Whats the deal with the insanely expensive HDMI cables

I was using a croma HDMI earlier for my pioneer 1020 and vierra 42A410D, changed to a 3mtr DAC HDMI and there was a noticeable improvement in PQ. Would definitely recommend the DAC cable. 10 MTR is available in 8mm on hifimart.
 
USK electronics says they cant use any other cables than what they suggest. So I am going with another dealer who is not fussy about cables.

Surely the dealer is taking you for ride with their "high end" cable. I think he wants to make big money with that cable itself.
 
I think cables play an important role, you will definitely be able to make out the difference in sound with different cables. At least thats my opinion.
 
I think cables play an important role, you will definitely be able to make out the difference in sound with different cables. At least thats my opinion.

Sure, but I doubt a 12k cable will change my world when rest of my stuff is low budget. We are talking of entry level 2 lac system including projector, receiver and speakers. Even otherwise DAC high speed HDMI cables should be sufficient frtom what I see around forums and cost around 4k only.
 
Cables play a role only when the other equipment in the chain is faultless and in complete synergy. Otherwise cables from bluejeans and audioquest do the job splendidly.
 
I was watching this thread closely as there have been some many flare ups on cable threads in the past. Kudos to all the FM's participating in this thread for keeping it mature and civilized. So much more information can be shared this way when we are open to others. Nice to see such a genial atmosphere on the forum. Hopefully it will continue on all other threads as well in the future.
Cheers,
Sid
 
google "hdmi cable quality" and read the first few hits.

Summary: A hdmi cable transmits digital signals. So, quality/price makes a difference only for long cables and cable life. As long as a hdmi cable works, the quality is the same due to the digital signals. Not the case with analog cables.
 
How much of the following would pass muster?

Data transfer speeds result in better video i.e. superior colours and more reliable bandwidth?
Higher Copper content for longer shelf life i.e. less oxidation?
Costlier cables, if they span for a longer distance, give superior output and shall last longer?
28 guage wires in the cables is better for thinner, lighter and more bendable nature around the corners?

I looked up HDMI.org and noticed there are only very few companies which sell "high speed cable" and are completely HDMI compliant and all of them are China/Taiwan based.
 
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Data transfer speeds result in better video i.e. superior colours and more reliable bandwidth?
Higher Copper content for longer shelf life i.e. less oxidation?
Costlier cables, if they span for a longer distance, give superior output and shall last longer?
28 guage wires in the cables is better for thinner, lighter and more bendable nature around the corners?

Speed of data ( in MHz) transmitted in a cable is different from the actual signal speed in meters/sec down a copper cable. Signal speed is close to the speed of light varying only due to the dielectric in the cable !

Data speed however is 'constant'. you can't slow it down or speed it up. What IS different is what is seen at the received end. It starts off as a nice square wave , a digital signal. It ends up looking closer to a sine wave due to bandwidth restriction of the cable ! However this is normal .
The poorer the cable, the greater the loss. To make matters worse signals between cables could affect each other depending on the dielectric used and internal dimensions of cables.The receiver at the end is designed to convert this ( no longer digital looking ) signal back to the original square wave stream. You don't LOOSE data speed but you could have induced jitter due to losses. In most cases the receiver is designed to handle this and produces a fully reconstructed digital stream.

Typically a good HDMI cable ( technically good ....does not always mean 'expensive') can transmit a useable signal for about 10 meters or so before some receivers have trouble reconstructing the digital stream without errors. Here they use an active device on the cable to reconstruct the signal back to to a higher level so that it can have a longer run.

Cables from reputedly good engineering companies ( like Canare ) are not very expensive and should work as well as super expensive cables. Canare 3m HDMI cable costs about $23/- ! There would be NO difference between this and any other super expensive cable. Why ? Because you will have a good enough signal at the end for ANY receiver to reconstruct an accurate digital stream.

Are there poor HDMI cables ? Yes of course. Poor dielectric, very thin insulation, very thin wires, crosstalk etc. and poor pin termination, just to mention a few problems. They will be cheap and will not be good. But once you reach a threshold ( price) point ( like Canare and others) you don't need to spend anymore. All available on eBay or Amazon. There are many other professional cable manufacturing companies . I'd avoid all Chinese brands and 'small' cable companies. Canare, Belden and others are VERY large professional cable companies. You will never get junk from them.

Edit: I forgot to address the other concerns.
No such thing as higher copper content for longer shelf life !
Longer life only depends on quality of materials used. Cables usually fail at mechanical points like terminals etc. often due to rough and careless handling. Well manufactured cables never fail in between ! Useable cable length ( without active signal handling ) is dependent on electrical properties of the cable. The best cables seem to be fine up to 'around' 10 meters. Poor cables will probably not work well at this distance !
Note that some 'expensive' cables could use poor materials but look 'fat' and attractive outside ! The buyer is always considered a sucker by 'expensive' marketing !
Cable design is a compromise between cost and additional improvement. One can't fight technical limitations. Look at what the professional large cable manufacturers say and offer. They stick by technical performance parameters. Use them as your reference. Remember without technical information you can't judge a cable from an advertisement. If a company sells their cables at 10 times or more than the usual cost and says they can manage 50% longer length and produce perfect pictures, try them out before buying ! If they don't have technical information to support their cable then it's performance is suspect. Remember that jitter and other errors are tolerated by the electronics to a fair extent before it starts becoming noticeable.
Copper wires used are of a VERY specific size in good cables ( as is the dielectric). It determines the impedance of the lines and the cable's performance. They can't arbitrarily increase it or decrease it just to achieve better bending capability. Cable design is far more complicated than that.
Note that 'high speed' is often misunderstood. They mean higher bandwidth like that required by 3D video signals. Bandwidth is like audio frequency response. If 20 Khz is the usual Hf response then 100 Khz is a wider bandwidth. Signals however don't move physically at a 'higher speed' !
 
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