Just up front: super expensive HDMI cables are BULLSHIT! There's no disputing that. If you bought a $100 dollar 6ft HDMI monster cable you done been grifted.
That said:
There are I think two ratings for HDMI cables. Almost every one on the market today cheap or otherwise is rated "high speed" meaning its ready for 4k....BUT there are still some older cables out there only rated for 1080i. They can probably still handle the extra resolutions but they aren't rated for it, and that leads to the second point.
Digital noise and/or snow is still a thing because "work or don't" in terms of the signal doesn't necessarily refer to the entire image on the screen but rather the pixels. IE: if your HDMI cables is damaged/failing or not properly rated you will still see an image but your tv will generally try to fill in the missing information and the result is usually a bunch of solid pixels on the screen (what color I think depends on the tv). IE, no "distortion" in the analog sense...but some digital information IS being lost.
So if you're seeing an image on the screen and there's no speckles or solid colored pixels anywhere as you watch: congrats, your $5 hdmi cable is working properly and displaying the image just as well as a $1000 one. Distortion isn't a thing. The pixels show or they dont. If the signal looks a bit noisy...you might consider trying another cable. You might even consider one with a bit more insulation....just don't pay that much more for it.
A cable rated for the full bandwidth of HDMI 2.1 will be better than some old barely-capable-of-1080p cable, but that's practically A/V nerd esoterica. Normal people don't know and can barely tell the difference between 1080i and 4K.
I still think 4K is a scam by tech companies to sell us new TVs when they had basically already reached perfection over a decade ago. 4K still doesn't make sense on a 50-60 inch screen, it's useful when you have a giant ass projection screen I guess but still
idk I used part of my stimulus check to buy a 55” 4K TV and 4K looks better than 1080p did
that could be entirely because of better video encoders for 4K content vs. 1080p H.264, but I really notice the pixels on uncompressed 1080p content like video games
My post was long winded enough but 4k itself is generally bullshit for most consumers simply as a resolution goes. In terms of resolution the difference between 4k and 2k (1080p more or lesss) is negligable unless your face is right in front of the screen. That does give it uses in VR headsets but for the average consumer its nothing but a marketing ploy.
Here's the thing though:
50-60 inch TVs today ARE significantly better then the 1080p displays of yesteryear. The black levels, color accuracy, brightness, refresh rates, and features like HDR local dimming are genuinely incredible. I recently upgraded and the difference between my 2010 insignia and my 2020 Hisense is VERY real and worthwhile if you spend a significant portion of your time watching movies.
The problem is that all those features are a bit difficult to sell or explain to the average consumer in a quick simple form. Most people get glassy eyed when you even start tossing out words like LED, QLED, LCD, etc. Its way easier to say "4k!!! Bigger is better!!!!"
IE: its not the size that matters....es how you use eit!!!
This is kind of true and kind of not.
Just up front: super expensive HDMI cables are BULLSHIT! There's no disputing that. If you bought a $100 dollar 6ft HDMI monster cable you done been grifted.
That said:
There are I think two ratings for HDMI cables. Almost every one on the market today cheap or otherwise is rated "high speed" meaning its ready for 4k....BUT there are still some older cables out there only rated for 1080i. They can probably still handle the extra resolutions but they aren't rated for it, and that leads to the second point.
Digital noise and/or snow is still a thing because "work or don't" in terms of the signal doesn't necessarily refer to the entire image on the screen but rather the pixels. IE: if your HDMI cables is damaged/failing or not properly rated you will still see an image but your tv will generally try to fill in the missing information and the result is usually a bunch of solid pixels on the screen (what color I think depends on the tv). IE, no "distortion" in the analog sense...but some digital information IS being lost.
EXample: https://www.cnet.com/news/why-all-hdmi-cables-are-the-same/
So if you're seeing an image on the screen and there's no speckles or solid colored pixels anywhere as you watch: congrats, your $5 hdmi cable is working properly and displaying the image just as well as a $1000 one. Distortion isn't a thing. The pixels show or they dont. If the signal looks a bit noisy...you might consider trying another cable. You might even consider one with a bit more insulation....just don't pay that much more for it.
A cable rated for the full bandwidth of HDMI 2.1 will be better than some old barely-capable-of-1080p cable, but that's practically A/V nerd esoterica. Normal people don't know and can barely tell the difference between 1080i and 4K.
I still think 4K is a scam by tech companies to sell us new TVs when they had basically already reached perfection over a decade ago. 4K still doesn't make sense on a 50-60 inch screen, it's useful when you have a giant ass projection screen I guess but still
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It’s vastly more comfortable to read crisp text than blocky, blurry, or smeary text, which was the norm for everything before HiDPI became common.
idk I used part of my stimulus check to buy a 55” 4K TV and 4K looks better than 1080p did
that could be entirely because of better video encoders for 4K content vs. 1080p H.264, but I really notice the pixels on uncompressed 1080p content like video games
Yes....and also no.
My post was long winded enough but 4k itself is generally bullshit for most consumers simply as a resolution goes. In terms of resolution the difference between 4k and 2k (1080p more or lesss) is negligable unless your face is right in front of the screen. That does give it uses in VR headsets but for the average consumer its nothing but a marketing ploy.
Here's the thing though: 50-60 inch TVs today ARE significantly better then the 1080p displays of yesteryear. The black levels, color accuracy, brightness, refresh rates, and features like HDR local dimming are genuinely incredible. I recently upgraded and the difference between my 2010 insignia and my 2020 Hisense is VERY real and worthwhile if you spend a significant portion of your time watching movies.
The problem is that all those features are a bit difficult to sell or explain to the average consumer in a quick simple form. Most people get glassy eyed when you even start tossing out words like LED, QLED, LCD, etc. Its way easier to say "4k!!! Bigger is better!!!!"
IE: its not the size that matters....es how you use eit!!!