Building a media center is something that can take a lot of time, effort and above all else: money. So testing the foundation before building the house makes sense right? Right.
Finding the right cables that work for you can, if not anything else, be a real pain in the rear. Thats why we’re sacrificing our hard earned paychecks testing this stuff so you don’t have to. (insert smiley face)
This review is actually just a portion of a much larger walkthrough for building your own media center and doing it for under $1400. But since that project is taking much longer than expected, please enjoy this quick review of one of the basic components.
Whats in the box?
Just the cable, nothing else.
How much?
A little more than $30, that includes shipping.
What does it do?
Allows people without a DVI input on their HDTV to connect their PCs (or in this case Apple Mac Mini) through their HDMI input for the cleanest image possible.
How does the picture look?
The only DVD tested was Spider Man 2 and the picture looked a little grainy but that is most likely due to its low resolution and $10 price tag. On the other hand, a downloaded episode of Heroes which was “HD” looked pretty clear. Browsing the Apple desktop was the clearest test of the three. Websites looked good, the smallest text was readable and YouTube videos we’re definitely watchable.
Pros:
Cheap price, an overall clean picture and you only need a maximum of two cables if you are going for a low budget media center (the DVI to HDMI for picture and an auxiliary output for sound)
Cons:
Standard DVDs look muddy, you won’t get your sound and picture from just one cable (not really the cable’s fault since it’s a DVI converter and DVI doesn’t support sound output)
Final thoughts:
If you are trying to build a cheap media center or just want a nice picture on your HDTV using your existing PC with DVI output, you can’t really go wrong with this cable. Its inexpensive, boasts a clean picture and above all else requires little to no work to install.
Overall Rating:
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17 Responses to “Product Review: Xtreme HD DVI to HDMI cable”
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February 22nd, 2007 at 12:18 pm
Out of curiosity, does it go the other way as well? I’ve got a slightly older HDTV that’s HDCP compliant, but uses DVI, not HDMI. I don’t particularly care that the audio isn’t encoded along it, as I’ve got a separate receiver and optical cable for that, but it’d be nice to have a DVI->HDMI converter for thirty clams.
February 22nd, 2007 at 1:31 pm
Interesting situation, I am actually curious if the cable swings both ways. Seeing as how I do not have any equipment that does HDMI out … but your more than welcome to try mine out (if you live in LA of course)
February 22nd, 2007 at 4:14 pm
You reviewed a FRIGGING CABLE.
What are you going to review next, ELECTRICITY? SUNLIGHT? OXYGEN!??
YOU SUCK!
February 22nd, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Just go to walmart and get the exact same thing for 10 dollars less. Or if you’re not a fan of walmart, go to compusa. Or circuit city. Or best buy. Or anywhere whatsoever.. because it’s a cable.
February 22nd, 2007 at 4:27 pm
I believe it does swing both ways; it’s the cable Apple tells you to buy to connect the HDMI output on the Apple TV to the DVI input on your TV.
February 22nd, 2007 at 4:30 pm
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10231&cs_id=1023104&p_id=2404&seq=1&format=2
’nuff said…
February 22nd, 2007 at 4:36 pm
NICE REVIEW!! CAN’T WAIT FOR THE EXTENSION CORD REVIEW!!!!
February 22nd, 2007 at 5:15 pm
I can confirm that it works both ways. I have connected my TV which only has DVI-in from my HDTV tuner which has HDMI out.
February 22nd, 2007 at 5:23 pm
Why would I review the capitalized electricity, sunlight and oxygen? I still have to cover the tiling on my floor and the bookcase I just got, I wouldn’t want to rush things.
Thanks Keith for the info and Scythe for the link to monoprice, that site rocks so hard I’m having trouble writing a simile for it.
February 22nd, 2007 at 6:04 pm
Damn dude, is this some kind of joke that just isn’t quite funny? You understand that this cable is used to carry a digital signal and can’t affect the picture quality, right? Why do you even mention the picture quality? Ditto what GVD said, YOU SUCK Mr. Kovik. IT’S A FRIGGING CABLE. Reviewers should be required to be licensed just so yours can be suspended. I’m embarrased to share the same first name as you.
February 25th, 2007 at 7:31 am
Yes, it’s a “FRIGGING CABLE” and you’re a frigging idiot if you think this revies is not usefull. I think this review is very good because cables are very important for your signal quality. The quality can be afected by the cable even if digital. Have you ever seend white dots on a HD TV? It’s because of the cable. Learn more before you try to be smart.
I have DVI on my PC and HDMI on my LCD TV. I woud like a confirmation because in my country I only find HDMI-DVI cables, not DVI-HDMI ones. So, does it 100% sure that it works both ways?
February 27th, 2007 at 2:03 am
@Kombucco - If you are seeing white dots on your screen over a digital dvi link (and it’s under 5m), then something is defective. It could be your DVI output device that is corrupting the signal, a defective/out of spec DVI cable, corroded contacts on either end of the link, or a flaky transceiver on the receiver end. I recommend you google ‘dvi-d’ for more info, and take a look at the DVI-D wiki page to learn more. When you are checking out that first google hit at datapro dot net, be sure to read the section on ’stuck’ pixels in long distance dvi-d runs. Yes, cable quality can matter then when you are exceeding DVI distance specs (5m), but this review is for a 2m cable only.
Also, it will work both ways. It’s just a cable, it contains no active or passive components. Again, check out wikipedia for more info on Type A HDMI. But most importantly, don’t buy this overpriced cable! Check out scythe1969’s link above
March 26th, 2007 at 9:42 am
Why don’t I have a writing job here?
April 8th, 2007 at 8:57 am
Adifferentadam:
Moron:
Of course it contains no active or passive components however the cable is extremly advanced since RCA, COAX, cable days (think fiber optic). Since it’s the only digital cable that passes signal both ways the main issue is signal degregation. Science my boy, for every wire foot you loose signal. So I agree you don’t have to pay a fortune but research and make sure your getting a cable that maintains it signal and it’s not lost on a long run or your wasting your money.
April 24th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Cables do matter , for the 3M Digital Wall Display there is a TMDS cable(basically a DVI-I cable) that connects the main board to the optics in the head of the unit. out of 40 cables examined only 3 were good enough to carry the signal. Many times it will depend on the components used(IE DVD PLAYER, TV) For example a Panasonic Toughbooks using certain RGB cables will have sync issues connecting to projectors and other external peripheral devices. You can take the same cable and use it on an IBM Thinkpad and it will work just fine. In fact many OEMS will have a slightly different signal spec from one another, just to use a similar device, but calling it their own.(ahem… DELL) Looking at the signal under a oscilloscope you can actually see the signal break or moving in a sloping direction rather than the squares you would normally see. Now saying that , this review doesn’t mean squat to anyone unless they own the same devices the reviewer does. If you do not have them , then you take the same risk the reviewer did when buying the item.
That’s just my 2 cents , but what do I know, I only do this for a living.
November 8th, 2007 at 4:28 am
I have my PC linked up to my VGA socket on my HD TV. But I have been thinking about this cable as I also have the HDMI on the TV - can you confirm if this will make the picture any better?
February 5th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
Wow, obviously these haters have no idea what goes into seriously building a system. YES CABLE MATTER! The fact that it shows standard DVD’s flaws tells you that if you want to watch standard DVD quality video, you will have some issues. Without getting into a big posting match, thanks for the review; I found it very helpful.