Are Cheap HDMI 1.4 Cables Good Enough For Your HDTV Needs?

With all the new 3D compatible equipment in the home such as 3D blu-ray, 3D HD televisions and 3D laptops, the need arises for a high speed connection between all these household electronic devices. If you’ve been to electronics stores, you’ve probably seen the “Full HD” signs on all new LED or LCD TVs.

In order for the HD TV to display a clear image, it needs to scan 1080 pixel lines progressively. Progressive scan means that each line is scanned one after the other, this can only be done when the image data is done very quickly. Regular TV cables or even standard HDMI 1.3 cable cannot deliver that much digital data per second, and without a suitable cable the picture would not be Full-HD.

When it comes to viewing in 3D, the need for high-speed 1080p cables becomes even more essential. For 3D viewing, the image is created by 2 HD images combined. This means that 3D HD TVs show the same 2 frames, one for each eye.

The 3D effect is best seen when the refresh rate is high (120 Hz or even 240 Hz); otherwise the image may flicker. Therefore, the transfer speed of the cable becomes critical for the successful delivery of 3D images from a disc to the HD screen.

One of the cheapest 1080p 1.4 HDMI cables is getting high review ratings, while costing a fraction of the price of premium HDMI cables. For most people with a regular TV or newer HD TV, a cheap HDMI 1.4 cable will do the trick. But, two things happened from 2005-6 when the first HDMI cables were marketed.

First, in 2006, people who bought a cheap HDMI cable bought it for their 720p “HD ready” TV and not for their 3D Full HD TV needs. These cables were fine, as the transfer rate for ‘HD-Ready’ is substantially lower. The difference can be seen when using low speed cables with the latest HDTV models of: 240Hz 1080p Full HD. Some customers may not even see Full-HD on their TV due to the low transfer rate of the HDMI cable they use.

The second factor is that the price of HDMI 1.4 cables has dropped dramatically. Cables that previously sold for $ 50 are now selling for $ 9. Even if you are looking for big savings … the cheapest HDMI cable is $ 3, so there is no big saving when buying the ‘cheap’ cable.

One last thing worth considering is when investing in both home theater equipment such as: 3D HDTV, 3D blu-ray, 3D camcorders, etc. Saving $ 6 on a cheaper cable that can hurt the overall performance between all components is not a smart move.

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