Got a 4k Ultra HD TV - What the heck HDMI cables do I need?

TheNinja

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This stuff is confusing nowadays. I took forever to research TV and finally upgraded to the 4K and dang is this picture clear when streaming!! You can get a lot of bang for your buck for $1000, WOW! The only issue is all my old HDMI cables are "standard". The guy at the story tries to sell me $80 HDMI "High Speed Directional" cables at 6-10 feet long. Seemed like a ripoff to me. But my stream from my cable box looks pretty crappy and glitchy. The streaming from the smart TV built in apps is awesome.

Can I just grab any old "High Speed" HDMI off Amazon? I need ARC and I'm running everything through a new HDMI receiver for my speakers/sound. Anyone have good cables they use for a good price? I need like 6 of them around 6-10ft each. Oh and it's 120Hz panel...most cables I read about say 4K at 60Hz for some reason.
 
Look at the user manual. I think there are HDMI x.x cables that handle higher res than the original HDMI. I think the Hz is framerate, so you need higher capacity cables that can handle the greater data.
 
Just buy a normal cable like the Amazon basics. There's no way your cable box is putting out 4k 120hz. Nothing really puts out a 4k 120hz signal other than high end desktop computer graphics card.
 
You want a high speed cable. Other than that, it doesn't matter.

Monster used to be known for ridiculously overpriced stuff but these are cheap and available at Walmart. Good quality, cheap and high speed to handle all of the different formats.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Monster-High-Speed-HDMI-Cable-with-Ethernet-6ft/993406847

Amazon Basics will work but I've had mixed success with them. They aren't well made at all and I've had them crap out on me. It's worth spending a little more IMO.
 
You want a high speed cable. Other than that, it doesn't matter.

Monster used to be known for ridiculously overpriced stuff but these are cheap and available at Walmart. Good quality, cheap and high speed to handle all of the different formats.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Monster-High-Speed-HDMI-Cable-with-Ethernet-6ft/993406847

Amazon Basics will work but I've had mixed success with them. They aren't well made at all and I've had them crap out on me. It's worth spending a little more IMO.

Speaking of overpriced. The dude at the store hands me some laminated print out of the cables he recommends at a "minimum" and they started at $40 for a 6 foot and went up to.....I shit you not....$1000 for 1 cable at like 10 feet. I was like "damn....these things better be pure gold for that price!!". Who buys those things?
 
As long as its a "High Speed" one, your good to go. As @jefferz said the Amazon ones are pretty good i've got a few in my setups at home and have had no problems with them so far
 
Your question has already been answered, as well as can be answered without knowing specifically which TV you bought, but for posterity, hopefully this will clear up the issue for Sherdoggers.

As has been mentioned, and can be observed from the HDMI version comparison chart via Wikipedia I've linked below in this post, the only time you need HDMI 2.1 is if you have a 4K TV that natively supports 4K@120Hz. Historically all you had to look for was the keyword combination "native 120Hz". Today, however, you must be careful, because many 4K TVs will advertise even "native 120Hz", but in fact, the TV can only support native 120Hz when the image is rendered at 1080p. If the TV's specifications don't include HDMI 2.1 ports you know that you're dealing with one of these, and you don't need an HDMI 2.1 cable. The below Rtings table I customized is a gut punch. There are a million units with "Native 120Hz", but of those they've tested in their lab, only two support Native 120Hz at 4K (the Samsung Q900/Q900R series and Samsung Q90/Q90R series):
https://www.rtings.com/tv/tools/table/21369

Furthermore, to iterate what has already been said, be aware that virtually no content out there runs 4K@120Hz. Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, YouTube, and all the network or cable TV channels don't. Only certain 4K Blu-Ray players do, but even then, I don't believe any of the current 4K Blu-Ray discs are actually encoded at 120Hz, today. Besides, The Hobbit was the first major movie shot at 60 frames per second, and unless I missed the headline, I still haven't heard of any shot at 120Hz. So unless you're watching home video taken from a phone or a digital camcorder shot at 4K@120fps, what is there to watch?

As you can see in the Rtings article below, only high-end gaming PCs and the Xbox One X or Xbox One S output this.....but....the Xbox One S only does media playback natively at 4K, not games, and so you run into the same problem Blu-Ray players do. Meanwhile, for the Xbox One X, you run into the same problem again for games, anyway! Unless I'm mistaken not a single Xbox One generation game actually runs above 60fps in 4K (and frankly it wouldn't be powerful enough to keep up if they did). So unless you game on a $2K PC there's....nothing. HDMI 2.1 is still almost entirely a theoretical standard waiting on the future to catch up.
https://www.rtings.com/tv/learn/what-is-the-refresh-rate-60hz-vs-120hz
*2021 Edit Update: Theoretical Native Resolution/Framerate Ceilings for Game Consoles*
  • Xbox Series X
    • 8K@120fps media playback
    • 4K@120fps gaming
  • Playstation 5
    • 8K@60fps or 4K@120fps media playback
    • 4K@120fps gaming
  • Xbox Series S
    • 4K@120fps media playback
    • 4K@60fps or 1440p@120fps gaming
  • Xbox One X
    • 4K@120fps media playback
    • 4K@120fps gaming (*never actually higher than 4K@60fps)
  • PS4 Pro
    • 4K@60fps media playback
    • 4K@60fps gaming
  • Xbox One S
    • 4K@120fps media playback
    • 1080p@60fps gaming
  • Xbox One
    • 1080p@60fps
    • 1080p@60fps


Moving on, generally, the manufacturers employ nomenclature for their refresh rate grading, and these are the ones that do/will indicate 4K@120Hz:
  • LG -- TruMotion 240
  • Samsung -- Motion Rate 240
  • Sony -- MotionFlow XR1440
  • Vizio -- Effective Refresh Rate 240
  • TCL -- none*
*I pulled this from a CNET article written last summer that says that the TCL 75" 6 series unit is their only model with native 120Hz 4K


Latest version of HDMI is 2.1. Wiki summarizes the standard succinctly:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI#Version_2.1
HDMI version comparison is a nice chart just below in that Wiki (direct link here):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI#Version_comparison

If you do spring for an HDMI 2.1 look for this certification label. More in depth info on the standard in the first link below:
https://www.hdmi.org/spec/hdmi2_1
https://www.hdmi.org/spec21Sub/UltraHighSpeedCable
UltraHighSpeedHdmiCableWithLabel.png


There are slightly cheaper offerings on Amazon, but this one (for $20) was the cheapest I could find that advertises compliance from the retailer:
6.5ft 8K HDMI 2.1 Ultra High Speed 48Gbps Cable Compatible with Apple TV Roku Netflix Playstation Xbox One X Samsung Sony LG
 
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Unfortunately, the cables make what can be a significant difference. I had snow that could be seen on black screens after the guy I hired ran my cables for my OLED and surround speakers, especially when set to Dolby Vision. I finally figured out it was the HDMI he ran from my receiver to my screen. Spend the money for the ultra high speed cable. The Amazon works fine, is a little cheaper, and my picture is incredible. We watched Joker last night and the visual details in the final scene with him in the institution were just amazing. Also remember, every cable counts, including box to receiver not just the one to your screen. Good luck and enjoy!
 
Ang Lee did it on his previous film, too. He's like the lone dude, tho, maybe outside of nature documentarians. His films should get more love for pushing the boundaries but the stories are failing to capture enough interest. Still this is likely the future of filmmaking. This and performance capture, + CGI rendering. At this level of detail the cheats to make everything look seamless and pretty are much more sophisticated. Actors can almost not wear makeup since it looks far too caked on.
 
Your question has already been answered, as well as can be answered without knowing specifically which TV you bought, but for posterity, hopefully this will clear up the issue for Sherdoggers.

As has been mentioned, and can be observed from the HDMI version comparison chart via Wikipedia I've linked below in this post, the only time you need HDMI 2.1 is if you have a 4K TV that natively supports 4K@120Hz. Historically all you had to look for was the keyword combination "native 120Hz". Today, however, you must be careful, because many 4K TVs will advertise even "native 120Hz", but in fact, the TV can only support native 120Hz when the image is rendered at 1080p. If the TV's specifications don't include HDMI 2.1 ports you know that you're dealing with one of these, and you don't need HDMI 2.1. The below Rtings table I customized is a gut punch. There are a million units with "Native 120Hz", but of those they've tested in their lab, only two support Native 120Hz at 4K (the Samsung Q900/Q900R series and Samsung Q90/Q90R series):
https://www.rtings.com/tv/tools/table/21369

Furthermore, to iterate what has already been said, be aware that virtually no content out there runs 4K@120Hz. Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, YouTube, and all the network or cable TV channels don't. Only certain 4K Blu-Ray players do, but even then, I don't believe any of the current 4K Blu-Ray discs are actually encoded at 120Hz, today. Besides, The Hobbit was the first major shot at 60 frames per second, and unless I missed the headline, I still haven't heard of any shot at 120Hz. So unless you're watching home video take from a phone or a digital camcorder shot at 4K@120fps, what is there to watch?

As you can see in the Rtings article below, only high-end gaming PCs and the Xbox One X or Xbox One S output this.....but....the Xbox One S only does media playback natively at 4K, not games, and so you run into the same problem Blu-Ray players do. Meanwhile, for the Xbox One X, you run into the same problem again for games, anyway! Unless I'm mistaken not a single Xbox One game actually runs above 60fps in 4K (and frankly it wouldn't be powerful enough to keep up if they did). So unless you game on a $2K PC there's....nothing. HDMI 2.1 is still almost entirely a theoretical standard waiting on the future to catch up.
https://www.rtings.com/tv/learn/what-is-the-refresh-rate-60hz-vs-120hz

Moving on, generally, the manufacturers employ nomenclature for their refresh rate grading, and these are the ones that do/will indicate 4K@120Hz:
  • LG -- TruMotion 240
  • Samsung -- Motion Rate 240
  • Sony -- MotionFlow XR1440
  • Vizio -- Effective Refresh Rate 240
  • TCL -- none*
*I pulled this from a CNET article written last summer that says that the TCL 75" 6 series unit is their only model with native 120Hz 4K)


Latest version of HDMI is 2.1. Wiki summarizes the standard succinctly:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI#Version_2.1
HDMI version comparison is a nice chart just below in that Wiki (direct link here):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI#Version_comparison

If you do spring for an HDMI 2.1 look for this certification label. More in depth info on the standard in the first link below:
https://www.hdmi.org/spec/hdmi2_1
https://www.hdmi.org/spec21Sub/UltraHighSpeedCable
UltraHighSpeedHdmiCableWithLabel.png


There are slightly cheaper offerings on Amazon, but this one (for $20) was the cheapest I could find that advertises compliance from the retailer:
6.5ft 8K HDMI 2.1 Ultra High Speed 48Gbps Cable Compatible with Apple TV Roku Netflix Playstation Xbox One X Samsung Sony LG

Great Info!!!!!!
 
I bought one recently and haven't sorted things entirely.

My Sorny DVD/BR player was fifty bucks, and I'm not sure it can process the higher grade transfers.

Empire Strikes Back bluray looked fantastic, 1984 Ghostbusters bluray looked like shit.

I'll upgrade the player and hdmi cable, which is also cheap.
 
I actually just ordered these



Seems like a good combination of price / performance. Thick cables with braided which I like. Hope they work! Dropped $75 on cables!!
 
I've been having issues w/ my 4k pass thru on the Yamaha AVR
the Video works fine, but the sound will go out completely

I've 'fixed' this by using PCM and then having the AVR Decode to Pro Logic II or one of of the Yamaha DSP modes

but i'd prefer to bitstream out w/ DD-HD or DTS-HD (using Xbone), simply doing 5.1 surround isn't an option on the Xbone anymore.
 
I too just got 4k uhd tv. Xbox one x works great with it. I had problems with my reciever not passing enough data and when i went straight from the xbox to the tv everything clicked in place, all sorts of picture options opened up on the tv and xbox. I used an optical audio cable to get audio back to the stereo.
 
It's a scam a regular hemi cable works the same anyway. Only 4k I really am able to get anyway is from netflix and amazon streams ....... yet to even get 4k from comcast.
 
I was gonna order cheap maybe $17 pair of 8 or 9' 4K HDMI cables from Costco, but couldn't find "HDMI 2.1" anywhere in the specs or package images. I think it was Wire Logic, maybe same as what I'm using now, but I have 1.4. Decided not to order since wasn't sure if it was 4K but not 120Hz framerate cables.
 
Unfortunately, the cables make what can be a significant difference. I had snow that could be seen on black screens after the guy I hired ran my cables for my OLED and surround speakers, especially when set to Dolby Vision. I finally figured out it was the HDMI he ran from my receiver to my screen. Spend the money for the ultra high speed cable. The Amazon works fine, is a little cheaper, and my picture is incredible. We watched Joker last night and the visual details in the final scene with him in the institution were just amazing. Also remember, every cable counts, including box to receiver not just the one to your screen. Good luck and enjoy!

This^

If you're going to spend the money to upgrade to 4K UHD equipment then purchase the appropriate cables so that you're assured of getting the best performance from it.
 
Sam's Club had I think Ultra High Speed Member's Mark 2 pack HDMI cables for $10 off so $9.99 for a pair. I couldn't find HDMI 2.1 anywhere on the packaging.

I'm wondering if they're clearing out the inventory to bring in 8K cables or real HDMI 2.1.

Browsing Amazon, I'm seeing some say HDMI 2.1 and some say 8K and those aren't as cheap as $9.99 for a pair.
 
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