So Optimization World sent me an email asking me to check out their low-cost HDMI cables, and normally I’d say no to such as small product, but I’ve been meaning to compare HDMI cables to see really if there was any differences between them. I told them go ahead and send it along, so they sent me their 3 Ft. Ultra-High Speed 28 Gauge Gold Plated HDMI Cable to check out. With the Optimization World HDMI cable I’ve got five total on hand from the likes of Sony, Vizio and Homer and Cirago and I compared them to each other to see how much of a difference there is between a $10 cable and ones that go up to $70. So yes this is a review, but it’s more of a comparison of HDMI cable.

The sent me over a three foot length of HDMI cable, there’s no fancy packaging just a plastic bag with some identifying marks on it.

There’s not much special about the cable in terms of looks, it’s an HDMI cable… it does have gold plated ends, and the covering feels sturdy, the ends do have indentations with grips to help make inserting and removing a bit easier.

Here’s a quote from the Optimization World site about their cables and connectors:

Optimized Cable Company’s cables are specially designed for hi-def video and audio signals for professional and home theater installations, using 1080p, 1080i, 720p and 480p. All of our cables are made using high quality cabling, shielding and jacket material. We use gold plating for increased connectivity, longevity and signal strength. 

Many people wonder if they need Gold Plated connectors. Gold Plated connectors resist corrosion 100 times better then non-gold plated connectors. Many home theater applications require cables to be run through walls, fireplace chases and other moisture rich areas. Using Gold Plated connectors ensures that you will not have future corrosion problems that may result in signal loss.

Specifications:

3 Ft. Ultra-High Speed HDMI Cable – 28 Gauge – Gold Plated 1.3b

Cable Type: HDMI Male to HDMI Male Cable
Length: 3 Foot
Most Current HDMI Version: 1.3b1
Gauge: 28 AWG (American Wire Gauge)
Bandwidth: 340 Mhz 10.2 Gbps / 120 Hz Refresh Rate
Connector Finish: Gold
Shielding level: 3x Triple
Shielding type: EMI (Electromagnetic Interference)
Certified HDMI: Yes
HDCP Compliant: Yes
CEC Compliant: Yes
ROHS Compliant: Yes
Backwards Compatible with HDMI Version 1.2: Yes
Supports Blu Ray & HD DVD 1080p: Yes
Supports 480p, 720p 1080i, 1080p, 1440p: Yes
Supports Lossless DTS 8 Channel Audio: Yes
Supports TrueHD & DTS-HD: Yes

Your Price:  $9.99

For comparison I’ve got these, I’ve listed them with prices as well.

6.6 Feet 1.3a HDMI Cable from Sony is is $69.99
10 Foot Homer technology 1.3b is $10.99
6 feet 1.3 HDMI Cable from Vizio is  $34.99

I also have one from Cirago, but no price, as it came bundled with the Multi-media player I have.

The Optimization World cable sells for $9.99 for the three foot length.

To compare them I hooked them up to my Vizio 120Hz 47″ LCD HDTV with my Sony Blu-Ray player. I also played around with them while using the Acer Aspire One Netbook and USB Displaylink HDMI adapter.

So I fired up a Blu-ray movie and watched a bit at 1080, switched cables, and repeated the process for each cable I’ve got on hand.

Well, I saw no difference between the $9.99 cable and the $69.99 cable or the others in between.

That being said, if we do a little math here and check out their website, Optimization World, we see that the same cable in six foot, like most of the others I’ve tested is $12.99, but my Homer cable only cost me $10.99 for ten feet. The Sony and the Vizio cables cost quite a bit more, and there’s no difference between them. Looking around at all the other cables out there, $9.99 or $12.99 isn’t a bad deal at all for an HDMI cable, especially considering you can find HDMI cables going into the hundreds of dollars, which I think is ridiculous.

Now here with this testing, using only short run cables, honestly you’re not going to see any difference at all between the cables, for such a short run the cables that cost $10 and the cable that costs $200 is going to perform exactly the same usually. The real test for any HDMI cable would be long runs, there is where you will really see differences between cables and their build quality. As is, for a short run cable, the Optimization World cable is fine, I can’t say anything about longer runs though.

I think gold plated connections are overrated, personally I don’t think it’s worthwhile to use gold plated connectors unless of course both interfaces are gold. The point of using gold is for better conductivity, but when you’re mixing the metals, having the gold plated connection on only one end is rather pointless really. If you want to do it right then all of the connectors should be gold plated for the best conductivity of the signals. Which means the cables ends should be gold plated, your TV input should be gold plated and the output device should also have gold plated connections, but chances are most likely they don’t, they’re probably Nickel or something else. So unless you’re connecting gold to gold, there’s no real reason to make sure you have gold plated connections. I’m sure there are people who will argue the point with me, but it’s common sense really…

Conclusion:

To score this and write a conclusion, I have to specify that it’s only for the product I tested, and not all of their line and lengths of HDMI cables. The run size or length will very much determine an HDMI cables’ quality or picture quality. As is, the Optimization World cable is a good deal if you need a short run.

I’ve checked the other prices on their website and they’re all relatively inexpensive, and they do sell much more than just HDMI cables, so if you’re looking for cables stop by and check them out.

Pros:
+Works well
+Seems like a well made cable

Cons:
-None really

Grades:
Overall
Design
Performance