Thread: New hdmi cables fpr 240htz displays???

Originally Posted by BUYLONGTERM

Ok it's been awhile since bought hdmi cables but a guy at work said he was about to buy some hdmi cables for his new display and the store clerk told him he has to buy the more expensive ones so they can handle the newer refresh rates. (no it wasn't a BB salesman). Now I know new hdmi standards get released, but I've never heard that if you don't buy the new cables, they won't be able to keep up with the refresh rates???

F

U

D.

And darned funny to boot.

-David

Originally Posted by elwaylite

Bwahahahahahahahahaha!

Only new stuff is 1.4 for 3D, correct?

Of course.

Yours,

David

Originally Posted by ev666il

Hi David,

I would have to disagree: 1.4 is not necessary for 3D, unless your 1.3 cable was short of bandwidth. Most HDMI cables on the market since 1.3 have A LOT more bandwidth than it is needed to carry 1.3 signals, and are fully capable of handling higher refresh rates and/or 3D signals (higher refresh rates require more bandwidth, just like any other "improvement" to the signal). The most expensive cables by Transparent and Van den Hul (just to name two manufacturers I'm acquainted with, but they're not the only ones) can probably handle 3D for fairly long distances (VDH's flagship model is warrented for full 1.3 compliance up to 15 meters and that's conservative, so I guess it could carry 1.4 up to 8-10 meters*). The only new feature in 1.4 that actually requires a new cable is ethernet support. I remember a Transparent Audio representative stating they wouldn't be manufacturing ethernet capable cables 'cause carrying an ethernet signal in the same cable as audio/video may potentially ruin the latter, though I don't have the knowledge to either prove him right or wrong.

* This could be mathematically calculated knowing the bandwidth required by the signal and the bandwidth available from the cable. I just don't feel like fetching the numbers and doing the math; mine was just an example

Hi ev666il,

Oh, I don't disagree with that at all--that much has been shown, you're absolutely right. elwaylite's question, though, was "is 3D the only thing for which 1.4-compliant cables could be needed?" And my answer was "yes." Certainly, 3D can be passed through a lot of good 1.3 cables and even some good AVRs from last year will pass the signal, too: the only point here is that if one is not using 3D, 1.4-compliant cables are quite unnecessary.

Yours,

David