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Flat-screen televisions are a hot gift this year. Despite the awful economy, sales are up over last season, mostly because high-definition televisions, once prohibitively priced, are so much more affordable than they used to be. On Black Friday, thousands of shoppers drove away from big-box stores with their first HDTV in the back seat.
Maybe you were one of those people. Or maybe an HDTV is on your shopping list. If so, congrats; use it in good health.
No matter where you shopped, the helpful salesman probably told you that to get the clearest, cleanest high-definition picture out of your shiny new screen, you’ll want to run an HDMI cable from your cable box or DVD player to the TV.
He’s right. HDMI—High Definition Multimedia Interface—is a great technology capable of carrying both the crisp digital HD picture and audio signal between devices in one cable. And since a lot of satellite and cable-television programming is now available in high def, you’ll see a big difference over old-style analog connections.
But you probably gasped when you saw how much HDMI cables cost: $75 or $100 or even $125, for a few feet of cable?
The salesman almost certainly explained that digital signals need expensive conductors to transmit the best picture. He told you that cheaper cables simply aren’t able to handle a full-blast digital signal, so some of the data is lost along the way. But since you were saving so much money on the television itself, he reassured you, you could afford the expensive cables and still come out ahead.
If you still balked at the price tag of the deluxe cables, he probably showed you some cheaper ones, price at about 50 bucks, but lamented that you weren’t going to be happy with the results.
You’ll be relieved to know that the nice salesman was lying his face off.
Yes, you should definitely invest in an HDMI cable. But you should definitely not spend $100 to get one. Or $50. Or $25.
First of all, contrary to what the salesman told you, for the most part digital signals don’t give a damn about the price of cable they’re traveling through. We’re talking about a stream of ones and zeroes. They either arrive at their destination or they don’t. Ones and zeroes that travel through an expensive cable don’t arrive at your television in better condition than those traveling through a cable that cost less. And the signal won’t get lost or stuck along the way.
The reason is that when it comes to HDMI cables, you don't always get what you pay for, because price is not a reliable indicator of quality. Just because a cable is inexpensive doesn't necessarily mean that it is manufactured poorly or made of cheap materials. Expensive cables aren't always made better; a lot of them are just marked up to the point of absurdity and marketed with lots of hype to make it seem like they're worth it. With profit margins on televisions shrinking, many stores rely on overpriced accessories to make up the difference. HDMI cables command some of the highest margins in the store, and managers push their sales staff to push them on you.
Don't fall for it. As long as you buy a sturdy, certified HDMI cable from a reputable seller, the TV signal doesn’t care if has gold-plated connectors; or if it’s triple wrapped with flux-capacitated unobtanium fibers. The picture will look the same.
The exception to this is if you’re running very long expanses of cable, in which case the signal can degrade and sometimes the picture and sound can get out of sync. But if you’re fishing yards and yards of wires through your walls, chances are you’re into a sophisticated high-end system and have moved way beyond the scope of this article. Most people won’t need an HDMI cable longer than four to six feet—long enough to cover the distance between the TV and cable box or home-theater receiver.
So how much do you need to spend to get a high-quality HDMI cable that will work every bit as well as the platinum-priced variety?
$7.01.
That’s how much the good folks at Monoprice.com charge for a six-foot-long certified HDMI cable, including shipping. As far as your television signal is concerned, this bargain cable is indistinguishable from the one at the store that costs 15 times as much. Heck, it even has gold-plated connectors. If you need a longer one, it's a few bucks more. Another popular online seller, Blue Jeans Cable, has similar prices. Both sites stock an astonishing selection of quality cables of all kinds, ship items quickly, and get high marks for customer service. (I once called Monoprice to ask about the difference between two of their cables and they talked me out of buying the more expensive one.)
As for those bejeweled cables the salesman pressured you into thinking you needed—there’s still plenty of time to run them back to the store before the holidays.
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Those that know, don't tell. And those that tell, don't know.
So say what you mean, and mean what you say.
And if its ain't broke, don't fix it.
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