School me on HDMI stuff??

[The GECCO]

So, I have a nice new HDTV that has several HDMI input connectors. There's also an HDMI connector on my laptop. I want to be able to play video content that is on my laptop on my TV. My question is - is it as simple as buying the correct cable and selecting the appropriate input on the TV? Or will there be more to it than that?

I only ask because a cable long enough to do what I want will be about $150 and I don't want to spend the $$ just to find out I need to jump through a bunch more hoops to get it to work.

Thanks in advance!!

[Survivalism]

So, I have a nice new HDTV that has several HDMI input connectors. There's also an HDMI connector on my laptop. I want to be able to play video content that is on my laptop on my TV. My question is - is it as simple as buying the correct cable and selecting the appropriate input on the TV? Or will there be more to it than that?

I only ask because a cable long enough to do what I want will be about $150 and I don't want to spend the $$ just to find out I need to jump through a bunch more hoops to get it to work.

Thanks in advance!!

If your laptop has a full size HDMI and not a mini HDMI port then yes it will be that simple, to get optimal viewing on your HDTV you may need to mess with the T.Vs proportion settings ( 4:3, 16:9, etc ) Some hdtvs will give you black bars until you change it to the one that "scans" the input for its size, on my samsung its called just scan i believe.

You should also set your laptop to at least 1280x720 resolution, thats 720p. 1080p is 1920x1080

Oh and buy your cable from www.monoprice.com they work just as well ( hdmi signal is yes or no, their is no middle quality )

EDIT: If your computer has mini hdmi then just buy a mini hdmi to hdmi cable

[longrider]

+1 on what survivalism said. Even if the laptop has a non standard connector all you need is the appropriate cable, an HDMI signal is a HDMI signal no matter what the source.

Another good source for cables is www.bluejeanscable.com Stay away from Monster at all costs. The only thing monstrous about Monster is the PRICE!!

[CaneZach]

Survivalism beat me to it. When it comes to HDMI cables, $5 is just as good as $50. Yes, the $35 Sony cables might look prettier and perhaps last a bit longer than the el cheapos, but over the life of your TV, you'll spend MAYBE $20 on the cheap cables. There is no difference in picture quality whatsoever.

[The GECCO]

Awesome, thanks all!!

[pannetron]

+1 on HDMI cables, mail order EXCELLENT ones from monoprice.com for WAY less than big box retail stores get for them. One cool thing about the HDMI spec is that the protocol is two way, meaning each end can negotiate with the other on what it wants vs. what it can do and the electronics can settle on the best possible settings auto-magically.

[Canuck]

Survivalism beat me to it. When it comes to HDMI cables, $5 is just as good as $50. Yes, the $35 Sony cables might look prettier and perhaps last a bit longer than the el cheapos, but over the life of your TV, you'll spend MAYBE $20 on the cheap cables. There is no difference in picture quality whatsoever.

+1. I bought 8' cables for $30 at the apple store. A lot cheaper than what Best buy wanted, $90+.

[Sleev]

Best buy hdmi cables are ridiculous. I use a cable I got from amazon for one freaking dollar, and the picture looks great.

[Sarge]

I just actually read an article about this the other day. If I find it I'll link it, but what they basically came to the conclusion of is that the MIDDLE RANGE, MIDDLE PRICED cables are actually typically the worst. Stay away from the cheapos, and the super expensive ones, a $5 isn't quite as good as a $15-30 cable, but the $15-30 cable is likely better than the $60-80 cable, but the Monsters, etc, really are the best cables in MOST cases, but they are NOT $100 better.

The big issue is bandwidth. At first I was really confused about the whole thing myself. HDMI cables send data much like Ethernet cables do, and it's all about how fast it can send the data. The thing is, most $15 cables can send a signal just as fast as an $80 cable at spans less than 5 feet. If you REALLY want to run 30+ feet, THEN you really do need a better cable, and in this particular test, Monster did make the best 30' cable, but it was EXPENSIVE.



If you want to connect a new 3D Blu-ray player to a new 3D TV, you'll just need a high-speed HDMI cable, which is already recommended for connecting 1080p TVs and Blu-ray players. (HDMI Standard cables are generally sufficient for handling video with up to 720p or 1080i resolutions.) And you don't have to pay a lot to get a good high-speed HDMI cable: You can buy a 6-foot cable for less than $10 from an online retailer such as Monoprice.com or Blue Jeans Cable.

http://consumerist.com/2010/03/sorry-monster-you-dont-need-hdmi-14-cables-for-3d-tv.html


As far as whether or not you'll actually get a decent signal, I'd try it with a smaller cable. I've always had iffy results plugging HDMI equipped laptops into TVs. I have a 26" Samsung 1080p TV that took a LOT of fine tuning, including changing software settings on the computer to get the image to stretch, before it looked alright, and it still overscanned. But then I found a hidden setting on the TV that enabled "PC Mode" and BAM, all of a sudden it looked AWESOME.

The problem is that most TVs try to apply signal processing to the HDMI input, and most computers preprocess the images, because most monitors don't do image processing.

Hope this helps. ;)


*edit*
I found the link, they ran a battery of tests on a bunch of cables and really explain the whole thing in a way that normal people can understand. Definitely a good read if you're in the market for cables.

http://gizmodo.com/268788/the-truth-about-monster-cable-part-2-verdict-cheap-cables-keep-upusually

After reading this again I see my original estimates at the beginning of the post are a little off, it's all explained in the article though, and I'm in the ballpark. They say that some $5 cables are actually better than $30 ones, but they mention a few really cheap, high performing brands.

[JustSomeDude]

A key thing to remember, HDMI is digital, so the signal is either there, or it isn't. There is no such thing as "fuzz" or "hiss" that can occur with "cheaper" analog cables, as no such errors can occur in the digital realm. It's either ON or OFF. So much of the hype surrounding "high end" and "gold plated" cables is simply snake-oil salesman bullcrap.

That said, HDMI has some severe distance limitations. Ultimately, the laptop-to-TV connection may not be a satisfactory solution, especially if you want to stream media to other television sets. Be aware that the Media Center included in Windows 7 is very powerful and robust. If you have any device, or plan on purchasing a device, that can be networked to your laptop (or desktop that serves your media), you can stream media over your network and never have to worry about HDMI cables.

I have my primary computer at my desk (quite a distance from my TV), and simply stream media to my TV via the integrated Media Center on my Xbox360. This can be done either over a CAT5 connection, or WiFi. Additionally, this allows for simple controls to be done with my universal remote through the Xbox - which lets me select, play, FF, rewind, etc., any digital file. Pretty sweet. =]

Alternatively, if you don't plan on buying an Xbox, you can build a cheap HTPC that lives in your console with your other devices (BluRay, Satellite box, etc.), as an HTPC can also be setup to work with universal remotes.

Just something to consider for a more permanent long term solution.

[King Nothing]

that little yellow cable it just as good as hdmi. just use that.

[Keyser Soze]

that little yellow cable it just as good as hdmi. just use that.

Whatchoo know bout HDMI? Shit! Thats what.