How can HDMI wire companies limit Hertz in wire or is it a marketing scam?
I want to know what consumers think about wire companies fraudulently marketing hertz limits in HDMI wire. My understanding is that all wire is capable of transmitting any hertz/frame rate. i.e. If a DVD player outputs a 120Hz signal and the TV handles 240Hz TV, then the consumer's common sense tells them they would want at least a 120Hz HDMI to prevent loss of quality on a so-called 60Hz HDMI wire and to avoid the TV from having to up-convert from the lessor 60Hz wire but the better 120Hz that the DVD outputs because the up-conversion introduces un-natural movements during the interpolating process where fake frames are displayed to make up the difference of the lower hertz rate. I attached a few comments forum comments below that support my questions. Naturally, one would think that all rates from the original camera filming frames to the DVD player/cable box output rate to the TV need to be closely matched to get best natural picture motion. Even though my TV can upscale any picture source up to 120 hertz, it's no good if the camera source is only 24 frames/sec due to interpolation during the up-convert. I've tested different hertz rates on a 120Hz capable TV with a 24Hz DVD that was played on a 60Hz PS3 & transmitted to TV via a cheap, generic HDMI wire. The TV was set to up-convert to 120Hz, but had a info box on TV at start of movie that indicated the input source was 60Hz because that's what the PS3 was spitting out, but the DVD was shot at 24 frames/sec, so the up-conversion looked un-natural. The up-conversion process is called interpolation, where the process displays fake frames between real frames based on a computerized formula, so I guess 4 fake frames for every real frame because 120Hz/24Hz=5 frames? The fake frames never existed during camera filming, so the computer can't properly predict exact frames, thus leaving you with judder and unnatural movements of people & things in the movie. I prefer the natural look, so I found more importance with 1080p pixels & higher contrast ratios with vivid colors and deep blacks.
Forum Comments:
You would turn it (higher Hz interpolation) off for a few reasons I will describe below.
When you turn on "tru motion" what your TV does is take every frame of information from the source and MAKES UP additional information (based on the information from the source) to produce 120 frames per second. even if the source is less than that. This is why the picture (to most people) is inconsistent, fake looking and can random speed up/slow down. This is because your TV is MAKING STUFF UP. If you like the setting then that's fine and it appears you do.
The wire companies are making it sound as if you need to buy wire that can allow faster hertz, when really it's about the frame rate of the camera source. Some say higher hertz rate is good for sports, I agree, but only if it matches the camera rate because I don't like interpolation with fake picture frames.
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One of the most common sorts of questions from our customers these days is some variant on this: "Do I really need a 120Hz HDMI Cable?" In consumer electronics stores across the country, consumers are being told that their new 120 Hertz displays will not work properly, or will not work optimally, without a cable designed for 120 Hertz. We'll address this question two different ways, beginning with the short answer and following with the long answer/explanation.
This "120 Hertz" thing really caught us by surprise at BJC. At first, we had just the occasional question about it, but lately it has been one of the most frequent questions we get on the phone and in e-mail. What's frustrating is the form it so often takes: usually something like "I need a 120 Hz compatible cable. Do you have any that are 120 Hz compatible? Your website doesn't say they are." The B.S. vendors are laying this one on thick and heavy, and a lot of customers have already been convinced of the need before we see them.
For a time I considered putting something like "120 Hz compatible" into our descriptions, but frankly, that seemed wrong--it's like labeling your peanut butter "cholesterol-free" when all peanut butter, of course, is cholesterol-free. So the answer, of course, is to meet the question with an explanation. Unfortunately, sometimes that just leads to customers thinking we're being evasive. One can't always win the war against B.S., but one can try...
It would seem to me that this "120MHz Cable" garbage is an egregious example of consumer fraud. It would be delicious to see the heads of these companies in prison orange over this sort of balderdash
People will never understand this is a what happens when film is shot at 24fps.
That's why film looks the way it does. So now you have all these technologies that change the original source and fake frames to make it appear smooth.
It's really stupid.
wow.....great info. so i was duped into thinking that i'd be watching stuff at 120hz. i also noticed that when i turn on my ps3 or xbox it only shows at 60hz on my info box.
Info box may only reflect the signal going to the TV not how it is displayed on it. If the TV can be set to display at 120Hz, then it will do that to the incoming 60Hz most likely.
