HDMI cable length

[MarkN]

sorry if this has been addressed in the past, but I need to know if I run 26-27ft of HDMI cable from the receiver to the tv, will there be a loss of picture quality. If so, will the same length of component cable make any difference? (remodeling my home, running cables behind walls, and the only way to make it work is with a long cable run)

[davring]

With a decent quality cable (monoprice.com) you should be fine with HDMI.

[jdspencer]

Since HDMI is a digital signal, it will either work or not at all. Component connections are analog, so here you could have a signal problem with longer lengths.

Just for an experiment, I used a $25 Amazon coupon and got a 50' HDMI cable for $12.
Anyone want a 50' HDMI cable? :)

[gazzie4]

I ran 35 feet of HDMI cable from my upstairs to my downstairs and put a 1x2 splitter on it, and had very little signal loss if any at all

[BattleZone]

Monoprice makes fine cables, but as you go longer, and more importantly, if you're going to put the cable inside a wall, I'd recommend http://www.bluejeanscable.com. IMO, they are the best built cables available from probably the #1 experts in the field, and they're still a fraction of what a Monster cable costs.

Having said that, try a Monoprice cable if it's going to be easy to replace if it doesn't work.

[eco]

I'm running a 35ft HDMI cable I bought from cabletrain.com (http://www.cabletrain.com) and there is no loss of picture quality. it is a really thick cable (22awg) so the TV is definitely getting a good signal.

[mbaysing]

Since HDMI is a digital signal, it will either work or not at all.

I've got to disagree with this. I had experience using a cheap 35-foot DVI cable where signal drop out was a problem. The effect was that there were random white or light colored pixels all over the picture. It was watchable, but annoying.

[BattleZone]

With a digital signal, instead of the gradual fade out you had with analog, there's a "cliff".

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6c/Digital-cliff.png
(Whoever made this graphic really should have reversed these curves left-to-right.)


At the top of the cliff, the signal is good, or at least good enough for the error correction to fix all of the problems, and you get a perfect signal (after error correction).

As you approach the edge of the cliff, due to low signal levels or distortion, the number of errors begin to overwhelm the error correction circuitry, and you start seeing uncorrected errors in the form of "flecks" or "sparkles" and macroblocking. Just a little more degredation of the signal results in no usable picture at all. So there IS a small area where you can get a picture, but still have some errors. It's just that that area is very small, where with analog, it was very large.

So, yes, the quality of your HDMI cable DOES matter, especially as the length increases. That doesn't mean you need to spend $600 on a 50' Monster Cable, when you can get a cable as good or better from Blue Jeans for $100. Monster wants you to know the former, but not so much the latter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIw6lrghOt0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYjg-_Hj-SQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjJoUNXIE2M

And some good articles here:

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/articles/index.htm

[jdspencer]

I'll give you that, but then the HDMI circuitry can be marginal. And the key word is "cheap" with cable quality. My 50' cable has 22ga wires. Too small for that length.

[waltmapb]

I am using a 35 foot HDMI cable from monoprice.com and it works perfectly. Their HDMI cales are very heavy duty and are 1/2 inch in diameter which makes them pretty stiff by the way.

[harsh]

I'll give you that, but then the HDMI circuitry can be marginal. And the key word is "cheap" with cable quality. My 50' cable has 22ga wires. Too small for that length.22ga wire is more than sufficient for sending just about any signal 50'. CAT6 cable is 24ga and its good for doing what it does to 328'.