Who Manufactures Vizio Electronics

Product Review: RedMere-Powered HDMI Cables

Smaller, faster, cheaper, better.   It is the holy grail of electronics, but sometimes even hitting one or two of those items is enough to have created a truly brilliant product. 

Recently I was pitched by a PR firm representing a company called "RedMere."  RedMere makes a tiny little chip that goes inside an HDMI cable which greatly reduces the cable's thickness (by up to 70-80%), making  it thinner than a standard USB cable.   RedMere doesn't make the cable themselves, they just make the chips that go inside them (you can find RedMere chips inside brands like Vizio, Samsung, PNY, Monster, and Radioshack).  The reason, they argue, for the existence of the chip is that a thinner cable is a lighter, more flexible, more portable cable and it can run longer distances than a standard HDMI.

They are not wrong.  A RedMere-powered HDMI cable is incredibly thin when compared to a traditional HDMI cable.  It does in fact (as they suggest) fit comfortably in one's pocket despite being of standard length. 

Now, while they tout the portability and light factor, the way we see the world, most folks don't travel all that often with their HDMI equipment (although you can buy an "active" cables with three different HDMI connectors so it can work with your digital camera and other devices).   We still see the cable is a win though simply due to its basic thinness.  We, and we suspect many of you, have way more devices connected in our entertainment system than anyone ever suspected possible, and certainly more than furniture manufacturers conceived.  Simply put, those little holes in the back which you have to snake cables out of become incredibly clogged making it hard—without breaking your furniture—to add devices.  If you can replace your traditional thicker cables though with powered, thin, cables things become noticeably easier.

As for the ultimate question, does a RedMere cable deliver a signal properly from one device to another?  Our test cable certainly did which means that the chip does exactly what the chip is supposed to do – there was absolutely no noticeable issue with the signal quality with a RedMere powered cable versus a standard, passive, HDMI cable.

Panasonic VIERA TC-P42G25 42-Inch 1080p Plasma ... - Who Makes Vizio

I first bought a Samsung LN40C650 LCD but returned it the next day because of a few issues that I couldn't get past. It had very light vertical banding in some spots (It's possible that I just got a bad one on this count), the image washed out when viewing from anywhere other than straight on, and I didn't like the way the tv dealt with motion (whether the auto-motion was turned on or not). Also, the colors didn't seem very natural although it's possible that after adjustment this would have improved. So I decided to try the Panasonic TC-P42G25, a Plasma tv, which supposedly has none of these issues (but maybe its own inherent issue, read on). I brought it home, unboxed it, attached the stand and hooked everything up. I was able to accomplish this myself but I would recommend getting some help to do this step. The stand does swivel which is a nice feature to have. I turned it on and after a short setup wizard everything was ready to go. I live in Chicago and the tv had no problem finding all the digital channels from my indoor/outdoor antenna which you can see here - [...] I popped the dvd Ashes of American Flags (concert film, rock band Wilco) into a bluray player that I borrowed from someone. This film has a lot dark areas in the concert scenes which allowed me to check out the black levels. The tv automatically recognized that I was playing something and switched the source to receive video from the bluray player. If I had to describe the picture quality on this tv in one word it would be "amazing". Screen uniformity is perfect, no light or dark places anywhere. Colors appear natural and realistic to me. The black levels are very deep on this tv when you dim the lights a bit or close the shades in the room. Motion appears fine to me (I found the motion looked better with the blur reduction in settings turned off). ****Quick update**** 4/26. When I said that the TV automatically switched the source to receive video from the bluray player, It may have done this because the bluray player that I borrowed also happened to be a Panasonic product. As to whether or not it will automatically switch the source for another brand of bluray player, you'll have to find that out for yourself. ****Second update**** 6/20/10. Someone had their G25 professionally calibrated and posted the settings on avsforum.

Profit power economics, a new competitive strategy for creating sustainable wealth

Fundamentals of Global Strategy

Billboard

ChinAmerica, The Uneasy Partnership That Will Change the World

Beating Low Cost Competition, How Premium Brands Can Respond to Cut-Price Rivals