LED-infused HDMI cables add some light to your home theater
By Ross Miller 
posted Apr 4th 2009 1:33AM
posted Apr 4th 2009 1:33AM
[Via Akihabara News]
posted Apr 4th 2009 1:33AM
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Ugly but still cheaper than Monster.
Monster cables are a joke, especially for digital signals. There whole company is such a scam. Now that almost everything is digital, a $5 cable will do the same thing as a $100 monster cable. As long as all the 0’s and 1’s get form point A to point B it doesn’t matter how good the cable you use, it just has to meet the specification & standard of the signal you are trying to transmit.
Okay I feel better that I have vented how much I hate monster cables.
@Luke
I have had the un-joy of using a supposedly 1.1 spec HDMI cable that would not transmit 1080p without visible noise and artifacts.
There is such a thing as a bad HDMI cable which "meets the specification".
When I got my PS3, I also picked up an HDMI cable even if I know that all my TVs run on composite for no apparent reason. Now the HDMI cable is still fresh in it's packaging, never used, never opened.
@tsamb & luke : Don't use 1.1 spec HDMI cables for 1080p.
You should only buy 1.3 spec cables .. and never buy a longer cable than you need.
I suggest reading the cable comparison at Audioholics
http://www.audioholics.com/education/cables/long-hdmi-cable-bench-tests
to understand why "digital is digital" doesn't always apply to HDMI cables.
Sweet. Now Monster can manufacture these and sell them for $150/6 feet.
"New! Monster Cable HDMI cables now feature HI-SPEED 1080p LEDs! Don't buy cables with inferior quality LEDs, ours are the only LEDs that are rated for 1080p!"
As the gang said about Alabama Man. "Gay. Totally gay. Liberace gay."
More like add some annoyance. I don't even like my status LEDs on my TV, Wii, DVR, 360 or Blu-ray/HD-DVD player or my HDMI switch. Duct tape is there for a reason.
Fully agree. Electrical tape is nice since it's black.
I agree for the most part. Some are subtle enough to not be distracting, but my roommate used to have a pair of speakers with a blue LED that was so bright shadows were being cast on the wall across the room. You could practically read by it. The LED was always on unless the speakers were disconnected from power. Sheesh.
Reminds me of four years ago when my father bought a 32" CRT TV with an always-on bright blue light. I can't sleep, so I took my prepaid dial up internet card and propped it against the light.
This would bother me. A lot.
I cant even stand the in your face super bright LED on the front of my satellite receiver. It bothers me so much that I have a couple layers of electrical tape over it. A cable glowing from the back of my setup would drive me insane.
Glad I'm not the only one!!
If you go behind your TV often and need to unplug and re-plug things other than your HDMI cable then this may be slightly useful to you.
Really? Most people watching movies at home will turn off the lights. This will become a distraction, having something glowing behind your TV/av rack.
why?
i agree with the above poster. would make life easier for me.
Wow that's dumb, and almost as pointless as buying a monster cable (as it sits behind your HDTV, PS3, etc and will never be seen by anyone)
Do the back of TVs need bling?
Yeah TOTALLY pointless.
Because no one has ever needed extra light when plugging a cable in.
We got a modern day Sherlock Holmes here...
@utahnkid: You won't see the light until you've ALREADY plugged it in!
@Russ
If they work the same as USB ones, they're illuminated at both ends when one connector is plugged in.
Either way utahnkid still didn't need to be a douche about it. And I'm not sure why you would need light to plug something in because (from my experiences at least) we didn't really have the opportunity to see what we were actually plugging in, it was feel because we had to reach around behind the receiver. And the spots where we could look at what was being plugged in there was plenty of light...
All I gotta say is...RTFA. It's not for TV's. You maybe now debate with each other about whether or not you would like to use it with your gaming RIG(computer).
Uhhh....It's a HDMI cable. Last time I checked they can be used with TVs, whether they have tacky LED lighting or not. Just because it's got blue LEDs doesn't mean that it has to do with gaming either.
This could be useful if I ever get lost behind my TV and don't have a lantern or flashlight to navigate my way out of the cavernous innards of Mt. Entertainment Center back to Living Roomia.
Oh wait, no, this is just stupid.
I'll stick with Made in USA Blue Jeans Cable; the company that is working to put the nail in the monster coffin (yeah I said monster, sue me bitch).
www.bluejeanscable.com/store/hdmi-cables/index.htm
fo'shizzle
NOOOO enough leds in my home! Everything i flashing and lighting! Cut that off!
cool, i love lights, now only if the whole cord glowed, but still nice!
Blue LEDs have officially jumped the shark.
Ummm...most audiophiles and videophiles are trying to reduce the amount of "light" that their equipment is putting out. About the only thing people want is a dim 6500K bulb from behind that helps improve contrast of the TV and make blacks appear darker. I don't want more "blue" emanating from my entertainment center. As far as the argument of cheap vs. expensive cables goes, most of the time that's true. I've always used monoprice. My friend sold me some MonsterCable M1000 HDMI cables (he won them and sold them to me for cheap) and I was surprised to see that I could see an improvement in picture quality. Granted, that's relative...I'm not sure I'd say the improvement is night and day (as the $6 Monoprice vs. $170 Monstercable price difference is at the store), but for those with the money and want the best possible...the Monstercable M series does look a little better.
Yea from what I've read there really isn't any noticeable difference in cheap vs. expensive HDMI until the cable gets over 10 or 12 feet (something like that). I haven't actually looked at them one right after the other or side by side, but the cheap HDMI cables my dad bought work fine for our blu ray/HD programming :D
And you can decorate the christmas tree with it too! Awesome!
So, I would hate this in my home.. annoying
At work however, I would LOVE to have cables that light up like this when touched with an instrument.
That would make tracing cables in a server room/wiring closet very nice indeed.
Just what I don't want in my home theater, more lights.