Aug/090
The Truth About Monster Cable
Hey guys: I just got back from meeting with Noel Lee from Monster Cable, along with a posse of affiliated ladies and gentlemen, and their heavy equipment. I was there to talk to them about the fact that they sell—and have convinced a lot of retailers to sell—very expensive cable ($120 for 2 meters, last I checked). At the same time, there are cheaper non-Monster cables available on the Internet. My simple question Why? resulted in an organized, technical 2-hour response. I won’t give you the blow-by-blow, but I have information that might make this debate interesting, and a bit more three-dimensional.
Let’s start with my allegation about Monster, which isn’t mine alone, because Lee helpfully pointed out the gist of it in the opening of his presentation:
I say, since everything is digital, and since HDMI is a spec, the cheap cable will get the data from point A to point B as well as any other cable. Additionally I say that if there are subtle (i.e. videophile-grade) differences in cables, the average consumer isn’t going to spot them on the TV.
Am I wrong? Monster says yes, but in Lee’s elaborate answer I felt both his POV and mine were justified.
Here are Monster’s truths:
Bandwidth is King.
The requirements of 1080p and beyond is what separates from the high-end cable from the knock-offs. This is the same as Ethernet cable, in the sense that a cable certified for HDMI 1.3a “Highspeed” will guarantee greater throughput. The newest spec, 1.3a means just over 10Gbps of bandwidth. Standard 480p requires less than 1Gbps, the current 8-bit 1080p requires 4.46 Gbps, but the next gen 1080p formats will require nearly 15Gbps, more than the highest certified HDMI cable can support. (See chart if you can, if not I’ll try to get a better one up later.)
Not all cables are the same.
During Lee’s slideshow, he demonstrated via X-Ray slides that pricier cables (OK, Monster’s) have a smaller chance of wear and tear damage at the point where the cable meets the connector. t’s a concept that’s easy for any musician to understand—remember all of those shorting-out patch cords?
Even if it has an HDMI-style connector, it may not be certified HDMI.
You have to look for the HDMI logo, says Steve Venuti of HDMI Licensing. There are tons of knock-offs, especially the bundled or online cables, since you can’t look at the packaging when you buy. Really high-end cables will certify other things, such as HDMI 1.3a and even “Highspeed.”
Just because digital information is made up of ones and zeros it can still degrade, especially over distances.
I get this now, because it’s not about the digital info just getting there, like packet data. It’s video, so it’s about the digital info getting there at the right time to make sense. It’s also audio, and over distances, there’s a greater chance that audio and video will get out of sync. The following pictures show a test that they run that measures data throughput. In the interest of brevity, I’ll just say that the more those lines crowd the center, the greater the risk of having crappy video.
Differences in cable are easily spotted by untrained eyes.
A PS3 feeding 1080p signal to a Samsung 1080p LCD TV starts to jitter and throw digital noise lines across the screen if the cable can’t hack the bandwidth. We tested the two cables above on a PS3 showing a Blu-ray of Chicken Little and it was totally noticeable, there were lines and jitters, none of this videophile matter-of-opinion stuff that I had anticipated. It was totally obvious, and something that Monster says people often blame on their TV, not their cable.
Future proofing and heavy-duty cable are crucial for in-wall installation.
This probably made the most sense of all. Given the fact that in-wall cable is longer than others, you’d need something that can handle the bandwidth. (In fact, when it gets to 50 feet, you don’t have many choices in the cable world for that reason—Monster says it’s soon headed for 100 feet of HDMI.) Couple that with staples, kinks and other weirdness that might happen with in-wall installation, and the fact that when you upgrade your TV, you don’t want to have to re-do your drywall, and Monster has a good point.
Lest you think I be drinkin’ Lee’s Kool-Aid, here are my caveats to Monster’s truths:
• If you are going from any source to a 720p or 1080i TV set, you should really be in the clear using a full-on crappy ass cable.
• As long as you’re not doing installing the wiring in your wall, start with the crappy cable. If it sucks and you only paid $20 for it, go back and spend more on something certified.
• In the demo, Monster even proved that good components can offset crappy cables: that PS3 and that Samsung 1080p were able to work around much of the problems, all the more reason why, in a non-custom non-in-wall installation, you should try out the lower grade stuff first.
So listen, you’ve heard it from me: there are differences in cable, but there are also differences in technical requirements. We don’t all need $120 cables for our components. As to the question of why Monster won’t offer a lower-priced product in recognition of these differences in technical requirements, Lee told me to “stay tuned.”
Aug/090
HDMI Versions explained
HDMI devices are manufactured to adhere to various versions of the specification, in which each version is given a number, such as 1.0, 1.2, or 1.3a. Each subsequent version of the specification uses the same kind of cable but increases the bandwidth and/or capabilities of what can be transmitted over the cable. A product listed as having an HDMI version does not necessarily mean that it will have all of the features that are listed for that version, since some HDMI features are optional, such as Deep Color and xvYCC (which is branded by Sony as “x.v.Color“).
Version 1.0 to 1.2
HDMI 1.0 was released December 9, 2002 and is a single-cable digital audio/video connector interface with a maximum TMDS bandwidth of 4.9 Gbit/s. It supports up to 3.96 Gbit/s of video bandwidth (1080p/60 Hz or UXGA) and 8 channel LPCM/192 kHz/24-bit audio. HDMI 1.1 was released on May 20, 2004 and added support for DVD Audio. HDMI 1.2 was released August 8, 2005 and added support for One Bit Audio, used on Super Audio CDs, at up to 8 channels. It also added the availability of HDMI Type A connectors for PC sources, the ability for PC sources to only support the sRGB color space while retaining the option to support the YCbCr color space, and required HDMI 1.2 and later displays to support low-voltage sources. HDMI 1.2a was released on December 14, 2005 and fully specifies Consumer Electronic Control (CEC) features, command sets, and CEC compliance tests.
Version 1.3
HDMI 1.3 was released June 22, 2006 and increased the single-link bandwidth to 340 MHz (10.2 Gbit/s). It optionally supports Deep Color, with 30-bit, 36-bit, and 48-bit xvYCC, sRGB, or YCbCr, compared to 24-bit sRGB or YCbCr in previous HDMI versions. It also optionally supports output of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio streams for external decoding by AV receivers. It incorporates automatic audio syncing (audio video sync) capability. It defined cable Categories 1 and 2, with Category 1 cable being tested up to 74.25 MHz and Category 2 being tested up to 340 MHz. It also added the new Type C miniconnector for portable devices. HDMI 1.3a was released on November 10, 2006 and had Cable and Sink modifications for Type C, source termination recommendations, and removed undershoot and maximum rise/fall time limits. It also changed CEC capacitance limits, clarified sRGB video quantization range, and CEC commands for timer control were brought back in an altered form, with audio control commands added. HDMI 1.3b was released on March 26, 2007 and added HDMI compliance testing revisions. HDMI 1.3b has no effect on HDMI features, functions, or performance, since the testing is for products based on the HDMI 1.3a specification. HDMI 1.3b1 was released on November 9, 2007 and added HDMI compliance testing revisions, which added testing requirements for the HDMI Type C miniconnector. HDMI 1.3b1 has no effect on HDMI features, functions, or performance, since the testing is for products based on the HDMI 1.3a specification. HDMI 1.3c was released on August 25, 2008 and added HDMI compliance testing revisions, which changed testing requirements for active HDMI cables. HDMI 1.3c has no effect on HDMI features, functions, or performance, since the testing is for products based on the HDMI 1.3a specification.
Version 1.4
HDMI 1.4 was released on May 28, 2009, and Silicon Image expects their first HDMI 1.4 products to sample in the second half of 2009. HDMI 1.4 increases the maximum resolution to 4K × 2K (3840×2160p at 24Hz/25Hz/30Hz and 4096×2160p at 24Hz, which is a resolution used with digital theaters); an HDMI Ethernet Channel, which allows for a 100 Mb/s Ethernet connection between the two HDMI connected devices; and introduces an Audio Return Channel, 3D Over HDMI, a new Micro HDMI Connector, expanded support for color spaces, and an Automotive Connection System.
Version Comparison
Note that a given product may choose to implement a subset of the given HDMI version. Certain features such as Deep Color and xvYCC support are optional.
| HDMI version | 1.0–1.2a | 1.3+ | 1.4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum signal bandwidth (MHz) | 165 | 340 | 340[119] |
| Maximum TMDS bandwidth (Gbit/s) | 4.95 | 10.2 | 10.2 |
| Maximum video bandwidth (Gbit/s) | 3.96 | 8.16 | 8.16 |
| Maximum audio bandwidth (Mbit/s) | 36.86 | 36.86 | 36.86 |
| Maximum color depth (bit/px) | 24 | 48[A] | 48 |
| Maximum resolution over single link at 24-bit/px[B] | 1920×1200p60 | 2560×1600p75 | 4096×2160p24 |
| Maximum resolution over single link at 30-bit/px[C] | 2560×1600p60 | 4096×2160p24 | |
| Maximum resolution over single link at 36-bit/px[D] | 1920×1200p75 | 4096×2160p24 | |
| Maximum resolution over single link at 48-bit/px[E] | 1920×1200p60 | 1920×1200p60 |
| HDMI version | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.2 1.2a |
1.3 | 1.3a 1.3b 1.3b1 1.3c |
1.4[120] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sRGB | ||||||
| YCbCr | ||||||
| 8 channel LPCM/192 kHz/24-bit audio capability | ||||||
| Blu-ray Disc video and audio at full resolution[F] | ||||||
| Consumer Electronic Control (CEC)[G] | ||||||
| DVD Audio support | ||||||
| Super Audio CD (DSD) support[H] | ||||||
| Deep Color | ||||||
| xvYCC | ||||||
| Auto lip-sync | ||||||
| Dolby TrueHD bitstream capable | ||||||
| DTS-HD Master Audio bitstream capable | ||||||
| Updated list of CEC commands | ||||||
| Ethernet Channel | ||||||
| Audio Return Channel | ||||||
| 3D Over HDMI | ||||||
| 4K x 2K Resolution Support |
- A 36-bit support is mandatory for Deep Color compatible CE devices, with 48-bit support being optional.
- B Maximum resolution is based on CVT-RB, which is a VESA standard for non-CRT-based displays. Using CVT-RB 1920×1200 would have a video bandwidth of 3.69 Gbit/s, and 2560×1600 would have a video bandwidth of 8.12 Gbit/s.
- C Using CVT-RB would have a video bandwidth of 8.12 Gbit/s.
- D Using CVT-RB would have a video bandwidth of 7.91 Gbit/s.
- E Using CVT-RB would have a video bandwidth of 7.39 Gbit/s.
- F Even for a compressed audio codec that a given HDMI version cannot transport, the source device may be able to decode the audio codec and transmit the audio as uncompressed LPCM.
- G CEC has been in the HDMI specification since version 1.0, but only began to be used in CE products with HDMI version 1.3a.
- H Playback of SACD may be possible for older HDMI versions if the source device (such as the Oppo 970) converts to LPCM.
- I Large number of additions and clarifications for CEC commands. One addition is CEC command, allowing for volume control of an AV receiver.