If you’re serious about gaming in high definition on a console that’s attached to a TV set, then you’ve probably heard that you need to have a HDMI connection. But just how big a difference does this fancy cable make?
Technical experts Digital Foundry sought to find out, pitting four HDMI cables – a cheap one, the two official cables sold by Microsoft and Sony and a ludicrously expensive Monster brand – against each other to see which ones gave the best results.
The findings? That in the vast majority of circumstances (excepting very cheap and very long cables) a sub-$US2 cable bought over the internet gives as good a signal as the $US130 Monster cables. While of course the price differences result in varying degrees of material build – expensive cables will “fit” better and feel sturdier – at the end of the day you’re paying for picture signal, not looks or feel, so it’s clear the gulf in prices just isn’t worth it.
Some of you will of course already know this, but just in case you don’t (or are new to the high definition thing), you’re now informed. It’s especially handy to know since neither the PS3 or Xbox 360 includes a HDMI cable as standard anymore, so when purchasing your own, do the smart thing and go cheap.
Digital Foundry vs. HDMI video [DigitalFoundry]
Republished from Kotaku