This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY -- Ever bought a new large-screen TV only to find that it didn't come with an HDMI cable? Even the peripherals, like DVD players and DVRs, don't come with an HDMI cable. That's odd because most USB hard drives come with a cable. Even cameras come with a cable.

Since an HDMI cable isn't included with the TV or most DVD players, it opens a wide market for rather expensive after-market HDMI cables.

Which one is the right one? Usually, the sales representative at the big-box store is there to provide guidance, but they only point to the rack in the store.

HDMI is a standard and industry standards are for the benefit of the consumer. Once a standard has been set with rules for enforcement and compliance, the customer can rely upon it. The standards-setting process is used everywhere from construction to cellular communications to digital documents, and every standard that is properly set, deployed and enforced, makes the consumer's life easier.

The HDMI standard is no different.

The idea that a $100 gold-plated Monster Cable will give you better performance than a $3 cable from Monoprice is absurd.

The HDMI standard was created in 2002, and it has slowly evolved to add more features, improve reliability and performance to the current version at 1.4. As long as all components meet the same HDMI version, they will all work together to provide all features that the HDMI version of the product supports.

The idea that a $100 gold-plated Monster Cable will give you better performance than a $3 cable from Monoprice is absurd. The reason that the standard sets the minimum requirements to work properly. Because the minimum requirements are set by the standard, there is no technical or economic reason to exceed the specification by a large margin.

An Internet search for "which HDMI cable should I buy?" will turn up plenty of articles up in no time, and reputable sources like Cnet, Techdirt, Ars Technica and Engadget they are very clear that a $60 cable will not perform perceptibly better than a $5 cable that meets the same standard.

It takes a rare ear indeed to perceive the difference between vinyl, CD and MP3, and the same is true for HDMI cables: Only expensive electronic equipment can tell the difference between brands.

Before buying a big screen TV, save some time and buy the cables before the TV.

Cables at Amazon and Monoprice are reasonably priced.

For best results, make sure the TV and any sources all support the same minimum version level of HDMI. When selecting a cable, make sure it supports the lowest version level of the devices of potential TV purchases.

A little planning can go a long way towards a satisfying purchase.

×

Related Links