Hyperkin HDMI Cable Review

[/snes]

Just picked up the new Hyperkin SNES HDMI cable and wanted to share my thoughts about it. I tested this cable only with a SNES on a high-end Panasonic ZT60 plasma. I don't own an N64 or GC.
Let's talk about the positive qualities first. It definitely offers a significantly sharper image over composite. It looks about equivalent to an S-video signal that's been converted to HDMI. There is no blurriness, rainbow effect, dot crawl, or artificial edge enhancement. There is also no noticeable input lag. Control still feels great. ...and that's where the good stuff ends.
There are simply too many flaws in the image quality to justify the cleaner edges.
The first of the 4 main flaws I noticed was a strange checkerboard "texture" that is evident across the entire screen. This is the least offensive flaw during gameplay, but the first one I noticed. It's a relatively fine pitch texture, and may not be noticeable on every TV.
The second thing I noticed was poor color reproduction. Colors are pale, washed out, and highly inaccurate. I had to boost the color setting on my TV to correct the saturation, but the linearity is waaayy off. You have to choose between washed out mid tones, or clipping and bleeding the color highlights. Aside from this, the color accuracy of red, yellow, and orange hues are way off, making each game look completely different than it should.
The third thing I noticed was the blooming and clipping of the highlights. This is probably the most offensive flaw. It looks as if the top 5% of highlights are crushed. Brighter areas of the screen look overblown and harsh. This cannot be corrected by reducing your TVs contrast setting.
The last thing I noticed was the poor motion quality. It looks as if the source signal was interlaced and then(very badly) deinterlaced. There is noticeable judder anytime anything on the screen moves. Composite signal directly processed by my TV produces infinitely superior motion and scrolling.
Overall, I'm very dissatisfied in this cable. It's only $30, and not even worth that. The standard composite cable is superior in almost every way. This HDMI cable is a far cry from Hyperkin's excellent Dreamcast effort, which makes it all the more disappointing. Maybe it performs better with N64 or GC, but for SNES: 4/10. Would not recommend.

submitted by /u/mattSER
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