[nycaudioman]

Hello. I am purchasing a set of Monoprice HDMI slim cables (part 11559) but noticed that they only support 4k at 24Hz. I need the slim cables in particular because the connector pieces are so small that they can tuck into the recess of my Yamaha soundbar, which then allows me to lay the soundbar on a shelf below my TV and push the soundbar flush up against a wall.

Monoprice didn't really give me good answers as to either of these questions:

1. What sources (Blu-Ray, Tivo, Apple TV) support (or may support soon) 60Hz?
2. What am I really losing by using the 24 Hz cable? It doesn't sound like this affects picture quality whatsoever.

Any advice from the forum would be greatly appreciated! My set up is Blu-Ray / Tivo Roamio / Apple TV > Yamaha YSP-2500 > 60" HU8550.

Thank you !

 

[Otto Pylot]

Any certified passive high speed hdmi cable will do. There are no specific cables for HDMI 1.4/2.0. If your run is short you may be able to get away with a thin gauge high speed hdmi cable. If not, you can use an active cable such as a Redmere because those are very thin and flexible.

 

[nycaudioman]

Thanks for your quick reply! So basically then, there would be no appreciable difference between the 24Hz cable and the 60Hz cable, even if certain sources (like say BluRay or a brand new 4K Apple TV) switch to 60Hz?

 

[Otto Pylot]

The certified HDMI cable is just a pipe. It carries whatever is sent and leaves the conversion up to the connected devices, and you don't need to pay a premium price for the cable either.

 

[nycaudioman]

Interesting. So what happens though if my source is sending 60Hz but my cable is only capable of carrying 24Hz? Does the signal not get transmitted?

(Having some trouble understating why cables are rated at either 24 or 60 if they are just a pipe.) Really appreciate your help!

 

[Otto Pylot]

Whether your display's internal refresh rate is 120 Hertz or some other rate, the signals coming in are running at frame rates determined by the sources of those signals. This typically means 30 Hertz for interlaced formats like 1080i, 60 Hertz for progressive formats like 720p or 480p, or 24 Hertz for certain players that support 1080p/24. Those signal frame rates, not your display's internal refresh rate, are what your cable must handle. The bandwidth demand placed on the cable has to do with the signal coming from the source and into the display--what the display may do with that signal internally, after it has passed through the cable, has nothing to do with the load on the cable.

 

[nycaudioman]

Thanks Otto, I really appreciate your continued replies. I completely understand your responses, and know I am not doing a good job of asking my real question (which has to do with the source, and not the TV)...

- If my source is sending 30Hz or 60Hz for example, but my cable can only support 24Hz, what happens to that signal? Meaning what happens in the cable, as opposed to once the signal reaches the TV?

 

[Otto Pylot]

A high speed hdmi cable has plenty enough bandwidth capability to adequately transmit the source signal, what ever it is. It's up to the target device to decide how best to interpret and handle that signal. A certified passive or active high speed HDMI cable will be able to handle what ever you send down it. Nothing "happens" in the cable because you are typically sending only one source signal at a time. You wouldn't be sending a blu-ray signal and your cable signal on the same physical cable at the same time. What you may be getting hung up on is marketing and how they are spinning the capabilities of a particular cable. It is all very confusing and the marketeers are planning on that confusion so they can sell you the "best" cable for your needs because our cable can do blah blah blah, and they will charge you accordingly.

 

[AV_Integrated]

There is very little in the way of UHD/60hz material out there, and appears to be no official testing for said cables.

HDMI.org has claimed that ANY high speed HDMI cable on the market today will support all supported versions of HDMI 2.0 which are coming out. So, by that statement, any 'high speed' HDMI cable should support UHD/60 just fine.

But, it may not be the case.

At the end of the day, this is $6 cable you are looking at. Spending 5 times as much for a 'promise' which may or may not really be true is silly considering the almost complete lack of UHD on the market.

 

[Otto Pylot]

+1

 

[Joe Fernand]

'Having some trouble understating why cables are rated at either 24 or 60 if they are just a pipe' - as per Otto and AV-I these 'designations' you are seeing are created by the cable reseller's Marketing Dept, it's not very 'sexy' to say 'It's a cable'


http://www.hdmi.org/manufacturer/hdmi_1_4/4K.aspx


Joe