HDMI Cable problem?

I'm running a HDMI cable from my 570RU to my LCD TV. I had some 6 ft HDMI cables which work great but are a little short for what I needed. So I ordered some 15 ft HDMI cables but now I get TONS of flickering issues. However, the new 15ft cables work fine with no flicker on my xbox 360. So here is what's going on...

6 ft cables work with xbox 360 and with laptop
15 ft cables work with xbox 360 but NOT with laptop

What could be causing this? Could there be soemthing different with the cables that is only affected by the laptop and not the 360?

 

laptop might be strugling to push the signal 15 feet.

 

So even though it's a digital signal the cable length difference of 9 feet can make that big a difference?

 

Dear jaredmccoy,

Here are the specs for the cables http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Definition_Multimedia_Interface read where it says about cable length to clarify why a difference of length makes a difference, what may be required in your case is an HDMI extender to boost your signal.

 

Have you tried checking the refresh rate, and made sure the TV is set to PC mode? Some TV's even have a particular port that they want PCs to be connected to. Also, I hope you didn't buy one of those super cheap generic cables from an online superstore, considering: "Although no maximum length for an HDMI cable is specified, signal attenuation—dependent on the cable's construction quality and conducting materials—limits usable lengths in practice."(found in the wiki article, with supporting reference). Even though I somewhat agree with the "digital is digital" argument, the materials used to construct a cable will inevitably determine its signal strength. I guess "digital is digital (until the signal strength weakens)".

 

I looked at that site and had trouble finding this...do any HDMI cables support 120hz?

 

I actually did get a "bargain" cable. I figured that for 15 ft it would work but I guess not. Although if it works on the xbox 360 but not the laptop that would seem that the cable isn't necessarily bad but maybe the dvi out on the laptop is the weak link?

 

look for hdmi version 1.4. it has all the pluses of the quality 1.3 hdmi cables plus some extras like built in usb and ethernet in the same cable.

 

Do you have the xbox360 sending 720 or 1080? If the xbox is sending 720 and the PC 1080, that could mean the cable just can't handle 1080 at 15 feet, considering 1080 requires more bandwidth than 720. The hdmi cable being able to handle 120hz is not your problem because I have an M570RU-U and the highest signal it can send is 60hz anyways, so the TV must also be set to 60hz (i.e. turn off 120hz on the TV). That might be your only problem. Also, research your TV and find out if it has a PC mode (which will automatically set it to 60hz and turn off all the TV's built-in post-processing to lower latency).

 

My xbox 360 is set to 1080p as is my laptop. My tv is set to the dvi input in pc mode at 60 Hz.

 

Well then I suppose the notebook is most likely the main culprit. You may need to look into getting an extender if you want to use a long cable.