Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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288 of 296 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Product, June 26, 2008
These cables are an excellent deal and meet all of the relevant specifications that will allow you to get maximum throughput from 1080p equipment.
Don't believe those that claim all HDMI cables are the same. They are not all the same and those that claim they are have unfortunately been misled. While I am the last person to suggest going out and overpaying for an expensive retail brand, I would definitely recommend being a little careful not to use a cable that has the potential to degrade the picture on your new HD equipment. It is even more critical for PS3 gamers because of the deep color capabilities of PS3.
Fortunately for us, HDMI.org has made separating the good cables from the best cables very simple.
According to the HDMI website, Category 2 cables are required not only to guarantee 1080P FullHD but also for high refresh rates and deep color.
The following was cut and pasted from the HDMI.org website:
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Q. What is the difference between a "Standard" HDMI cable and a "High-Speed" HDMI cable?
Recently, HDMI Licensing, LLC announced that cables would be tested as Standard or High-Speed cables.
Standard (or "category 1") cables have been tested to perform at speeds of 75Mhz, which is the equivalent of a 1080i signal.
High Speed (or "category 2") cables have been tested to perform at speeds of 340Mhz, which is the highest bandwidth currently available over an HDMI cable and can successfully handle 1080p signals including those at increased color depths and/or increased refresh rates. High-Speed cables are also able to accommodate higher resolution displays, such as WQXGA cinema monitors (resolution of 2560 x 1600).
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Q. Will my Standard cable work in High Speed applications?
Although a Standard HDMI cable may not have been tested to support the higher bandwidth requirements of cables rated to support high speeds, existing cables, especially ones of shorter lengths (i.e., less than 2 meters), will generally perform adequately in higher speed situations. The quality of the HDMI receiver chip (in the TV, for example) has a large effect on the ability to cleanly recover and display the HDMI signal. A significant majority, perhaps all, of the HDMI TVs and projectors that support 1080p on the HDMI inputs are designed with quality receiver chips that may cleanly recover the 1080p HDMI signal using a Standard-rated HDMI cable. These receiver chips use technology called "cable equalization" in order to counter the signal reduction (attenuation) caused by a cable. We have seen successful demonstrations of 1080p signal runs on a >50 ft. cable, and a 720p signal run on a >75 ft. cable. However, the only way to guarantee that your cable will perform at higher speeds is to purchase a cable that has been tested at the higher speeds and labeled as "High-Speed."
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Q. What are the technical and branding requirements for cables?
As part of the new Trademark and Logo Usage Guidelines, cables will be labeled as either Standard or High Speed.
1.Standard cables (referred to as Category 1 cables in the HDMI specification) are those tested to perform at speeds of 75Mhz, which is the equivalent of an uncompressed 1080i signal.
2.High Speed cables (referred to as Category 2 cables in the HDMI specification), are those tested to perform at speeds of 340Mhz, which is the highest bandwidth currently available over an HDMI cable and can successfully handle 1080p signals including those at increased color depths (e.g. greater than eight bits per color) and/or increased refresh rates (e.g. 120Hz). High Speed cables are also able to accommodate higher resolution displays, such as those at the latest 1440p and WQXGA resolutions (e.g. cinema monitors with a resolution of 2560 x 1600).
While many cables that are branded as Standard cables will work at higher speeds (especially at cable lengths of less than five meters), to guarantee performance, consumers should purchase a cable that is tested and rated for the specific speed required by their system.
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There you have it. Word for word from the official HDMI website.
In summary, any certified HDMI cable will "generally" work fine, but use Category 2 rated cables if you want guaranteed 1080p throughput.
Mediabridge is a quality cable that meets the higher standards of Category 2. And this pricing is exceptionally good for this quality cable. There are certainly other cables around that meet this standard as well. But basically, Mediabridge is offering a high quality cable at a great price here.
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78 of 85 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Choice and Value for Money, July 29, 2008
Ok so I am a girl and I am not much of a techie but I didn't want to spend $100 on an HDMI cable. I came to Amazon and read a lot of the product reviews.
I first purchased the the HDMI cable from ClearAV, it was inexpesive and not the best product. It cost me a little over $4 for the item and S&H. I tested it on my upconverting Panasonic DVD player on 1080i resolution on my 40" 1080p Samsung LCD TV but it had poor signal quality and the cable was not an HDMI version 1.3. So when I played my DVDs the picture would go on and off and so would the sound and there was a flashing line on my screen. Then I thought maybe I need to get another cable but still was not willing to pay $100.
I continued to do my research and realized that not all HDMI cables were created equal :( So I decided to try my luck again with the MEDIABRIDGE : "Premium 6ft 1.3b Category 2 Super High Speed HDMI Cable - 1080p - PS3 - Blu-Ray." THIS CABLE IS THE REAL THING : the true HDMI version 1.3b Category 2 certified (whatever that means but sounds like a really good thing) which can be used with blu-ray or PS3 and will give you great 48-bit color. I paid a little under $7 for everything i.e for the item and S&H. The first thing I noticed was that it has the "HDMI" embossed on the cable; might not mean much but I thought it was note worthy. Second, the cable was thick and sturdy unlike the regular one I previously purchased. Third, apparently it's gold plated, I don't know how to prove this but it sure looks shiny :)
OK so I got the product 2 business days later from MEDIABRIDGE( I was so happy it arrived promptly), I tried it last night and everything was perfect. I didn't have to wiggle the cable to see if I could get a better signal, audio and picture quality. Just plugged everything in and one, two, we were in business. I even did my Core Secrets workout with all the movements and I still got perfect picture and sound. I should have just paid $2 extra to begin with for a better quality product...take it from me...I'm girl with not much knowledge on such stuff but I know a great product when I see one.
Hopefully it will last me a long time :) I'm off to do my research on the Play Station console, I am curious to see how much better Blu-Ray picture quality is...no sense in buying an expensive Blu- Ray dvd player when I can just get the game right?
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35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent!, September 4, 2008
These cables worked great for me...I'm getting 1080p@24hz no problem. My setup is a Samsung 52" LCD TV (LN52A650) and a Playstation 3. Save yourself a whole lot of money and don't get ripped off buying "Monster" or any other overpriced HDMI cable. Order processing, USPS shipping, and receipt in Texas was lightling fast(7 days). Order 2 while you're at it...someday you'll need another one!
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