Beware the hidden costs of HD TV

A PlayStation HD TV advertisment. Photo / Supplied

HD TV has to be one of the coolest technological improvements since the advent of pineapple lumps and sliced bread. HD Video is crispy sharp and so detailed it borders on being 3-d. With HD, watching the telly is better than being at the cinema. Unfortunately, HD also has a dark side.

If like many, you've just purchased a shiny new piece of consumer electronic goodness, chances are that you've also gone into fiscal induced trauma after finding out how much of your hard earned cash you're going to have to fork out to get a "premium" HDMI cable so you can hook it up to your LCD or plasma TV in order "to get HD". Many a gadget buyer not in the know has felt this pain but paid for a "premium" HDMI cable anyway, making the fact that the HDMI cable scam has continued for so long such an appalling phenomena.

I'm not anti HDMI. Far from it - Connecting any one of the growing number of AV appliances available with HDMI is an utter no brainer. Previous generations of AV gear used component, composite or S-Video connections. These were analogue, which meant that some of the video signal was lost or distorted before it got to your TV, resulting in less detailed video. HDMI which stands for "High Definition Multimedia Interface," Not only delivers video signals as a digital stream, giving you pin-prick sharp video, it also delivers digital audio and allows for two way communication between HDMI connected appliances (so for instance, your Samsung TV remote will also work with your Samsung DVD player), greatly reducing cable clutter, simplifying your AV stack in the process.

Unfortunately, there's a whole lot of confusion out there about HDMI as well as a lot of misinformed or plain dishonest individuals who'll try to sell unsuspecting buyers grossly over priced HDMI cables. A quick check online revealed the breath-taking extent of the HDMI scam. One online retailer had a 2 metre HDMI cable priced at an astonishing $180 (for that price I'd expect the cable delivered and installed by a super model). Further searching revealed what appeared to be the identical HDMI cable (albeit with a different brand) for a mere $40. In the interests of remaining litigation free I won't name any brands.

Making matters worse some retail sales people simply haven't got a clue when it comes to HDMI. Visiting one large retailer I was appalled to overhear a sales person telling a customer that they'd need to buy a $110 "Premium" HDMI cable so the Blu-ray player they'd just purchased could playback HD content at 1080p resolution on their new LCD TV, which is of course just [insert game buzzer noise here] wrong.

Here's some pointers for any wannabe HDMI cable buyers.

Its Digital: Assuming that like most typical home AV setups, your Blu-Ray/DVD/PVR is less than 10-15 metres from your flat panel TV, an ultra budget HDMI cable would not only also be capable of delivering 1080P HD content, it'd also deliver video quality that is identical to that delivered by so-called "premium" cables. When used to deliver an analogue signal (e.g. from an amp to speakers etc.) more costly cables with lower signal loss can make an appreciable difference. Because data is delivered over HDMI as a stream of digital data that are decoded and displayed by your flat panel TV, low-end HDMI cables will usually deliver exactly the same information at the same quality as their over priced, high-end HDMI counterparts.

Size matters: If for instance you're looking to run an HDMI cable over distances greater than say 10-15 metres, then paying more for higher quality HDMI cables might be an idea as these tend to suffer less signal loss over distances which means they're a more reliable option. For lengths over 15 metres, you'll probably need an HDMI extender/booster box.

Try and buy: If you're getting the premium HDMI spiel, talk the sales person into letting you take both a high end HDMI cable and its el-cheapo opposite home (chances are if you're plunking down several grand for a telly and/or other AV bits, they'll be pretty agreeable). Try them both out. I bet you'll struggle to see any difference. If you don't, take the "premium" HDMI cable back. Voila! Dollars towards your gadget acquisition fund.

Check the Checkout: If you choose to shop online for an HDMI cable, double check any prices that seem too good to be true, as chances are that they are. Many less scrupulous online retailers use freight and handling fees to hide real costs.

Spec Schmeck: A common tactic used by snake oil sellers is to blind the poor buyer with science, usually starting with the various HDMI versions, which also happens to be the most confusing aspect the whole HDMI caboodle. Ironically, these specs usually don't mean much when it comes to choosing HDMI cables. HDMI was introduced in 2002 as version 1. Since then, various improvements have been added with support for future technologies. In plain english, today's HDMI specifications can support up twice the data volumes needed for today's HD technologies and support gee-whiz stuff such as "Deep Color" technology, Dolby TrueHD/DTS-HD audio - All of which whilst supported by most HDMI cables on the market today, are still not found on 95 per cent of the components anyone is likely to buy. The moral of this story, there probably aren't too many reasons to pay attention to the HDMI specification number with any HDMI cable - in most situations they'll all perform identically, if they don't, then get a refund and try another cable.

Remember, all HDMI cables can deliver digital HD content. What HD resolution you will get is decided by the HDMI enabled gadget you've bought and your HDMI enabled TV, not the cable.

* Although Pat Pilcher works for Telecom, his opinions do not represent those of his employer.