# Can HDMI cable go bad?



## SinistrV6

The 50' run of HDMI to my Sharp LCD has been working fine for over a year. Lately, it goes through periods where it just transmits no video at all. Today it apparently has given up altogether. To test, I've hooked the HDMI out to another LCD via a short HDMI and I've hooked the XBox360 directly to the Sharp LCD via short HDMI and both worked fine. I've tried my Sharp BluRay, my Motorola STB and the Xbox 360 over the long HDMI and get nothing.


Barring any physical damage, can the HDMI just fail?


BTW, the cable nomenclature is Type CL2 shielded 22AWG/10C + 24 AWG 5C.


Does that mean it's 22AWG or 24 AWG?


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## putox1051

_Does that mean it's 22AWG or 24 AWG_


It means 10 wires are 22awg & 5 wires are 24awg.


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## Colm

Quote:

Originally Posted by *SinistrV6* 
Barring any physical damage, can the HDMI just fail?
Can they? Sure. Most likely problems would be bad connections where the wires terminate at the connectors, or pins on the connectors may have fatigued. Is it likely? No.


FWIW 50' is pretty long for HDMI. You may just have been on the edge all the time and were just lucky it worked for you up to now.


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## SinistrV6

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Colm* 
Can they? Sure. Most likely problems would be bad connections where the wires terminate at the connectors, or pins on the connectors may have fatigued. Is it likely? No.


FWIW 50' is pretty long for HDMI. You may just have been on the edge all the time and were just lucky it worked for you up to now.
I understand your line of thinking but nothing's moved so if I was on the edge, I'm still on the same edge.


After further testing, it appears more likely that the HK AVR645 is only intermittently transmitting video via HDMI. As it's been a bit troublesome since I bought it (repaired twice already for other issues) I'm inclined to think that's my issue.


I got it to work for a few minutes then lost it again. The Xbox 360 transmits across the long HDMI every time now (not sure why it didn't before).


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## Colm

You are assuming nothing has changed. That is not necessarily so. Parameters of electronic devices can change over time. The environment can change over time. The resistance of connections between plug and socket change change over time. That said. I think it is more likely for the parameters of the electronics involved to drift a bit over time than the cable.


What resolution, frame rate, and color depth are you running?


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## SinistrV6

Colm,


Resolution is 1080i


Frame rate - not sure


Color depth - not sure (and not sure how to check).


I've been fighting this thing for a couple of days now. If I plug the Motorola STB directly into the 50' HDMI --> Sharp LCD it works flawlessly.


Swapping sources on the same line (i.e. Xbox 360 ---> 50' HDMI --> Sharp LCD and Sharp BluRay ---> 50' HDMI --> Sharp LCD) doesn't work.


With the BluRay, it'll briefly give me the MENU screen but it disappears. Movies won't appear at all. BTW, the Sharp is recognizing the BluRay player and even shows that it's receiving a 1080i signal but no video appears.


The Xbox 360 does absolutely nothing over this run when connected directly.



Is this an indication that the STB is the only device generating a signal powerful enough to transmit that distance on it's own?


BTW, NONE of the source devices will transmit video over that distance when connected through my HK AVR 645 (even though they have for quite some time prior to this). I'm thinking the AVR645 isn't working (or at least isn't working properly). Even though the STB transmits fine when connect directly to the LCD, running it through the AVR 645 results in no video. The AVR645 actually displays a message on it's front panel that says "switch monitor to HDMI in" (it is already set to receive via HDMI). Is that an indication of too much resistance/signal loss/distance?


I know that's a lot of questions, but I'm at a loss. I hooked up the STB directly so at least the family will have TV in the Great Room while I'm working this weekend. I even tried the HDMI over CAT5E wall plates I bought from Monoprice months ago. No luck. But that's a separate issue....


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## gadget-zilla

IMO - A cable is a cable, whether 5' or 50', a well constructed cable will last you a long while. They get damaged, generally due to the abuse we put on them by plugging/unplugging them. If your cable is a long run, it is quite possible, that during the installation, one of the wires within the jacket got tugged on. Poor workmanship can cause the wire to come disconnected from the pins at the connector end. A cheap cable, if perhaps, the wires are soldered at the pin, instead of crimped, a bad solder joint (cold solder) could break lose over time.


So, for them to stop working just like that, well, cables don't melt on their own (LOL) so go back and think about when you installed it, what transpired during the installation and hopefully, you'll get an idea. Lastly, if you are constantly plugging them and unplugging them, the connector is taking the abuse and that could be another reason why they fail


general rule of thumb: buy quality products and you are less prone to seeing equipment failures. No, I'm not saying to go buy a Mon$ter, just a reputable brand that has been around. Belden cable mfg is top notch, for example.


in your case, just isolate the problem by using a different cable to make sure the issue isn't at the device's connector end. Yep, they too can see a lot of abuse by lots of connecting/disconnecting. If the actual HDMI port is damaged, then you've got bigger issues. But, go the simple route first, and get a different cable and test


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## alk3997

Quote:

Originally Posted by *gadget-zilla* 
IMO - A cable is a cable, whether 5' or 50', a well constructed cable will last you a long while. They get damaged, generally due to the abuse we put on them by plugging/unplugging them. If your cable is a long run, it is quite possible, that during the installation, one of the wires within the jacket got tugged on. Poor workmanship can cause the wire to come disconnected from the pins at the connector end. A cheap cable, if perhaps, the wires are soldered at the pin, instead of crimped, a bad solder joint (cold solder) could break lose over time.


So, for them to stop working just like that, well, cables don't melt on their own (LOL) so go back and think about when you installed it, what transpired during the installation and hopefully, you'll get an idea. Lastly, if you are constantly plugging them and unplugging them, the connector is taking the abuse and that could be another reason why they fail


general rule of thumb: buy quality products and you are less prone to seeing equipment failures. No, I'm not saying to go buy a Mon$ter, just a reputable brand that has been around. Belden cable mfg is top notch, for example.


in your case, just isolate the problem by using a different cable to make sure the issue isn't at the device's connector end. Yep, they too can see a lot of abuse by lots of connecting/disconnecting. If the actual HDMI port is damaged, then you've got bigger issues. But, go the simple route first, and get a different cable and test
I'm not sure I agree with some of this. I've seen cables (actually the connectors) go bad due to oxide build-up over time. Luckily that is usually solved by cleaning. I've seen apprarently good solder joints fail over time due to (again) oxidation or other chemicals getting in the way.


But, you are right if there is damage to the cable and it was ever so slightly moved, that could cause the damage to become evident in the signal. Gravity is always working (no shutoff switch), so there is always a pull on the cable and connectors unless they are flat on a horizontal surface.


There are also RFI concerns. RF interference can change without touching the cable as it is an outside source. The cables susceptibility to RFI can also change.


And certainly a 5' cable is not the same as a 50' cable in HDMI land. Both cables being of equal quality and construction, the 50' will still be more potential for EMI issues and for degredation of the signal.


The bottom line is cables can go bad without any person touching the cable. Luckily it is not common but it still can happen.


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## MrHT

I did a search on HDMI cables going bad and this thread came up. The reason I did a search is because one of my HDMI cables suddenly went bad. 2 years ago when I upgraded to Time Warner HD cable, I hooked up the cable box via HDMI and I never touched the connection since then. Everything worked well until now. I'm watching something on TV and suddenly the picture would flicker and the digital audio signal would drop out on my receiver. It's very weird. At first I thought it was a cable issue, so I let it slide for a few days. Then the flicker kept getting more and more frequent. I was ready to blame Time Warner because my DVD player and Blu-ray player are also hooked up via HDMI and none of them ever have any flickering issue. And I've had those hooked up a lot longer than my cable box. Well, I was just about to complain to Time Warner thinking my cable box was going bad until I decided to swap the HDMI cable to see how things go. I swapped it with a new cable and to my surprise, no more flickering. I watched for an hour and not one flicker. Thinking it might just be a coincidence, I swapped the cable back to the old one. And within 2 minutes, the picture flickered. So, now I'm really suspecting it's the HDMI cable after all. So, now I swapped it back to the new HDMI cable and watched for two hours and no flicker at all.


So, yup, apparently, my 2 year old HDMI cable has suddenly gone bad for no apparent reason. Mind you, this cable was hooked up two years and was left alone since then. The cable was never touched. So, nothing could have possibly damaged it. It apparently just deteriorated with age, I guess. Though I should add that this cable was purchased from Ebay, so I have no idea what brand of cable this is. But then again, my other two HDMI cables that I used to hook up my DVD and Blu-ray player were also bought from the same seller on Ebay, so I was under the impression that I was buying a decent cable from a reliable seller. I guess this just goes to show that you need t be careful with how cheap you get when buying HDMI cables.


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## Otto Pylot

Bottom line, don't buy your cables from eBay. Buy from reputable dealers like Monoprice, Media Bridge, Blue Jeans, etc. Caveat emptor.


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## MrHT

Monoprice is expensive. Sure they only charge $3-4 for a cable, but the shipping charge is outrageous!!


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## Otto Pylot

Cost is always a factor that needs to be weighed against quality and reliability. You obviously got what you paid for.


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## MrHT

Is Monoprice really that good? Never tried them, so I'm not sure how reliable they are. What about AmazonBasics? They're pretty cheap and the reviews on Amazon are good.


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## Otto Pylot

I'm not familiar with AmazonBasics so they could be anything, from a well made cable to some cheap Chinese knock-off. Monoprice (along with the others I've mentioned) make very good, reliable cables. Personally, I'd buy my cables from a well known, and respected, company. There's a reason why some cables are really cheap, and it's not always do to bulk purchasing by the seller. Reviews can always be fudged so those have to be taken with a grain of salt. I don't think the Monoprice costs for certified, high speed HDMI cables are all that high.


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## MrHT




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Otto Pylot*  /t/1320361/can-hdmi-cable-go-bad#post_24628508
> 
> 
> I don't think the Monoprice costs for certified, high speed HDMI cables are all that high.



It's not the cable prices that I find high; it's the shipping charges. They are charging $8 just to ship two HDMI cables costs. My total cost is $15. I guess compared to what Monster charges, that's not so bad, but I don't know why they charge so much for shipping....


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## drakeroose

Yeah, I believe HDMI cable can go bad easily. Obviously the hdmi technology is 0-1, so it works or not and some say it's not a matter of a cheap or expensive cable. But the truth is the material the cables are made of matters a lot. So yea.


I had Amazon Basics once in my hands - it is very popular on Amazon though it seemed more like a Chinese knock-off. Monoprice are indeed very reliable. Now, I'm using a Prolink cable and it's also very decent. there are a lot of good cables. Amazon Basics is probably just as the name sounds


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## Otto Pylot

HDMI cables, like anything else, can fail but if you get a cable from a reliable mfr like the above-mentioned brands (Monoprice, MediaBridge, Blue Jeans, etc) the likelyhood is greatly diminshed depending on how you have them installed (sharp bends, stress on the input ends, etc).


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## AV_Integrated

For what it's worth, Monoprice cables fail like everything else out there. I've seen some really nice cables fail, and I've seen the good and cheap ones from Monoprice fail, but a lot of it does have to do with the bends in the cable and the quality of the specific cable you end up with.


For runs 6' or less, I have switched over to using the Parts Express branded Super Slim HDMI cables, which are inexpensive, and don't put excessive strain on the cables. For 10' to 15' I have been using Redmere cables from Monoprice for the same reason. For runs over 15', I switch gears entirely and use 22AWG cables from Monoprice because they just work. Heavy, hard to install, and they work.


But, any and all HDMI cables need to be handled quite carefully for long term usage.


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## Otto Pylot

^^^^ you must work for SF Cable because this is the second ad you've posted.

Oops. My bad. This was not meant for AV_Integrated. I responded to another poster and somehow it ended up here. My apologies to AV_Integrated.


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## Joe Fernand

Third


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## AV_Integrated

Oh, I've made quite a few postings on the Parts Express cables. They don't make them though. They are getting them from somewhere else (for sure) and I think they are on Amazon as well. But, since I've had amazing results with them and they aren't an active cable, I will continue to endorse them for 6' and less runs because they get away from the 'thicker is better' mentality that so many have been suckered into over the years.

To this point, I think I've installed 20-30 of these cables without a single failure or call back, and the cables aren't falling out which is a problem I've experienced in the past with the heavy gauged, snake-skinned Monoprice cables.

I will still happily tout the MP cables as a great deal and used them for years, and while I don't use Blue Jeans Cable I have nothing but good things to say about them as well. So, I'm pretty freelance on my commendations as long as the cables represent quality appropriate to the money and support which is represented. 

1080p/3D @ 50' over HDBT using the 6' PE cables, then continuing on 35' over a HDMI cable to my projector with zero issues. Something good going on in all of this.


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## Joe Fernand

Early on in the HDMI timeline you had to go with overly large diameter and usually overly stiff Cable stock to go out past 5m - these cables could be prone to failures at the solder joins between the conductors and the pins on the connectors.

If you dismantle an HDMI cable you see a pretty busy gaggle of wires where the connector meets the cable - it's amazing that more folk don't have cable failures.

Joe


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## MrHT

One thing I can't stand about Monoprice cables is that they're so thick. What bothers me about them is that the heaviness of the cables can put stress on the HDMI port of the TV. This can cause permanent damage because I heard that HDMI ports are very very fragile. At least those "cheap knockoff" cables I got from EBay are much thin and more flexible. It puts less stress on the ports.


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## Otto Pylot

If your cable runs are short, then you can probably get away with a thinner gauge wire. Or, you can use a Redmere cable which is very thin and puts absolutely no strain on the input end at all. I only use certified HDMI cables from reputable mfrs but to each his own.


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## MrHT

Ok, this is very wacky. Several months ago, I had a cheap HDMI cable from Ebay go bad on me. This was the cable hooked up from my cable box to receiver. Since this was a cheapo cable, I can understand it going bad like that for no particular reason. But guess what? My Monster cable that's is hooked up from my BD player to receiver is now going bad. It's starting to get random dropouts just like what happened several months ago when my cheap Ebay cable was failing. And this not only a Monster cable, but it's only three feet long and is very thick. How can thick guage, short cable from a reputable brand like Monster just go bad for no reason at all? I've had it for five years without ever having an issue until now. Are HDMI cables just prone to going bad after a certain amount of time? This is crazy!!


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## Otto Pylot

Monster cables are grossly overpriced for what you get and are not any better than any other certified high speed HDMI cable from places like Monoprice, MediaBridge, Blue Jeans, etc. Sure, cheaply made cables can go bad due to poor construction, especially when purchased off of eBay but it sounds like there may be an issue with your setup and not necessarily the cable.


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## MrHT

Otto Pylot said:


> Monster cables are grossly overpriced for what you get and are not any better than any other certified high speed HDMI cable from places like Monoprice, MediaBridge, Blue Jeans, etc. Sure, cheaply made cables can go bad due to poor construction, especially when purchased off of eBay but it sounds like there may be an issue with your setup and not necessarily the cable.


Then why does the dropout issue go away once I replace the cable?


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## Otto Pylot

It seems unlikely to me that a cheap HDMI cable and an overpriced HDMI cable would both go bad. You could have a bad input or something else going on that's causing dropouts.


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## MrHT

Maybe my Onkyo receiver is just very sensitive. But I still don't understand why the problem goes away when I swap the old cable with a new one. If it was my setup, there would be problems even after the swap.


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## Otto Pylot

Unless the input has a loose connection. In which case plugging/unplugging corrects it temporarily. Really hard to say.


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## merchantord

Just wanted to add my two cents here. However unlikely it may seem or improbable it may be, HDMI cables certainly CAN just go bad! And that's regardless of who manufactures them. Four months ago I purchased a Monoprice 6 ft. Redmere cable that simply quit conducting a signal altogether two days prior to this post. No damage or movement of either it or the equipment it's connected to, it just spontaneously winked out while the wife was watching a program.


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## Otto Pylot

^^^^^^ and that's the main complaint about the active cables. Because there is a chipset in the sink end, like any other electronic device, they can fail. I've been using Redmere for quite some time now and they've been fine, but it is in the back of my mind as the first troubleshooting I'll do if I lose signal. Passive cables are dumb. They are just wiring and connectors. As you said, any cable can go bad regardless of the mfr but I would find it very odd that two passive cables, from two different mfrs, developed the same problem.


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## MrHT

Otto Pylot said:


> but I would find it very odd that two passive cables, from two different mfrs, developed the same problem.


I think you're right. It seems as though my BD player HDMI out port is going bad. I switched the cable and switched to a different port on my receiver and dropouts still continue. My cable box (which is also hooked up to the receiver) works fine. This sucks. I hate to have to throw out a perfectly working BD player due to a bad HDMI port.


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## Otto Pylot

Sorry to hear that. Fortunately (sort of) good blu-ray players can be had for under $200 if you have to replace it. At least it was the cheapest device on your system.


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## MrHT

Otto Pylot said:


> Sorry to hear that. Fortunately (sort of) good blu-ray players can be had for under $200 if you have to replace it. At least it was the cheapest device on your system.


What's disappointing about this is that this BD player has been incredible over the 4 years I've owned it. I never had one compatibility issue playing any titles nor any kind of major bug. It's been rock solid since day one. And for the HDMI port just to suddenly fail, it makes no sense. I suppose I could just switch to component, but then I would only get 1080i and not get HD audio from the receiver. So to continue to get the best experience from Blu-Ray, I need HDMI.


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## Joe Fernand

_'And for the HDMI port just to suddenly fail, it makes no sense'_ - it doesn't take too much stress to lift one or more pins of the HDMI socket off the PCB, it may be worth asking a local service engineer to have a look.


Joe


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## Otto Pylot

^^^^^ good advice. That's one of the reasons that I chose to use Redmere cables. Not for the ability to run longer lengths but for the almost no strain at all on the input ends. For runs shorter than 10' you could also just use a thinner gauge non-Redmere HDMI cable and still have great results. It would certainly be worth it to have someone look at your player as Joe suggested.


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## MrHT

MrHT said:


> What's disappointing about this is that this BD player has been incredible over the 4 years I've owned it. I never had one compatibility issue playing any titles nor any kind of major bug. It's been rock solid since day one. And for the HDMI port just to suddenly fail, it makes no sense. I suppose I could just switch to component, but then I would only get 1080i and not get HD audio from the receiver. So to continue to get the best experience from Blu-Ray, I need HDMI.


You know, before I assume it's the player, I need to do more testing. I know I swapped the cable and the problem still persisted, but the replacement cable was a cable that my friend gave me. He gave it to me because I didn't have any spare cables. But he recently told me that he bought it at the discount store, so it could very well be another bad cable as I don't trust cables from those places. So, I recently got a new cable from Monoprice and so far, the problem seems to have gone away, but we'll see. If the problem does continue after this replacement, then I know for sure that it's not a cable issue and most likely, a bad port on the BD player or AVR.


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## Otto Pylot

Is there any weight on the cable when it's connected. By that I mean is the cable bent downwards to fit in a tight space which could be causing stress on the connectors to the board?


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## MrHT

Otto Pylot said:


> Is there any weight on the cable when it's connected. By that I mean is the cable bent downwards to fit in a tight space which could be causing stress on the connectors to the board?


Yes, a little.


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## MrHT

MrHT said:


> You know, before I assume it's the player, I need to do more testing. I know I swapped the cable and the problem still persisted, but the replacement cable was a cable that my friend gave me. He gave it to me because I didn't have any spare cables. But he recently told me that he bought it at the discount store, so it could very well be another bad cable as I don't trust cables from those places. So, I recently got a new cable from Monoprice and so far, the problem seems to have gone away, but we'll see. If the problem does continue after this replacement, then I know for sure that it's not a cable issue and most likely, a bad port on the BD player or AVR.


Good thing I didn't replace my BD player. It certainly looks like my problem was a cable issue after all. My new Monoprice cable has been working great so far with no dropouts whatsoever over the past week. And I've been watching a lot too. It seems as though my AVR is very sensitive to signal loss and that's probably why it needs a good cable in order to prevent dropouts. In fact, on websites such as THIS, it says to use a 24 AWG HDMI cable when connecting to an AVR. That could be my issue because I've always been using 28 AWG, with the cheaper Ebay and Discount store cables being even higher since they're much thinner. However, my Monoprice cable I'm using now is only 28 AWG so I probably should replace it with a lower gauge.

But it's just strange how my 6 year old Monster cable just went bad suddenly. Looks like their cables aren't all that high quality after all. And to charge all that money too.... oof!!!


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## MrHT

Grrr.... it doesn't look like it was a cable issue after all. After about 20 days of switching HDMI cables, I finally experienced another dropout. Weird how it took this long for the problem to reoccur. So, now this must be either an issue with the BD player port, the ports on the receiver or maybe the port on my TV. This is so frustrating and so hard to resolve because it's difficult to determine where the problem lies... And what makes it even more frustrating and difficult is that the problem doesn't always happen, so it's not easy to test. I'll need to wait until the problem eventually worsens before I'm able to do testing and find out where the problem lies.


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## drwho2012

in my limited experience with hdmi cables a name brand did work with my equipment and a 6 dollar cable did go figure i was told once by a sales person that expensive cables are not always the best and now there are revised cables veersions


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## Frank714

Yes, HDMI cables can go bad for no apparent reason, here is my story:

Earlier this year my lawyer called me, complaining about problems with his DVB-C receiver (picture collapses, sound goes away).

I was pretty certain there was an issue with the DVB-C receiver and I tried a couple of things, sometime during the trouble shooting session and for no apparent reason (call it a "hunch") I decided to use a different HDMI cable, equally short (6' standard length).

And suddenly the aforementioned issues disappeared instantly, I was rather surprised, shocked or whatever else you may call that. That cable was never touched by anyone other than me, it's a separate dry room behind the projection screen with my lawyer's AV components (no moisture, no sunlight, no extreme temperatures of any kind).

But as a guy who's seen Laser(Disc)rot and HD-DVD-rot I'm aware that certain chemical components aren't always ensuring longevity of any given product.


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## Otto Pylot

......or it could have been a loose connector on the HDMI board that "corrected" itself by just the physical action of plugging in another cable. Yes, HDMI cables can go bad, anything electronic can, but I've been using HDMI cables for years and haven't had one go bad, yet.


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## MrHT

I wonder if my issue could be caused by the right angle HDMI adapter on my HDTV? The reason I bought this adapter was because the HDTV I bought in July only had the HDMI ports located on the side of the TV. Since Monoprice makes their cables so thick, they stick out on the side of my TV making it look ugly. So, I bought the right angle adapter (from Monoprice) so the cables don’t stick out from the side like that. Well, the dropout issue occurred shortly after I installed the adapter. I didn’t think that would cause a problem because: (A) it’s just a simple adapter that I didn’t think would cause any kind of signal problems and (B) the dropout is occurring on the receiver, not the TV. So, I don’t understand how an adapter connected to the TV would cause dropouts on the receiver. So, I’m wondering if this adapter caused the issue or if it was just an odd coincidence that this dropout issue happened shortly after I put in the right angle adapter.


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## Otto Pylot

Those right angle, or elbow adapters are supposed to work very well. Why are you using thick cables? If your run is under 10' then you could probably get away with smaller gauge cables and not compromise anything. I use the Redmere cables which is an overkill for my runs, but they work very well. However, all of my main inputs are on the back of the panel, but even if I use the side inputs they can easily be put away out of sight.


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## MrHT

Otto Pylot said:


> Those right angle, or elbow adapters are supposed to work very well. Why are you using thick cables? If your run is under 10' then you could probably get away with smaller gauge cables and not compromise anything. I use the Redmere cables which is an overkill for my runs, but they work very well. However, all of my main inputs are on the back of the panel, but even if I use the side inputs they can easily be put away out of sight.


I was using thick cables because those were the cheapest cables on Monoprice's site. The thinner ones cost more. They seemed to have gone down in price, which is why I finally decided to purchase them.

Also, the dropouts still happened after removing the right angle adapters. So, after replacing all the cables and adapters, the dropouts still won't stop. So, it's down to either the port on the BD player or receiver.


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## murlidher

Just to add my HDMI issues: 

- HDMI cables connecting Bluray player & cable connected directly to AVR and the ARC port connected to the TV (LG LED) from AVR, I experience audio drop for a second in every 30 seconds or so while watching cable or blu ray movies. 

- All (Blu ray player & cable) connected directly to TV through HDMI CABLE and only the ARC port connected to AVR from TV via HDMI cable -> there is NO audio drops. 

Not sure where is the problem as I have made all settings changes including HDMI cable changes. Only thing I would be trying later today is the way I switch ON these devices. If that doesn't help, I will be waiting for some magic to happen (in terms of firmware upgrade on any of these devices) to solve the issue


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## Frank714

MrHT said:


> I wonder if my issue could be caused by the right angle HDMI adapter on my HDTV? ... So, I don’t understand how an adapter connected to the TV would cause dropouts on the receiver. So, I’m wondering if this adapter caused the issue or if it was just an odd coincidence that this dropout issue happened shortly after I put in the right angle adapter.


My recent experience with another customer (similar situation like in my last post, apparently no HDMI signal feed from DVB-C2 receiver) turned out that just by adding a "right angle HDMI adapter" helped to fix my customer's problem (forgot to bring HDMI cables along, because it was supposedly just a cable TV problem...).

Starts looking to me as if the whole issue is mechanic-related, unhook your HDMI cable, bend and stretch it, and plug it back in. If this doesn't work use an adapter, if this doesn't help try a different cable.


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## Frank714

Talked yesterday to a friend of mine who's working in an AV store about the issue. He had his boss convinced to purchase an HDMI tester, according to his observations thus far, you supposedly can expect two faulty HDMI cables out of ten!


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## Otto Pylot

I think a 20% failure rate is not accurate at all, unless this is one particular mfr. Any cable can fail but if you buy from a reputable dealer/mfr, most cables work as advertised, especially if the cable length you buy has been certified.


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## Joe Fernand

_'according to his observations thus far, you supposedly can expect two faulty HDMI cables out of ten!  '_ - I'd save the money on the cable tester, sack the cable buyer and go find a reputable supplier.


Joe


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## levets

Update: I think it has to be a problem with DTVs broadcast feeds. I just swapped all HDMI cables in all possible device and port combinations. Cable I know works good on PS4 in either port exhibited same issue on STB. Tried the other cable - tests good on either port with PS4. Issue same with STB (this did not happen the first time, hence the message below).

Crap, I just literally got called in by my son saying the PS4 was off. So it does now look like it's a bad cable. So what follows is now accurate I guess. I thought I had another one in the house but now I'm going to have to buy one...



I just found this thread for the same reason.

I just swapped out an HDMI cable that has not moved since I put the DTV box in - in SEPTEMBER. It's only 4 months old!!!!

WTF?

Really? Cables don't just fail like that. I work in audio and computers with USB, FW, lightning, RCA, 1/4", XLR, and so on and so on. Heck, I've pulled ribbon cables off hard drives. But a cable that's sitting stationary just goes bad?

That's kind of crazy. I don't think I bought a "cheap" cable (think it was a Target regular stock) but it wasn't bottom of the barrel (and it wasn't Monster). I know everything's made in China and even more cheaply than ever, but, wow, I just mean, wow, how's it even possible.






MrHT said:


> I did a search on HDMI cables going bad and this thread came up. The reason I did a search is because one of my HDMI cables suddenly went bad. 2 years ago when I upgraded to Time Warner HD cable, I hooked up the cable box via HDMI and I never touched the connection since then. Everything worked well until now. I'm watching something on TV and suddenly the picture would flicker and the digital audio signal would drop out on my receiver. It's very weird. At first I thought it was a cable issue, so I let it slide for a few days. Then the flicker kept getting more and more frequent. I was ready to blame Time Warner because my DVD player and Blu-ray player are also hooked up via HDMI and none of them ever have any flickering issue. And I've had those hooked up a lot longer than my cable box. Well, I was just about to complain to Time Warner thinking my cable box was going bad until I decided to swap the HDMI cable to see how things go. I swapped it with a new cable and to my surprise, no more flickering. I watched for an hour and not one flicker. Thinking it might just be a coincidence, I swapped the cable back to the old one. And within 2 minutes, the picture flickered. So, now I'm really suspecting it's the HDMI cable after all. So, now I swapped it back to the new HDMI cable and watched for two hours and no flicker at all.
> 
> So, yup, apparently, my 2 year old HDMI cable has suddenly gone bad for no apparent reason. Mind you, this cable was hooked up two years and was left alone since then. The cable was never touched. So, nothing could have possibly damaged it. It apparently just deteriorated with age, I guess. Though I should add that this cable was purchased from Ebay, so I have no idea what brand of cable this is. But then again, my other two HDMI cables that I used to hook up my DVD and Blu-ray player were also bought from the same seller on Ebay, so I was under the impression that I was buying a decent cable from a reliable seller. I guess this just goes to show that you need t be careful with how cheap you get when buying HDMI cables.


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## MrHT

MrHT said:


> Grrr.... it doesn't look like it was a cable issue after all. After about 20 days of switching HDMI cables, I finally experienced another dropout. Weird how it took this long for the problem to reoccur. So, now this must be either an issue with the BD player port, the ports on the receiver or maybe the port on my TV. This is so frustrating and so hard to resolve because it's difficult to determine where the problem lies... And what makes it even more frustrating and difficult is that the problem doesn't always happen, so it's not easy to test. I'll need to wait until the problem eventually worsens before I'm able to do testing and find out where the problem lies.


Can you believe I had this issue for several months and still can't figure out the cause. This is ridiculous. Seriously, I am never going to purchase another AVR again because having that extra equipment only makes the diagnosis more complicated. If my BD player was just hooked up to the TV, the issue would be caused by either the TV, BD Player or cable. But because I have that stupid AVR in the middle, it could be my AVR ports or the AVR itself just failing.

What makes this so hard is that this damn dropout only occurs 1-2 times a month. So, I literally have to try something new (such as replacing the cable, switching ports, etc...) and then wait another month to see if the problem ever happens again. So frustrating. I switched HDMI cables twice and switched ports and the dropouts still happen. So, I finally am trying this... Yesterday, I hooked up an old upconverting DVD player to the HDMI port in my AVR. Now, since that's upscaling to 1080p like my BD player is doing, then this should be a good test to see if my BD player is the problem. If the dropouts still occur with the DVD player, then it's safe to say that it's not my BD player that's problematic. If after watching on that DVD player for a few months and no issues, then it's definitely the BD player port.

Based on my headaches, I'm leaning towards the BD player port being the culprit, but I just need to be 100% sure before I run out and buy a new player and still have the dropouts occur, especially if it only starts occurring on the new player after the return window when it's too late.


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## MrHT

Not sure if anyone cares, but I finally found out the cause of my dropout issue. It's the BD player. I have three connections to the AVR: cable box, DVD player and BD player. I constantly switch ports on all three to verify it's not a port issue and the BD player is the only one having occasional dropouts. So to eliminate this issue, I will have either watch BDs at 1080i via component cables or buy a new BD player.


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