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Tech question: HDMI cables
#246979 - 02/19/11 02:00 PM
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I wanted to connect my wife's laptop to a small LCD TV we got for Christmas. The TV has a VGA connection that does work, but there is no way to receive audio on that channel. IIRC there are two composite AV jack sets, one S-video with audio, one VGA (without audio) and one HDMI. It was kind of a PITA to hook up to external speakers we had elsewhere in the room, so I reasoned that an HDMI cable would be the right choice for carrying both video and audio.
Welp, there is still no audio from the TV, even though the video from HDMI works fine. Are there different standards of HDMI cable that do or do not carry audio? I hesitate to believe that it's because this was a cheap eBay item shipped from Hong Kong, since I've had a fair bit of cheap gear from HK that does work (at an insanely low price point).
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| dfrance |
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Re: Tech question: HDMI cables
[Re: Mojo2000]
#246980 - 02/19/11 02:50 PM
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I've bought 3 (v1.3) HDMI cables off Amazon, each under $2. They work perfectly. I use one with a (Gen 2) "WD TV" and get up to 1080p on our 40" Toshiba Regza LCV TV (the TRON: Legacy trailers look awesome). Can't understand why they're so expensive at Best Buy and Wal-Mart. I've heard similar arguments on "Monster" cable speaker wire and using "lamp cord" - people swear lamp cord's just as good and a fraction of the cost. I personally haven't had any problems with "shielding" or signal noise, etc...
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Re: Tech question: HDMI cables
[Re: Mojo2000]
#246981 - 02/19/11 03:05 PM
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I had a similar problem, but it wasn't the cable at all. I needed to go into the computer's sound properties and enable the HDMI outlet. (I didn't have to do that for the video) Interestingly, I had to enable the computer's internal speakers when I unplugged the HDMI cable the first few times I switched. Apparently I enabled the correct settings eventually and it switches back and forth automatically now.
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italie |
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MAME owes italie many thank yous, hah
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Re: Tech question: HDMI cables
[Re: Mojo2000]
#246983 - 02/19/11 04:12 PM
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> I wanted to connect my wife's laptop to a small LCD TV we got for Christmas. The TV
> has a VGA connection that does work, but there is no way to receive audio on that
> channel. IIRC there are two composite AV jack sets, one S-video with audio, one VGA
> (without audio) and one HDMI. It was kind of a PITA to hook up to external speakers
> we had elsewhere in the room, so I reasoned that an HDMI cable would be the right
> choice for carrying both video and audio.
>
> Welp, there is still no audio from the TV, even though the video from HDMI works
> fine. Are there different standards of HDMI cable that do or do not carry audio? I
> hesitate to believe that it's because this was a cheap eBay item shipped from Hong
> Kong, since I've had a fair bit of cheap gear from HK that does work (at an insanely
> low price point).
Most graphics drivers will perform that switch for you, but if not...right click the little sound icon on the bottom right of the taskbar and look at the playback devices. (assuming win& or vista. XP should be similar). If your playback device is already selected as HDMI, I'd check the TV settings. What make/model?
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| DMala |
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Sleep is overrated
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Re: Tech question: HDMI cables
[Re: dfrance]
#246989 - 02/19/11 05:50 PM
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> I've bought 3 (v1.3) HDMI cables off Amazon, each under $2. They work perfectly. I
> use one with a (Gen 2) "WD TV" and get up to 1080p on our 40" Toshiba Regza LCV TV
> (the TRON: Legacy trailers look awesome). Can't understand why they're so expensive
> at Best Buy and Wal-Mart. I've heard similar arguments on "Monster" cable speaker
> wire and using "lamp cord" - people swear lamp cord's just as good and a fraction of
> the cost. I personally haven't had any problems with "shielding" or signal noise,
> etc...
Yes! The "expensive cables are better" line was nonsense for speaker cable and analog signal, and it's pretty much an outright lie for digital signals like HDMI. Best Buy (and I guess Wal Mart now, too?) have jumped on the Monster bandwagon, exploiting the placebo effect and people's lack of technical knowledge to rip them off.
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Re: Tech question: HDMI cables
[Re: DMala]
#246993 - 02/19/11 06:16 PM
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Loves me some bluejean cables!
http://www.bluejeanscable.com/
6 6ft HDMI cables for 100 bucks. You can get a little messed up with HDMI if you get ones that are too long and get some signal drop. But it pretty much works or doesnt. For my setup I should have went with 4ft. Would have looked better. Oh well.
Back when I would do svid and rca type runs I would use bluejean quite a bit. Nice good solid connectors. Which is what I really care about. Many monster cables I have bought over the years come apart pretty easy. I worry about that as every year or so I have to pull the whole thing apart to clean behind it (I think that dust bunny is talking to me).
Honestly, most of the noise in my system comes from the receiver itself. I can only hear it if I crank it out. 99% of the time I do not listen to it that way...
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| italie |
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MAME owes italie many thank yous, hah
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Re: Tech question: HDMI cables
[Re: DMala]
#246995 - 02/19/11 06:54 PM
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> > I've bought 3 (v1.3) HDMI cables off Amazon, each under $2. They work perfectly. I
> > use one with a (Gen 2) "WD TV" and get up to 1080p on our 40" Toshiba Regza LCV TV
> > (the TRON: Legacy trailers look awesome). Can't understand why they're so expensive
> > at Best Buy and Wal-Mart. I've heard similar arguments on "Monster" cable speaker
> > wire and using "lamp cord" - people swear lamp cord's just as good and a fraction
> of
> > the cost. I personally haven't had any problems with "shielding" or signal noise,
> > etc...
>
> Yes! The "expensive cables are better" line was nonsense for speaker cable and analog
> signal, and it's pretty much an outright lie for digital signals like HDMI. Best Buy
> (and I guess Wal Mart now, too?) have jumped on the Monster bandwagon, exploiting the
> placebo effect and people's lack of technical knowledge to rip them off.
In all fairness, longer runs of cable on decent powered analog systems do benefit from a larger or stranded cable. That said, your right, pretty much BS.
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Re: Tech question: HDMI cables
[Re: Mojo2000]
#247003 - 02/19/11 07:31 PM
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Wasn't the HDMI standard in flux in the beginning? I seem to remember that some devices were video-only HDMI or something. There were also issues with point-to-point encryption so that certain devices wouldn't talk to other devices unless both ends were encrypted. I think it was enforced by Windows Vista/7 and it pissed off a lot of people that had older un-encrypted HDMI televisions.
Of course, I could be mis-remembering it all.
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| Fever |
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Reformed Sk3n3 Quitter
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Re: Tech question: HDMI cables
[Re: italie]
#247010 - 02/19/11 08:28 PM
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> > > I've bought 3 (v1.3) HDMI cables off Amazon, each under $2. They work perfectly.
> I
> > > use one with a (Gen 2) "WD TV" and get up to 1080p on our 40" Toshiba Regza LCV
> TV
> > > (the TRON: Legacy trailers look awesome). Can't understand why they're so
> expensive
> > > at Best Buy and Wal-Mart. I've heard similar arguments on "Monster" cable speaker
> > > wire and using "lamp cord" - people swear lamp cord's just as good and a fraction
> > of
> > > the cost. I personally haven't had any problems with "shielding" or signal noise,
> > > etc...
> >
> > Yes! The "expensive cables are better" line was nonsense for speaker cable and
> analog
> > signal, and it's pretty much an outright lie for digital signals like HDMI. Best
> Buy
> > (and I guess Wal Mart now, too?) have jumped on the Monster bandwagon, exploiting
> the
> > placebo effect and people's lack of technical knowledge to rip them off.
>
> In all fairness, longer runs of cable on decent powered analog systems do benefit
> from a larger or stranded cable. That said, your right, pretty much BS.
LOL yeah like all that 'gold plated jacks' BS!
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Solved! Thanks all.
[Re: Mojo2000]
#247018 - 02/19/11 09:31 PM
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It was indeed just a matter of opening Sound Properties and re-directing to HDMI Out.
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| Jdurgi |
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Regular
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Re: Tech question: HDMI cables
[Re: italie]
#247131 - 02/22/11 12:21 AM
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> > > I've bought 3 (v1.3) HDMI cables off Amazon, each under $2. They work perfectly.
> I
> > > use one with a (Gen 2) "WD TV" and get up to 1080p on our 40" Toshiba Regza LCV
> TV
> > > (the TRON: Legacy trailers look awesome). Can't understand why they're so
> expensive
> > > at Best Buy and Wal-Mart. I've heard similar arguments on "Monster" cable speaker
> > > wire and using "lamp cord" - people swear lamp cord's just as good and a fraction
> > of
> > > the cost. I personally haven't had any problems with "shielding" or signal noise,
> > > etc...
> >
> > Yes! The "expensive cables are better" line was nonsense for speaker cable and
> analog
> > signal, and it's pretty much an outright lie for digital signals like HDMI. Best
> Buy
> > (and I guess Wal Mart now, too?) have jumped on the Monster bandwagon, exploiting
> the
> > placebo effect and people's lack of technical knowledge to rip them off.
>
> In all fairness, longer runs of cable on decent powered analog systems do benefit
> from a larger or stranded cable. That said, your right, pretty much BS.
Indeed it is. The lengths at which interference in non-shielded cables or the "normal" cables we buy is so insanely long that no normal person would need it. If you have a setup where you need to run HDMI cables through a long distance within your walls, then the cost of pretty much anything wouldn't be a concern of yours. 
For what any of us would need with regards to length, no need to spend more than $5 or so on a cable.
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I am just a worthless liar.
I am just an imbecile.
I will only complicate you.
Trust in me and fall as well.
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