You've got a new flat-screen high-definition TV and HD cable box-but there's a good chance you're not even using the high-definition technology your TV was built for. The culprit isn't your TV though: check the cables.
Most people don't know that the type of cable running between their TV set and cable box has such a big impact on picture quality. Simply upgrading from composite video cables to HDMI or component cables (for only about $15) will make a huge difference in the clarity.
The folks at the Geek Squad say the same clarity can be achieved with your TV and home theater's audio system by replacing analog wire with a coax or optical cable.
Our sister station, KARE explains:
3 comments:
Good report, Frank.
It's easy to think hook-up cables are just glorified pieces of wire but they can incorporate some pretty high fallutin' engineering in them. I would believe an HDMI cable is an example of that.
In my high school days, back when the Earth was still cooling, I used to dabble with old audio gear. Inexpensive twin-lead zip cord and crummy patch cables with RCA plugs on either end worked just fine for my needs. Things have changed quite a bit in the field of home entertainment since then, though.
Cable engineering has gotten much better over the years, however a general rule is that a less expensive cable will probably work for shorter lengths (particularly HDMI) of 10' or less. When you start getting out to the edge of HDMI's maximum distance, then things become a little dicey and you might need either a better quality cable and/or a repeater. For most installations a less expensive HDMI cable will produce identical picture quality as a more expensive cable. At the end of the day it's a buldle of twisted pair copper w/gold plated pins on the connectors. It's actually very similar to Cat-5 ethernet cable only it includes a shield and the length of each wire has to match the length of the other wires very closely.
-jb
The anonymous contribution above regarding HDMI cable length, quality and construction appears to contain very good information.
Actually, to clarify a bit, my initial comment as to the idea of HDMI cable having quite a bit of engineering associated with it was, in my mind, more directed toward the whole interface scheme.
As indicated previously, I came of age in an era when audio and video component hook-up was purely that of passing analog signals through what were essentially coaxial cables, usually with nothing more sophisticated than an RCA plug on either end of them.
Fast forward to today, where the line between audio/video equipment and computers is increasingly being blurred and, while the shielded conductors with the RCA plugs are still around, component hook-up cable in many cases has to handle increasingly complex digital signaling and high bandwidth information and is now akin to the high speed Ethernet cabling mentioned above.
As an old geezer that remembers the days when tube-type home entertainment equipment was still being sold as new, something like the HDMI interface is philosophically pretty impressive.
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