Retailer Calls Rivals' Bluff On "HDMI Scam"

nk497 writes "Retailer Kogan is offering customers of rival stores free HDMI cables to highlight the 'scam' of selling the cables for £100, saying its own £4 cable works just as well. 'An HDMI cable is an HDMI cable,' Kogan said. 'It's a digital cable. You either get a picture or you don't. Don't get conned into buying a 'fancy' HDMI cable because it will make no difference!' Rival retailers Currys and John Lewis said they preferred to offer customers a 'variety' of cables. 'Each of our HDMI cables offers excellent quality and value for money, and by providing our customers with a range of different cables which offer different specifications, we are able to help them find one to suit their specific needs, with features such as different cable lengths, ultra slim and high speed,' said a spokesman for John Lewis, which sells cables for £20 to £99."

Comments

The emperor has no clothes!

[Vasheron]

...is essentially what Kogan is saying...and they're right!

Re:An HDMI cable is not just an HDMI cable

[Anonymous Coward]

Why in gods name are you running >50 foot HDMI runs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI#Cables

Re:An HDMI cable is not just an HDMI cable

[TheRaven64]

That's exactly what he's saying. You either get a signal, or you don't. It's not like an analogue system, where there's a wide spectrum between perfect and nonfunctional. Either the error rate is below the correction threshold, in which case a better cable won't make a difference, or it's above and you can easily tell because there's no picture.

For some uses, such as long runs, you really do need a better cable. For most, you don't.

Re:But the Best Buy guy said it does

[Ellis D. Tripp]

Agreed on the bulk conductivity, but the advantage of gold plating on contacts is the fact that gold doesn't tarnish or corrode, reducing conductivity over time.

Gold plated connector contacts are widely used on industrial/military gear, particularly in low-level signal applications.