The industry's test procedures and leeway left to the manufacturers has caused a lot of problems because the shortest cable offered was often the one sent in for testing and there was little to prevent their advertising from containing "Our cables meet industry standards". That one may, but the longer ones didn't.

I have thought HDMI sucks since the beginning and that opinion hasn't changed.

HDMI is great IMO. But, it was designed around a consumer concept of a 6' cable being plenty long enough, and for the vast majority of users it really is.

I have had great luck with HDMI cables over the years with 1080p and below resolution. I've actually had reasonable luck with 4K video at the lengths I am working with. I've also used RUIPRO fiber HDMI cables for longer lengths with great success.

But, if you want headaches, then they are all around the digital cable industry and DisplayPort at any length beyond 6' is just as problematic, if not moreso compared to HDMI. So, you kind of have to pick your poison.

If you loved the days of the reliability that component video delivered, I'm right there with you. But, after using a 16x16 HDMI matrix switcher for several years, with almost ZERO issues with HDMI distribution at 1080p throughout my home, I'm pretty well sold that HDMI works just fine to get my audio and video around where I want it to go.

I always buy cables from Monoprice (except RUIPRO) and they have almost never let me down. At about a buck a foot, they have delivered time and time and time again.

 

[highfigh]

HDMI is great IMO. But, it was designed around a consumer concept of a 6' cable being plenty long enough, and for the vast majority of users it really is.

I have had great luck with HDMI cables over the years with 1080p and below resolution. I've actually had reasonable luck with 4K video at the lengths I am working with. I've also used RUIPRO fiber HDMI cables for longer lengths with great success.

But, if you want headaches, then they are all around the digital cable industry and DisplayPort at any length beyond 6' is just as problematic, if not moreso compared to HDMI. So, you kind of have to pick your poison.

If you loved the days of the reliability that component video delivered, I'm right there with you. But, after using a 16x16 HDMI matrix switcher for several years, with almost ZERO issues with HDMI distribution at 1080p throughout my home, I'm pretty well sold that HDMI works just fine to get my audio and video around where I want it to go.

I always buy cables from Monoprice (except RUIPRO) and they have almost never let me down. At about a buck a foot, they have delivered time and time and time again.

I use cables that come with lifetime warranty- after the BS with the one that failed and wasn't covered, I'll never buy one with a finite warranty.

By exceeding the 6' and "Don't touch it, don't even look at it" design, they have tried to polish a turd but the whole reason behind HDMI is BS. One cable for everything is a good theory, but there are so many ways it can go bad.