Unpopular opinion: cheap HDMI cables are fine, except at one specific distance

I was helping my cousin set up his home theater in his basement in Columbus last weekend. He insisted on buying a $40 Monster HDMI cable for a 6 foot run, but I've been using $8 Amazon basics ones for years with no issues. But then we had to run one 25 feet from his PC to the TV and the cheap one gave us constant signal drops. So is there a magic length where cheap HDMI just stops working? Has anyone else hit this wall around 20 feet?

3 comments

3 Comments

gray87528d ago

Yep, that's just like anything else - once you push it past its limits, it falls apart.

ross.lily28d ago

Buddy of mine tried to run a 30 foot cheap HDMI from his living room to his bedroom for a second monitor setup. Total nightmare, picture would cut out every time someone walked past the cable. He swapped it out for a 25 foot monoprice one with some extra shielding and it worked perfect after that. I think 20 feet is about where the cheap stuff just gives up and starts dropping signal like crazy. Those basic cables are fine for short runs but they have zero tolerance for anything longer.

gavin22828d ago

Wait, so every time someone walked past it? That's wild. I didn't realize foot traffic could mess with the signal that bad. I've heard of interference from power cables or appliances but not from people walking by. That almost sounds like the cable was barely hanging on and any tiny wiggle or static from carpet or something was enough to kill it.