HDMI Problem

[MrMastodonFarm]

I have a HDMI cord running from my PVR to my TV. Lately it's been a pain in the ass, little white dots flicking constantly, and sounds "popping" in and out.

The cord was bout 60 bucks, so not the end of the world if I have to get a new one, just annoying.

[MaxPower]

Are you sure it's an HDMI problem? What kind of PVR? A guy at work here has been complaining of sound popping in and out on his PVR as well, I think it's a Bell system.

[Vulcan]

I've heard Shaw doesn't support their HDMI connection on their receivers because they're flaky, so it may not be your cable.

[OBCT]

The good thing is that you needn't spend another $60 if you choose to experiment with a replacement cable. link


EDIT: That said, I'd guess that MaxPower and Vulcan are correct in their suspicion that it is not the cable itself that is failing.

[Canada 02]

^slightly off topic, but on the Monoprice link, what does Category 2 Certified Cable mean?

is this some new standard?

[3 Justin 3]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

^slightly off topic, but on the Monoprice link, what does Category 2 Certified Cable mean?

is this some new standard?

Yeah, I just googled it and apparently it is "super high def", ala what doesn't exist yet. It can support 1600p, currently the highest High Def is 1080p. From what I got from Wikipedia that is the only difference really, so don't bother with Cat. 2.

[OBCT]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

^slightly off topic, but on the Monoprice link, what does Category 2 Certified Cable mean?

is this some new standard?

Good question. I didn't know the answer myself!

This article covers the topic extremely well. I'll quote the most relevant parts:

To fully understand exactly what the different compliance testing standards mean, it's necessary to stop and talk briefly about some changes that have been made to those testing standards along the way. Before HDMI 1.3, an HDMI Adopter submitting cables for testing had the option of specifying a restricted cable bandwidth; he could say that the testing should be run at 480p rather than at high-def resolutions, and his compliance with the spec would be judged at that lower resolution. This makes an enormous difference to the test result; it is very easy to get a compliant "eye-pattern" result if one can run the signal at 270Mbps (480p) rather than 742.5Mbps (720p or 1080i). Accordingly, it's not always possible to be sure what an HDMI 1.2 certification means; it may mean that the cable is compliant up to 720p and 1080i at the tested length, but it may not.

Under HDMI 1.3, a couple of things changed. There are now two layers of compliance testing possible, one called "Category 1," equivalent to 720p or 1080i, and the other called "Category 2," a higher-bandwidth spec; a cable vendor can designate a cable as Category 1 or 2, but cannot specify a lower bandwidth, and consequently, all HDMI 1.3 compliance testing is done at at least 720p/1080i frequencies. The "Category 2" criterion doesn't correspond neatly to any commonly-used resolution or color depth, but instead runs the eye-pattern tests at 1.65Gbps and 3.4Gbps, with the latter rate run through a reference "equalizer" formula which corrects some of the signal degradation. The Category 2 test's 1.65Gbps rate exceeds the 1.485Gbps rate of 1080p/60/8 bit color, so although it isn't really a 1080p test, it's a bit more stringent and is fairly close.

In other words, if a cable is Category 2 certified, it has to work consistently well under normal conditions at it's stated length at near-1080p resolution.

[photon]

White dots or "sparklies" is how an HDMI connection that isn't good enough shows up, so it could very well be the cable. Only way to know for sure is to reseat the cable, turn it around maybe (maybe one connector is a bit flaky but will work better with the other device), or try a different cable.

[Canada 02]

Originally Posted by 3 Justin 3

Yeah, I just googled it and apparently it is "super high def", ala what doesn't exist yet. It can support 1600p, currently the highest High Def is 1080p. From what I got from Wikipedia that is the only difference really, so don't bother with Cat. 2.

any reason to believe it is not backwards compatible? I need at least a 4ft cable, and the non-Cat 2 cables are just 1.5 and 3 ft long

[OBCT]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

any reason to believe it is not backwards compatible? I need at least a 4ft cable, and the non-Cat 2 cables are just 1.5 and 3 ft long

It is absolutely backwards compatible. Category 2 Certification is a good thing, not a bad thing. (see my post above)

[Canada 02]

$60 for a cable? WOW! I was irritated when I saw a $35 cable at Bestbuy

came to CP to discover Monoprice

[MrMastodonFarm]

Yeah... monoprice... wow. Wish I had known about that before. Remarkable.

Thanks for the tips guys. The problem is that it seemed to have been working before, but I dunno, I'll trouble shoot different cords and devices to see what's what.

[MaxPower]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

I've heard Shaw doesn't support their HDMI connection on their receivers because they're flaky, so it may not be your cable.

Another friend of mine had to send his Shaw box back to them after it crapped out. They sent him a refurbished one back. According to this guy, Shaw sends back the refurbished boxes with the HDMI port disabled. He had to have a tech come (sometime between 8 and 5) to "enable" it.

[Hack&Lube]

Cables are almost always expensive from the big box stores. That's what they make all their money on in home entertainment, music, computers, etc.

The markup on a TV or monitor might be 10%. The markup on cables is 100-500%.