Mediabridge High Speed HDMI Cable with Ethernet (35 ft) - Ultra Series - Supports Ethernet, 3D, and

OK, not much you can say about a cable, unless you get one that is bad or "flakey" from a problem with the shield, as we read from a previous posting.

I recently upgraded my HDTV system and now have a HDTV, Blue-ray, and Receiver that supports the HDMI 1.3 spec. This spec enables new high bandwidth features previously not supported in older HDMI cables and equipment. Both the Blue-ray and the HDTV, and my Roku-Netflix box are firmware upgradeable, so this cable should support their enhancements for at least a couple of years.

Being the quintessential anal-retentive Electrical Engineer, I tend to over analyze everything (even if not required). When buying cables (typically, the weak link in most systems), you have to determine if the product is manufactured from a reputable vendor, or built by a couple of guys in their garage, with no quality control. Mediabridge Products is a subsidiary of Broadband Products, Inc. Broadband Products has HDMI certification (see hdmi.org for why this is important).

There are two types of HDMI cable, Standard (Category 1) and High Speed (Category 2), and they have different performance metrics. A Standard cable can transmit a 1080i signal for 15 meters (49 feet) or more, while a High Speed HDMI cable can transmit a 1080p signal for at least 7.5 meters (25 feet). For the most part, running cables less than 5 meters, either will work, but I want to make sure and this cable is Category 2.

Why did I buy this specific cable from this vendor: The vendor has an almost perfect feedback record, the product is low cost for the specs, fulfilled by Amazon, and importantly free shipping, and a return policy that pays the shipping for returns/exchanges of defects.

ADK

So far I have bought a total of four HDMI cables, in lengths ranging from 3' to 15'. I bought the 3' cable first. It was made by Philips and sold by the most gigantic of all gigantic discount Marts. It worked fine, and it would have been long enough except it was so stiff I could never straighten it out completely. I returned it.

I did some research on Amazon and found these Mediabridge cables with astounding user ratings and amazingly reasonable prices. Not the sub-dollar junk you can also find here, but less than one third the big-box price of the Philips cables in equivalent lengths. I bought two of the 6' cables to connect my two 1080p upconverting DVD players (a Sony 5-disc changer and a Philips region-free single-disc for playing foreign DVDs) to my wonderful (and cheap) AOC HDTV.

I was a little reluctant to buy 6' cables because I only really needed 3', and I know cable length can be tricky with very high-speed signals, but since the Philips 3' wasn't actually usable to that length, and I didn't want to have to return these, I ordered 6'. They work like a dream. They're as flexible as cooked spaghetti and transmit the signals without a single glitch.

Then I bought a new HP laptop with an HDMI output, but to work comfortably the cable had to be longer than 6'. I figured I'd go all the way and order the 15', since it's only marginally more expensive and would allow me to use the HDTV easily for watching streaming movies from Netflix. This cable also works like a dream.

My TV only has two HDMI inputs, so I do a fair amount of plugging and unplugging, with no signs of reliability problems so far. I highly recommend these Mediabridge HDMI cables--in any length--to anybody needing one.

I'm also very impressed with Mediabridge itself. Each cable comes very nicely packaged individually in a sturdy corrugated box, which is put into a larger box for shipping, and they ship quickly directly to the customer. What a relief not to have to saw through a hard plastic shell to get the product out! It's an impressive company. PLUS, they're an American company, and although I don't know if they manufacture the cables domestically, they're unafraid to print their New Jersey street address right on the box.

Buy Mediabridge High Speed HDMI Cable with Ethernet (35 ft) - Ultra Series - Supports Ethernet, 3D, and Now

Just in case someone may feel guilty for not paying a lot more for, basically the same thing, let's look at our top of the line offer, Monster HDMI 1000HD Ultra-High Speed HDMI Cable (2 meters) and do a quick comparison.

This item supports the HDMI 1.3b standard which is almost as good as it gets (1.3c doesn't add anything special). Any HDMI 1.3 cable can carry up to 10.2 Gbit/s. Hmmm... I suppose the Monster is much better, right? Well... it "guarantees a certified cable bandwidth of 10.2" Okay, but the Monster also supports "x.v.Color, and Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD". It turns out that, all of the above, and more, are part of the HDMI 1.3 specs and they are fully supported by every cable that complies to the standard and can be had for about 90% less in the Mediabridge. The expensive brand presentation simply enumerates the HDMI 1.3 specs as if it being HDMI 1.3 compliant was a really big deal. It is not a big deal. Even a cable that costs 95% less is HDMI 1.3 compliant.

My suggestion: if you think that the proponents of the expensive brand have a point when they claim that their product is a lot more durable, buy TWO Media Bridge wires and still pay almost 80% less than you would pay for one of the expensive ones.

My personal experience: I've never paid 'a lot' for an HDMI cable because it makes no sense to pay more. I took home one of the 'expensive' ones once because the salesman promised to take it back if I wasn't amazed by the difference. It made zero difference and I returned it.

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The following are the HDMI 1.3 specs and all certified HDMI 1.3 cables (including Monster) are going to support them.

Maximum signal bandwidth (MHz) 340

Maximum TMDS bandwidth (Gbit/s) 10.2

Maximum video bandwidth (Gbit/s) 8.16

Maximum audio bandwidth (Mbit/s) 36.86

Maximum Color Depth (bit/px) 48

Maximum resolution over single link at 24-bit/px 2560×1600p75

Maximum resolution over single link at 30-bit/px 2560×1600p60

Maximum resolution over single link at 36-bit/px 1920x1200p75

Maximum resolution over single link at 48-bit/px 1920×1200p60

sRGB

YCbCr

8 channel LPCM/192 kHz/24-bit audio capability

Blu-ray Disc video and audio at full resolution

Consumer Electronic Control (CEC)

DVD-Audio support

Super Audio CD (DSD) support

Deep Color

xvYCC

Auto lip-sync

Dolby TrueHD bitstream capable

DTS-HD Master Audio bitstream capable

Updated list of CEC commands (only on HDMI 1.3a,b,c)

Read Best Reviews of Mediabridge High Speed HDMI Cable with Ethernet (35 ft) - Ultra Series - Supports Ethernet, 3D, and Here

These cables worked great for me...I'm getting 1080p@24hz no problem. My setup is a Samsung 52" LCD TV (LN52A650) and a Playstation 3. Save yourself a whole lot of money and don't get ripped off buying "Monster" or any other overpriced HDMI cable. Order processing, USPS shipping, and receipt in Texas was lightling fast(7 days). Order 2 while you're at it...someday you'll need another one!

Want Mediabridge High Speed HDMI Cable with Ethernet (35 ft) - Ultra Series - Supports Ethernet, 3D, and Discount?

This cable was a great fit for our purposes. I was running cables in a crawl space from our TV mounted on the wall to a cabinet to have a fully hidden AV system. The 25 ft was the right length and the price was amazing for a cable of this length. Everything I priced locally was well over $100 for the cable. Unfortunately, my TV does not run Ethernet over HDMI so I can't use that feature, but the 3D Blu-ray works well with this system. The cables held up with with all the fishing of wires that I needed to do as well. The flex points where they attach to the cable were solid and held up well being pulled thru multiple holes.

Pros: Affordable. Ethernet over HDMI and 3D ready.

Cons: None come to mind.