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Why you should not buy expensive HDMI cables

The audio/video industry has had a long history of pseudo-scientific approaches to technology, especially when it comes to cables and other random knick-knacks (like the green CD marker). Retailers have never taken a stance against these gimmicks because, well, they’re profitable. They are so profitable that some retailers have taken to unethical sales tactics to “add-on” these items to higher-ticket products with lower profit margins (like TVs, and video players, which have virtually no mark-up).

I have heard anecdotes of retail employees flat out lying about a product to sell the attachments. (I’m sorry if it’s harsh to say they lied, but I know their employers provide extensive training on the products so they should know better.) Recently the HD Guru had Best Buy employees try to sell him “3D glasses syncing service” saying the USB cable had to be plugged in and the IP address updated (3D glasses have neither a USB port nor an IP address). This can be marked up to confusion surrounding new 3D technologies. However, telling customers an HDMI cable won’t work with a TV because the TV has 240Hz processing is just silly. The incoming content from any device is no more than 60Hz, and the display duplicates frames, or creates frames to fill in the remainder.

When you are shopping for a new Blu-ray player or HDTV, don’t buy into the salesperson’s tactics to sell HDMI cables. Mint.com teamed up with WallStats.com to create this informative infographic:


Budget Planner – Mint.com

Lesson learned? All HDMI cables will provide the same quality video and audio, regardless of how much you pay for them. The only legitimate differences in cables are longevity, and the fit of the connector. More well-built cables can work on longer runs (over 50 feet), but for less than that you should be OK with cheaper cables. Just be prepared to return a cheap cable if it doesn’t work; more expensive cables are usually tested before they ship.

Try Amazon.com where you can get a 6-foot HDMI cable for under $3.00. I’ve even found 10-foot cables under $1.00

How to isolate your home theater on the cheap

Down at the local cineplex nothing ruins the movie experience like annoying crowd noise; people loudly chomping on popcorn, talking to friends, answering cell phones, or crying babies. The home theater also suffers from distracting noise; from noisy neighbors, air conditioning units, water heaters, lawnmowers, traffic, or emergency vehicle sirens. There is an inexpensive way to help with this.

Or maybe your spouse/partner, or neighbor is bothered by the loud home theater you spent so much time dialing in just right. There is an inexpensive way to help with this.

Quiet Solution makes a special drywall called QuietRock which cuts down noise levels by up to 65%. They’ve recently introduced a budget-friendly series called QuietRock 500 which is available exclusively at Lowe’s home improvement stores for just over $30 per panel.



With QuietRock, you would simply screw the panels over your existing drywall, tape it, texture it and paint. For smaller media rooms you can buy the materials, and even hire someone to install it for you, and not spend more than a few hundred dollars. On larger rooms you might be looking at closer to a thousand dollars.

For the best isolation, use more layers. Quiet Solution recommends two layers on top of the existing gypsum panels on either side of the wall for the best level of noise reduction. With these four layers, virtually no sound will get through the walls, even loud rock music (try having band practice in the room, and never get angry neighbors over ever again).

There are, of course, many other things you can do to help create a silent room to provide the best theater experience, but this is by far the cheapest solution. Some people get so serious about it they float a room inside another room, and decouple all pipes, ducts, and conduits. You don’t need to go that far just for a simple home media room, and you may even save your marriage.

RealDVD bested in MPAA match up

Two years ago, the MPAA sued RealNetworks over their RealDVD software, which allowed for backing up DVDs to a hard drive, claiming an infringement of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Last August, the MPAA prevailed in the case against Real. The Judge in the case made a very cryptic comment in the decision stating:

Had Real’s products been manufactured differently, i.e., if what happened in Vegas really did stay in Vegas, this might have been a different case. But, it is what it is. Once the distributive nature of the copying process takes hold, like the spread of gossip after a weekend in Vegas, what’s done cannot be undone.

After months of deliberation, Real decided not to appeal the decision, and paid $4,500,000 to the MPAA for legal fee reimbursement. They also shut off their online metadata service.

From the judge’s comments, it seems this decision affects software which could lead to distribution of the content. This may favor Kaleidescape’s argument considering their closed-architecture does not allow for data on their servers to be accessed except by associated Kaleidescape players.

It also seems to target a retail software, and should be a pronouncement on personal Fair Use.

Viacom pulling shows from Hulu

Imagine for a minute you are an executive at a cable TV network. You have a couple programs which are so popular they are a mainstay in popular media. Imagine these shows were available online on one of the most popular video websites around. These programs were also so popular they were consistently amongst the top performers on this site, and the ad revenue also made it quite profitable.

With all of this success, why would you decide to take the program off of this website?

Earlier this week, Viacom pulled Comedy Central videos off Hulu effective March 10th. Amongst the titles include the two shows I’m referencing above: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report. The Daily Show has long been a powerful satire program in the United States, and Stephen Colbert of the The Colbert Report has been performed at the 2006 White House correspondents dinner for President Bush, and President Obama has appeared on his show once, and even mentioned him by name to the NASA astronauts when they were installing Colbert’s eponymous space tread mill on the International Space Station late last month. Both shows have been in the top 15 popular shows on Hulu for almost two years.

While shows come and go on Hulu all the time, these two shows have been so consistent that the Senior Vice President of Hulu, Andy Forssell, bade them a fond farewell.

So why did they do it? There isn’t any clear indication, but the parting seems amicable. Over the past few years there has been so much volatility in the entertainment market that companies are struggling to maintain ownership of their property, so it’s possible they feel these programs are so powerful they won’t lose the viewership and that the viewers will follow them to their own website where they have complete control over them, and only the expense they already incur on their site.

Whatever the reason, I was hoping for more aggregation of video content, not less. But I guess that’s what the Boxee Box was created to fix.

Control4 adds apps

The affordable home automation firm Control4 has gone several years with a very basic graphic user interface (GUI) offering simple control to everyone. Earlier this year they unveiled a new GUI based on Adobe Flash which offers much more customization abilities.

One new feature is the ability to download and install applications (apps) on the home automation system which can then be accessed from anywhere in the home where a Control4 interface is installed, even from wireless touch panels. These apps add control features, such as power monitoring, but also entertainment and communications apps, such as Facebook, Twitter, and more.

Some apps are free, and others cost a few dollars.

From the looks of it, Control4 has found a great way to perhaps deliver online video throughout a home in a very simple way – or even out on the patio with a wireless touch panel.

Check out this video provided by CEPro.