Does it make sense to overpay for high-quality HDMI cables? Let's check it out for ourselves! Long cheap cable

Connecting to the player

In the following photos you can see what our HDMI cables look like from the IconBIT media player.

Mystery HDMI 2.0 Pro Cable

Arbacom Hi-Grade HDMI Cable

IconBIT HDMI to Ethernet Cable

Try it and tell me that all the cables are the same!

Test process

For testing, we used a Toshiba 42-inch LCD TV connected directly to a NetGear NeoTV 550 media player. Next, we launched a BD remix of the movie "Avatar", paused one of the fragments - and began to change cables sequentially, taking photographs of the screen so that see the difference.

Looking at the pictures in Photoshop at maximum magnification, I still did not find any differences in the picture. It is more likely that the processor of a digital camera will make an error and interpret the colors of the picture differently, which will result in differences in HDMI cables.

conclusions

When choosing an HDMI cable, you should pay attention to Ethernet support - for new TVs with network functions this useful option, and perhaps someday other A/V equipment will learn to connect to the network via HDMI cables.

Otherwise, if your goal is not to save every ruble, you can safely purchase cables in the $10-20 price category for a 2-3 meter model. In particular, IconBIT HDMI 301G and IconBIT HDMI 302B cost the same, about $18. In our case, overpaying for design is completely justified. As our test showed, these cables have redundant shielding, the same connector structure and do not provide visible differences in picture quality.

All other things being equal, I would buy the IconBIT flat cable for aesthetic reasons: it looks seriously more expensive than its price.

We thank IconBIT for providing the cables.

Mikhail Degtyarev (aka LIKE OFF)
12/03.2012

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Eat folk myth which I want to dispel.

They say that a fake Lightning cable is as good as the original one. You buy this AUCHANe for 190 rubles and don’t worry. Maybe the assembly is worse, but the functionality is the same.

Just this not true, which I was personally convinced of. There is a difference. Exactly functional, that is, influences your life in the most direct way.

How did I solve this problem?

I have a good habit - do not use the included charger iPhone.

Why? A standard 5W adapter takes forever to charge an iPhone 7 Plus - 6 hours! You can get old. Therefore, I bought a 12-watt charger + original cable a long time ago. With them, the iPhone 7 Plus reaches 100% in just 2 hours.

I’m used to it by this time, so I notice any deviations immediately. Actually, here is the culprit:

What's happened: Over the weekend I used this black Lightning cable, purchased either on Aliexpress or left over from another accessory. I put my iPhone 7 Plus on charge through it and went about my business.

After 3 and a half hours, I looked at the iPhone and sensed something was wrong: 60% instead of the expected 100%. I made a mistake about charging and the phone itself, but I decided to repeat the experiment with the original cord. This time I sat next to him and looked from time to time.

The result is 2.5 hours. That is, with the original cord, the phone charged 2 times faster, all other things being equal.

As a result, we have a fact in hand: some cables charges the device more slowly. But why? If you listen to Aliexpress fans, all lightning cables are the same, but here you have a surprise.

Why is this happening

Lightning cables cheaper than 500 rubles are almost always laid the thinnest possible wires. Savings do not come out of thin air. As a result, these cables do not support the amperage (amps) of original or quality Lightning cables.

The original cable, as in the photo above, supports the current up to 2.1 A(ampere). Current strength, in turn, is one of the parameters that determines how quickly your iPhone will charge.

Fake and low-quality cables maintain current about 1 A. It could be less, it could be 1.5 A. The run-up is large. That's the difference in quality. So, you take a Chinese cable, you get Charging takes 2x longer.

Or not? Why does no one notice the problem, where are the complaints? If everything were so simple, they would have known about it long ago. There's just another factor at play.

Charging model matters

This is an original Apple 5 Watt flat charger (included with iPhone). She supplies current 1 A.

In principle, it is enough to charge any iPhone. However, the batteries Plus models will take a very long time to charge - the device, even in passive mode, consumes more energy, and such a small adapter barely “catch up” with the natural consumption of a working device.

And this is the original thick Apple 12-watt charger (sold separately). Much better - it supplies current 2.4 A.

If you connect it to a regular iPhone, you hardly see the difference in charging speed - the screen is smaller, the passive consumption is the same. With these, the difference is literally 30-40 minutes in favor of a thick block. But for Plus this is a real salvation. Instead of 5-6 hours it turns out 2-3 hours.

Let's repeat: A 5-watt charge generates 1A of current, while a 12-watt charge delivers as much as 2.4A. All that remains is to transfer them to the device via cable. It becomes a narrow throat when charging iPhone. The worse the cable inside, the slower the charging.

According to the data sheet, the original Lightning cable is capable of carrying current. up to 2.1A. Almost all cheap counterfeit cables and simply “analogues” only pass 1A, that is, 2 times less.

Conclusion: Fake Lightning cables limit the charging speed of any iPhone when using high-power units - 10 and 12 watts. There is a problem, and now you know about it.

Some Chinese manufacturers are aware of the problem and mark their cables accordingly. To believe them or not is a difficult question.

Here are a few more consequences and tips, since we played iSherlock.

1. If you have a regular iPhone (not Plus), you are almost you won't notice the difference between a bad and a good cable. Especially if you use the 5-watt charger included in the kit. But it is there, be it half an hour or an hour. IMHO, the difference between 25 and 50% charge at the same time is worth the overpayment for a good cable and 12-watt charging.

2. I highly recommend the original cable or models from well-known, non-fake brands to Plus owners. Almost everything that is sold in electronics hypermarkets is branded Chinese. There is trust in Belkin, whose cables are actually certified and support current up to 2.4A.

3. All flat Lightning cables (a la noodles) – nonsense, and they will charge your iPhone the longest. This made my Plus charge comically slowly, and when I started using it, it stopped charging altogether.

After this story, I try not to use left cables, especially when I need to charge my iPhone as quickly as possible. But even after such an analysis, I am sure that not everyone will believe me.

The situation on the cable and wire products market is known to all our readers and industry specialists. The critical level of oversaturation with counterfeit products, according to market participants, is gradually subsiding. Those times when manufacturers young and old practiced “truncated” have almost come to an end. However, not for everyone. has always actively contributed to the fight against counterfeit cable products and widely publicized this activity. Today, we bring to your attention a new exclusive investigation, dedicated to the lesson that consumers should not forget to be careful, even in such “optimistic” times.

At the beginning of November 2017, we attended the conference of the federal project " Cable without danger", which brought together interested gearbox manufacturers under the auspices of the fight against counterfeiting. Much was said at the conference about activities carried out against unscrupulous manufacturers and certification bodies. And much has been said about the need to continue this work. In particular, project coordinator Vladimir Kashkin devoted part of his report to the case of the WellCab ghost plant, which produces cable but does not physically exist. You can read more about this in our material. And it would seem that such a blatant case of violation of all foundations and principles would become the single most striking example for a long time. But already at the end of November, portal site took part in the investigation of the high-profile case of the Energokabel company, which revealed an even more serious case of violations.

As part of our cooperation with the “Cable Without Danger” project, we received alarming information from our colleagues. There have been reports of suspicious cable products appearing on the market. Its price turned out to be significantly lower than the market price.

Having received the company’s data and its tax identification number from the project representatives, we immediately generated a full report in industry counterparty verification service. The information presented in this report served as a starting point for further unraveling of this story.

Firstly, we made sure that the company has no connection with the Energokabel plant from the city of Elektrougli, the association with which comes first. Our story will tell about LLC "Energokabel" from Western Siberia - city ​​of Tomsk. Perhaps the company name was chosen intentionally.

According to the data collected from the report, it was established that Energokabel LLC was legally formed on January 10, 2017. The authorized capital of the company was no less than 10 thousand rubles. Just right for a major cable company, right?

With great difficulty we managed to find the company’s website on the Internet. IN search engines, priority issuance is given to a well-known company from the city of Elektrougli. Finally, we found it. In a rather stingy and discreet form, the company’s website talks about its 100% honesty and reliability. The emphasis in presenting information is on selling products according to low prices. Pay attention to the quality of the site, quantity and presentation of text. It does not contain management contact information, and there is no information about participation in competitions and tenders.

“We work quickly”, “100% quality”, “Prompt delivery”, “Team of professionals”, “Wide range”.

The truth is that they worked really quickly here. Not at Energokabel, but V certification bodies. Absolutely openly, issued certificates for serial production of power cables, SIP wires, etc. are published on the website. Also, information about certificates is available in the RosAccreditation register. In four months, the company managed to issue five TR CU conformity certificates.

When looking at certificates, the first thing that catches your eye is several important aspects. In the case of a document certifying the release of “Wires and cords for rated voltage up to 450/750V”, these are dates. The grounds for issuing the certificate were the presence of:

• act of analysis of the state of production dated March 23, 2017 by the product certification body “Cert and Co”;
• test report No. 16/01/15695 dated 01/13/2017 issued by the testing laboratory "SM-TEST".

The company was formed on January 10, 2017 and in 3 days, January 13, has already been a test report has been drawn up, familiar to many as the SM-TEST office. On January 18, a similar paper was drawn up regarding the power cable, and the next day - January 19, the Federal Accreditation Service suspended the accreditation certificate testing laboratory "SM-TEST". On March 29 of this year, their activities under this name were completely terminated.

« Due to the fact that the actual absence of IL “SM-TEST” was established at the place of activity indicated in the Register of Accredited Persons and the absence of legal grounds for the right to own and use premises at the place of activity of the accredited person", - stated in the official release of the Federal Accreditation Agency.

This combination of circumstances raises certain questions. “Rapid” testing and certification are known to everyone. But with the analysis of production, gentlemen, the counterfeiters have clearly crossed the line. The effect of accreditation of the certification body "Cert and Co" LLC, which concluded certificate of satisfactory state of production, was also terminated by Rosakkreditatsiya. But you shouldn’t limit yourself to just this. After all, this office and the people behind it are responsible for complicity in the production and distribution of dangerous products.

A visit was made to the production address indicated in the documents and on the “official” website of the company for the purpose of our own assessment of the production.

Kuzovlevsky tract, 6/20, Tomsk, 634059

What did we see there? Factory. Do you see him?

Exclusive photographs taken at the address of the company Energokabel LLC.

No? And he is. And his condition meets existing standards.

It was found on the spot abandoned building, not connected to engineering networks and absolutely unacceptable for any type of production. According to visual assessment, it turned out to be empty and subject to gradual destruction. The window failures gape in toothless darkness, and the wind blows through the corridors of the building. It was here that the enterprise launched production, produced samples and then sent them for testing. The tests took three days, Energokabel received a certificate and began to produce a cable of 100% quality. That's how it was.

The obtained facts allow us to state two things. First, we are dealing with a group of individuals producing under unknown conditions, so to speak, cable products unknown properties and qualities. This group of people supplies the market with truly dangerous counterfeit goods and puts CPT consumers at risk. Secondly, this group of people does not have a sense of fear; they feel their impunity in a blatant form. By indicating fictitious acts and certificates, addresses and geo-locations on their website and in their documents, they don't even try to hide.

The only and most important thing they do not indicate is their contacts and their faces. Let's do it for them. According to official data "Chesnok" service: since July 29, 2017, the General Director of Energokabel LLC is Bulychev Igor Yurievich. Prior to this date, this position was held by Chirikov Evgeniy Nikolaevich. The founders of the LLC are: Ivanov Egor Yurievich(70%) and LLC "Cable Center of Krasnoyarsk"(thirty%). The cable industry needs to know its “heroes”!

What's being done about it right now?

The “Cable Without Danger” project is preparing an appeal to the Federal Tax Service, the Prosecutor’s Office of the Tomsk Region and the Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation with a request to check the company for signs of illegal activity. Based on the project agreement with the Administration of the Tomsk Region, an appeal to the governor of the subject is being prepared. An appeal was sent to the structures of the Federal Accreditation Agency regarding the need for inspections on issued certificates. The market is carefully monitored for the availability of Energokabel LLC products to obtain samples and subsequent tests. In the near future, active actions will be taken, as a result of which materials on the results of the work will be published.

As part of the investigation and preparation of materials, we turned for comments to the coordinator of the “Cable Without Danger” project, Vladimir Kashkin, and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of JSC Energokabel Plant, Dmitry Ptashinsky.

, Chairman of the Board of Directors of JSC Energokabel Plant

— Dmitry Viktorovich, tell me, what, in your opinion, was the main reason for counterfeiters choosing such a name for the company? Intentional misleading of the consumer? Are there those who are trying to counterfeit your products in the market and what measures should be taken against them?

- If people create such phantoms in order to sell an outright defect that has nothing to do with the cable, they naturally need to sell it under the guise of a good product. A factory with a big name and a long history of quality is taken and, accordingly, used for base purposes to mislead the consumer. This is convenient, because for everyone the Energokabel Plant has been an indicator of quality products for the past 17 years. Such people exist and have always been. We deal with them within the legal framework.

At the same time, formally Energokabel LLC has the right to call itself that. And if the company were a dealer and sold gearboxes, that would be one thing. But they produce cable without equipment, in Tomsk, in a building without windows. Most likely, they are at least cool. This is without even considering the question of how you can get the first certificate for products 3 days after organization legal entity? I think there is something for our valiant internal affairs bodies to do here. You can incriminate a lot: from fraud to Article 238 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. And there is provision for up to 10 years.

We have one motto: “it pays to be honest.” I wish we could all make an effort to explain this to those who live by different rules. So that they have obvious gaps in revenue. Not like now - he deceived and profitably, but what happened - he deceived and lost 10 times more than he could have gained. We must at least accustom our native cable people to this. I am glad that many are already beginning to realize this need.

Coordinator of the project “Cable without danger”

— Vladimir, tell us how you see the further development of events? What should you do first?

— First of all, it is necessary to bring this information to the professional community so that distributors do not become victims of such scammers and do not bear the risks of selling counterfeit goods. Along with this, it is extremely important to inform consumers about an unscrupulous player in the market so that they do not become victims during the exploitation of this, if you can call it that, “products.” And then the activities of such businessmen should become the subject of study by prosecutors and law enforcement agencies.

— Are certification bodies that issue certificates to companies located in abandoned buildings subject to administrative or criminal liability? After all, they are accomplices in the distribution of dangerous products, what measures should be taken against them?

— In this part, the current legislation, unfortunately, is poorly regulated. In response to such violations, Federal Service accreditation has introduced a legislative initiative that would provide for criminal liability for such actions. We fully support this position and will promote its speedy adoption. In the current conditions, together with Rosaccreditation, we are actively working to identify such cases and remove unscrupulous certification bodies and testing laboratories from the market, deprive and revoke the accreditation certificate, and terminate their activities. Also, the supervisory authority, through the court, can request the termination of certificates issued in violation of rules and regulations. We enter information about violations into a separate monitoring of certificates, which is regularly updated and posted in the public domain.

— Why do you think the company so openly presents fictitious certificates and the production address in an abandoned building? Do they really have no fear at all, or is everything so bad with market control in the Tomsk region?

“We previously recorded similar manifestations in the Tomsk region, when a similar fictitious company operated on the market under the name Elektrokabel, which has now been liquidated, including after a number of scandals with end consumers, which revealed massive falsifications of checkpoints. According to our data, the cable was actually produced at one of the large cable production facilities in Tomsk, which offered consumers two types of products. One produced in accordance with GOST and with the markings of a fairly well-known local plant, and the second produced according to technical specifications with a reduced cross-section of the conductor and the structure as a whole, under the name of such a “phantom”. Surprisingly, the cessation of the activities of one “factory” coincided with the creation of a new legal entity with a similar name.

As for market control. Our project has a valid cooperation agreement with the Administration of the Tomsk Region, signed by the governor of this constituent entity of the Russian Federation. We interact within the framework of the work of the regional commission to combat illicit trafficking in industrial products. This problem is known to the authorities; it prevents other local market participants from developing adequately. We have already prepared information about the identified facts and will immediately inform the governor and the commission’s staff. Also prepared separate appeal to the bodies of the Prosecutor's Office and MTU Rosstandart for the Siberian Federal District and Rosakkreditatsiya. Frankly speaking, the time has come to take action; it is simply impossible to tolerate such legal nihilism and outright challenge to society.

— What can you say about the persons involved in the management and ownership of Energokabel LLC? What consequences await the people who organized this “production”?

— Through open sources, we analyze data on individuals and organizations involved in the creation of this legal entity. So far we know that the general director and one of the founders probably previously worked at the Tomskkabel plant, and, obviously, should have sufficient experience and knowledge to organize production activities, but also should be aware of the rules and requirements for product certification . Further legal assessment of their activities will have to be given by the competent authorities.

— What actions are planned by the “Cable Without Danger” project as part of the search for the company’s products on the gearbox market and preventing its use at sites?

— We already have information about competitions and tenders that Energokabel LLC is trying to enter with commercial proposals. These include, among other things, social facilities in the city of Moscow. We will carefully monitor these actions, while informing the customers of the work. If it becomes known about specific deliveries of cable products to construction sites, we will invite them to conduct an audit at the expense of the project. We have already tested such an algorithm at a number of construction sites in various regions of the country. One way or another activity of this enterprise is now in the area of ​​our special attention.

Calculator for calculating the cross section

Description

How to check a current-carrying wire?
The color of the copper core should be uniform and golden. There should be no stains, inclusions or streaks on the surface of the core. The minimum permissible diameter of a copper core for the most common cable cross-sections:
1.35 mm for 1.5 mm sq.
1.73 mm for 2.5 mm sq.
2.18 mm for 4 mm sq.
2.67 mm for 6 mm sq.
3.46 mm for 10 mm sq.

Danger if violated

How to check the insulation of a power cable?

The cores must be located in the center of the insulation. The average thickness of the power cable insulation must be no less than the nominal value in accordance with the requirements of GOST 31996-2012. For cables designed for a voltage of 0.66 kV, the insulation thickness, depending on the cross-section of the conductor, should be:

• not less than 0.6 mm for cable with core 1.5 and 2.5 mm 2
• not less than 0.7 mm for cable with core 4 and 6 mm 2
• not less than 0.9 mm for a cable with a core of 10 mm 2

The minimum value of the insulation thickness should not be less than the nominal value by more than (0.1 + 0.1bi), where bi is the nominal insulation thickness in mm. The internal and external spaces between them must be filled.

Description

Danger if violated

Description

According to GOST 31996-2012, Clause 5.2.1.17: The outer sheath or protective hose of the cable must not have dents, cracks or marks that would extend the thickness of the sheath or protective hose beyond minimum value. The cable sheath serves as the main load-bearing element, determining the quality and strength of the cable. The cross-section of the power round cable has a perfect round shape.

Danger if violated

Description

The certificate must comply with the “Unified form of certificate of compliance with the requirements of the technical regulations of the Customs Union and the rules for its execution” numbered No. 293 dated December 25, 2012.

In chapter "MEETS REQUIREMENTS":
certification must comply with the requirements of the Technical Regulations of the Customs Union TRTS 004/201 “On the safety of low-voltage equipment”

In chapter "MANUFACTURER" the actual address of the manufacturer must be indicated; cable production cannot be located in a room, office, apartment.

In chapter "PRODUCTS" The following information must be provided:

• name of the type of cable being certified;
• cross-section and number of cores of the certified cable;
• voltage of the certified cable;
• technical conditions (TU), according to which serial production of cable products or other regulatory document is carried out.

The validity period of the certificate must be current.

You can check the certificate on the Russian Accreditation website at: http://188.254.71.82/rss_ts_pub/

Danger if violated

Growing need for quality cable

Prysmian helps build the cities of the future today. New types of buildings are increasingly being introduced into a highly urbanized landscape that is expanding vertically and housing thousands of new people.

In this rapidly evolving environment, we support the construction industry, which is constantly faced with new challenges: maintaining the quality of life for city residents, meeting efficient construction deadlines and, last but not least, implementing new safety solutions.

Cable quality has never been more important.

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Flammability facts:

• The growing number of fires inside buildings has already reached 90% total number fires
• Every year 4,000 people die in fires
• Faults in electrical installations are the second most common cause of fires.

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Why quality is important

Each building operates thanks to kilometers of cables. They play a key role in the smooth daily functioning of the building and at the same time increase safety – especially in the event of fire and other emergencies. Despite their importance, the mass of cables available on the market still does not meet the appropriate safety standards.

Even though the cost of cable may represent a small portion of the overall project cost, people often choose cheaper alternatives that increase the safety risk to building occupants and can significantly increase installation time.

Since in most cases the difference is not noticeable at first glance, there is a misconception that all cables are the same.

Leaders in safety cable products

To demonstrate the difference and encourage people to change their minds, Prysmian Group, as a global leader, has developed the industry's only comprehensive testing system that analyzes the safety, performance and serviceability of cables: Prysmian Performance Testing. These tests can clearly demonstrate the benefits that Prysmian and Draka cables have achieved.

Prysmian's performance testing provided information on products from 80 different brands. On this moment More than 10,000 tests have already been carried out, analyzing products in five categories:

Geometric characteristics

Electrical characteristics

Mechanical characteristics

Performance

Serviceability

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• Fire resistance

results our performance tests have shown excellent savings installation time due to the following characteristics:

• Easy to cut
• Easy to bend
• Reduced shape memory effect
• Increased slipperiness
• Ease of termination
• Stronger outer shell
• Less environmental pollution.

Distinctive features of Prysmian products

When it comes to safety and quality, our cables were in front as a result of the following tests:

• Fire resistance
• Reduced emission of smoke, halogen and acid gases
• Integrity electrical circuit by trial by fire
• Reduced risk short circuit and fires
• Reduced electricity losses