General Info regarding Xbox One S and HDMI Cables

I have noticed a lot of post regarding Video/Audio drop outs, Sparkles and Snow with the Xbox One S - Not just here on r/xboxone but in general.

As I am sure this is most peoples first UHD source with HDR10 I wanted to spread some general knowledge on the topic.

We have become accustomed to just about any HDMI cable working at any reasonable length - HDMI cables of almost any quality handled 1080p content just fine.

This changes with UHD content, especially with 60 FPS HDR10 and possible 4:4:4 sub-sampling. HDMI cables are being pushed to their bandwidth limit.

So what options do you have? Well the first important thing to know is that most HDMI cables use the same bulk cable out of just a handful of Chinese factories. They may dress it up, sleeve it, gold plate it or whatever - it's the same bulk cable. This same cable is used in products ranging from under $1/ft to $100/ft.

The biggest enemy of HDMI signal is length. Know that anything over 6ft becomes increasingly difficult for 4k/60 HDR. The practical limit is probably somewhere around 12-15ft without getting stupidly thick cable.

Cable Ratings - You will hear that HDMI cable spec has not really been updated for 4k, but that the old cables rated for 10GB/S can be now rated at 18GB/S. There is no "4k" rating for cables. Also, know that most manufactures list their ratings for their 2meter or 6ft variant - they do not test each length.

There are only a handful of honest cable manufactures out there - Some very strait forward about their cable limitations. Looking over a few Amazon HDMI cables I see companies such as SecurOMAX being pretty strait forward that their 10 ft cable will not reach 18GB/S, only their short lengths. I believe Amazon Basic cable states that is their 10ft + cables are rated for 30FPS not 60.

Here is the other issue - Signal strength. Source devices according to trusted cable manufacturers vary so much, even from devices of the same model. What may work for 1 guy might not work for the next.

What to take away from this??

Buy cables that are no longer than they need to be, and buy cables that appear to have manufactures that are realistic in what their cables are capable of, if a company offers a 25ft variant of the cable that still says 4k HDR ready... beware

There is one 'silver bullet' I am aware of. blue jeans cable - They make HDMI premium certified cables that use USA sourced bulk cable. This is cable with a white sheet you can understand, and has been engineered to be the best it can be.

Blue Jeans Cable by having HDMI Premium Certified cables go to a thicker gauge as length increases. These cables are tested AT EVERY LENGTH. Their 2 cables that carry this cert are Series-FE and Series-1. Series-1 is super thick, I recommend using Series-FE if at all possible. These cables are expensive, they even state on their FAQ the markup is equivalent to their cheap series, it just cost for the product in these cables. They also have a cheap line that I would be more apt to trust than alot of the internet or store brand cables, but lack HDMI premium cert

This isn't a plug for blue jean cables, but simply a fact that they are one of the few companies not using cheap chinese bulk cable and putting a silver bow on it.

4k 60 HDR is tough to push, its time to buy a good cable