# in wall hdmi cables



## drspec

I need to explain to a HO the difference in quality of the cheapo hdmi cables and in wall rated hdmi cables.

What is the difference in them? and is there a safety or performance issue when using non in wall rated cables?


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## TOOL_5150

The cable has to be rated for in wall use to be used in the wall, cant just put any cable in the wall and be code.


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## drspec

yes I know that. Just trying to justify why there is a HUGE price difference in cables.

Can you provide me with some documentation that I can present to them?


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## JohnR

Umm, some companies like to sell some to everyone, and some like to sell to just the ones who can afford it? Seriously, there are differences but with the error correcting of the electronics, I don't think most folks could tell the difference. Actually, I have had more shorted, damaged cables and failing jacks because of weight using a nationally known brand that reminds me of Sept.31 JUNK!



Edit: Sorry, I misread your post. It has to do with the insulation types, and UL listings.


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## JohnR

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## LARMGUY

Are they deep immersion cryogenically treated?

http://www.empiricalaudio.com/computer-audio/technical-papers/direct-immersion-lno2-study


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## mikeh32

are you talking about it being plenum rated?

if so, just look up videos of non plenum/plenum network cable burn testing


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## JohnR

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## ambroseangle

In-wall rated cables refer the outer jacket of a cable meeting building code. They are nothing special in the performance of normal hdmi cables. The outer plastic sheath is special so if a fire breaks out - the plastic does not act like a fuse to spread the fire.

hdmi cables


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## Speedskater

After cable prices get above reasonable there is very little price to perform correlation.

Almost endless forum discussion:
http://www.avsforum.com/f/168/hdmi-q-a-the-one-connector-world

Two reasonable sources.
http://www.bluejeanscable.com/index.htm
http://www.monoprice.com/

Note that Monoprice sells unlabeled cable to system installers so that the customer won't know that they are getting a readily available product.


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## Edrick

There shouldn't be a HUGE difference between in wall and not, what prices are you talking about? Perhaps you're being taken to the cleaners by who ever is selling you them.


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## Celtic

How long are these runs?
At some point, signal loss will be a factor.


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## vinister

if you're doing in-wall HDMI, I highly recommend this system:

http://www.greenlee.com/products/CABLE%40c24-AWG%40c100-FT-(HDFT).html

I have recently tried the 3 main methods:

- In-wall pre-built HDMI cables - you can go up to 60 feet with these redmere ones from monoprice

- monoprice 2x CAT6 wallplate-style HDMI repeater/receiver These are a pain because they're so cheaply built. Very sensitive to the 2 cables being slightly different length. Kind of messy having double the number of cables. Some slow syncing issues. I had 4 failures with 40 kits. 

- CAT6 wallplates with monoprice box-style  repeaters. These are great. Single cat5e cable (cat6 not necessary). Sends hdmi, ir, and includes a 3-port switch at each end. Very useful for bringing ethernet to your xbox, tv box, and the TV itself. strap this sucker to the back of the TV, and you only need a very clean, very easy single ethernet outlet on the wall. Bonus, the ethernet can be adapted to future technologies more easily without any rework. 

The greenlee system was the simplest and easiest to install and netted me the most profit in the end. I used a large wire-exit style plate behind the splitter, and hdmi feed-through wallplates behind each tv. Takes about 5 minutes per end to crimp.


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## zerogroundfaults

anyone buy from monoprice.com before? are they legit? I am looking for some keystones for an upcoming job.


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## electricmanscott

zerogroundfaults said:


> anyone buy from monoprice.com before? are they legit? I am looking for some keystones for an upcoming job.


I haven't myself but in all of the A/V forums I frequent monoprice is the go to supplier of everything cable and interconnects.


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## mikeh32

Company i work for, buys a lot from them. Never had a single issue. 

I too buy from them, and never had an issue either


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## Hippie

zerogroundfaults said:


> anyone buy from monoprice.com before? are they legit? I am looking for some keystones for an upcoming job.


I get my keystones and stuff like that from cablesandkits.com, they have good prices on pretty much everything like that. Also they send candy with every order


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## jimmy21

zerogroundfaults said:


> anyone buy from monoprice.com before? are they legit? I am looking for some keystones for an upcoming job.


I've bought a few things. They are a legit company


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## B W E

jimmy21 said:


> I've bought a few things. They are a legit company


I used to get my HDMI cables exclusively from them, but much better choices and prices from amazon. I do get all my wall mounts from monoprice.


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## jimmy21

B W E said:


> I used to get my HDMI cables exclusively from them, but much better choices and prices from amazon. I do get all my wall mounts from monoprice.


ya. The stuff ive bought has been the cheapest stuff they had. While it did work fine, their quality of products didn't seem that great. Stuff might have been better if i hadn't chose the cheapest stuff they had. Oh well. its all still working to this day. The stuff i was doing, i had a choice between radio shack and monoprice. Monoprice was about 1/10 the price but the quality wasn't as good, but for that much price difference i didn't care.


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## B W E

jimmy21 said:


> ya. The stuff ive bought has been the cheapest stuff they had. While it did work fine, their quality of products didn't seem that great. Stuff might have been better if i hadn't chose the cheapest stuff they had. Oh well. its all still working to this day. The stuff i was doing, i had a choice between radio shack and monoprice. Monoprice was about 1/10 the price but the quality wasn't as good, but for that much price difference i didn't care.


What are you referring to as "quality"?


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## jimmy21

B W E said:


> What are you referring to as "quality"?


The stuff I bought just felt like cheap chinsy materials. But it was priced accordingly and still functioned flawlessly


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## Celtic

zerogroundfaults said:


> anyone buy from monoprice.com before? are they legit? I am looking for some keystones for an upcoming job.


I've bought all sorts of stuff from them...they are legit.


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## B W E

jimmy21 said:


> The stuff I bought just felt like cheap chinsy materials. But it was priced accordingly and still functioned flawlessly


That's the exact equivalent of me putting a plain white Haines t-shirt in a fancy Nordstroms gift bag with some colorful tissue paper and ribbon, and handing you one in a paper lunch bag. You would assume the one in the fancy bag with the fancy name was better, when in fact, they are identical, and do exactly the same thing. One with a price tag of $65, one for $4.

Granted, there are optional "features" available in an HDMI cable, but if you have two cables with matching features, one from Monster and one from monoprice, assuming each is assembled properly, they will perform equally.


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## jimmy21

B W E said:


> That's the exact equivalent of me putting a plain white Haines t-shirt in a fancy Nordstroms gift bag with some colorful tissue paper and ribbon, and handing you one in a paper lunch bag. You would assume the one in the fancy bag with the fancy name was better, when in fact, they are identical, and do exactly the same thing. One with a price tag of $65, one for $4.
> 
> Granted, there are optional "features" available in an HDMI cable, but if you have two cables with matching features, one from Monster and one from monoprice, assuming each is assembled properly, they will perform equally.




I can't argue with what you said, but I wasn't talking about hdmi cables. I ordered a bunch of Ethernet supplies for my house. Mainly the wallplates and snap in connectors are what I was talking about. It was the same supplies as radioshack but they weren't manufactured the same. Much harder plastic that felt more brittle and not molded as good. But installed they looked and functioned the same and the price was like 1/10th. I would order them again in a heartbeat


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## SVT CAMR

When I order HDMI Cables from mono price I get the flat cable.

check it out. It seem to be the most flexible in wall cable they carry. The others in wall cables are super stiff. The ones with the net around the jacket. 

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...d=1024012&p_id=4159&seq=1&format=1#largeimage


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## B W E

SVT CAMR said:


> When I order HDMI Cables from mono price I get the flat cable.
> 
> check it out. It seem to be the most flexible in wall cable they carry. The others in wall cables are super stiff. The ones with the net around the jacket.
> 
> http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10240&cs_id=1024012&p_id=4159&seq=1&format=1#largeimage


I get my cables from amazon now, less expensive, and I get free shipping (2 day), and More options.


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## 120/208

Mycablemart.com best prices on cable and flat screen tv mounts I've found.:thumbsup:


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## Aegis

How about running a pipe in the wall and then putting a regular HDMI cable through it?


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## Speedskater

While it takes a big pipe to fish a HDMI cable connector, consider that HDMI 1.4 is now the tenth iteration and that HDMI connectors are fragile & tend to fail so any HDMI cable is expendable and sooner or later will need to be replaced.


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