General question about a Philips Plasma and HDMI

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post #1 of 7

4/4/12 at 2:10pm

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Hello everyone. I am not so good on this stuff, please be gentle on me :P

I have a Philips 50PF9631D/37 (50 inch plasma with ambi-light circa late 2006 - july 2007). Mine was built January 2007. I did tech specs and it said the refresh rate on this TV was 60hz, makes sense for a 2007 TV. I was told yesterday by an electronic store employee that the TV is 600hz because it is a plasma and all Plasmas have 600hz refresh rate. I have cheaper end HDMI cables that support 60hz only(I paid like 5 bucks for them on Amazon and they have been working just fine for a few years now). I was told by the same person that I was screwing myself on picture performance because I have an underperforming HDMI and I need 600hz capable HDMI for my Plasma. I was about to drop 200 bucks on about 4-5 HDMI cables but figured I would wait and do research because it was totally against my previous knowledge. Could someone please shed light on this for me? I have been under the inclination for some time that it was a waste to buy 50-100 dollar HDMI when all are relatively the same(except category 2 "high-speed" cables and category 1).

Much appreciated. Thank you for your time!

post #2 of 7

4/4/12 at 2:23pm

RandyWalters
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That employee is a liar and he's trying to screw you. Your existing $5 cable will have the exact same picture quality as ones costing $60 - $200 each. Keep the ones you have.

post #3 of 7

4/4/12 at 3:09pm

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I figured as much....Thank you

post #4 of 7

4/4/12 at 6:21pm

RandyWalters
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Quote:

Originally Posted by in99flames

I figured as much....Thank you

That was heads up for you to hold off and get more info before believing this guy.

What store this was at? The 3 Best Buys near me have been doing this crap for years both to myself, my friends, and to other customers when i'm in there.

post #5 of 7

4/6/12 at 3:03pm

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yea it was best buy :P That is why I held off buying in the first place haha.

post #6 of 7

4/10/12 at 3:12pm

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I think the general consensus is that a $10 HDMI cable works as good as a $75 HDMI cable in the real-world.

Now, it might be the case that the gold-plated HDMI cable handles some esoteric display algorithim or works marginally better in the lab -- but in the REAL WORLD when you are putting a TV in a room and watching it from 6-15' away, no difference.

MONOPRICE.com is a great place to get cables. I forget if the higher-gauge has the higher or lower number affixed to it, but the higher-gauge ones cost about 10% more so you should be able to tell.

The only difference in HDMI cables is when you are running very long lenghts and you need to get the higher gauge and it jacks the cost up. But that's not an issue for most of us just running cables to the HTV from 15' or less.

post #7 of 7

4/10/12 at 11:43pm