Thanks to a built-in video processor, the mCable Gaming Edition HDMI cable [Amazon] applies image enhancements—including a custom anti-aliasing-like solution—to most source devices with HDMI output. Marketed mainly towards gaming console HDTV output, the cable also supports 1080p at 120Hz, making it suitable for the PlayStation VR headset, according to the company. Sounds ridiculous, right? We thought so too, but reputable sources have been surprised to find it really seems to work as advertised.

The notion of a crazy-expensive, image-enhancing digital cable should have alarm bells ringing in most heads, but in the case of Marseille’s mCable Gaming Edition, it’s not just snake oil. Their website explains this is no ordinary HDMI cable, with a built-in DSP that requires USB power to operate. Its various video processing capabilities are detailed in the ‘techzone’ on Marseille’s website, including their custom CXAA (Contextual Anti-Aliasing) solution and sub-1ms latency.

Respected hardware sites PC Perspective and Linus Tech Tips recently reviewed the product, and both were pleasantly surprised at the mCable’s effectiveness. Unfortunately, neither tested the cable with PSVR, but a few owners have claimed to see improvements. Post-process AA is generally an inadequate solution for VR aliasing problems, and may even produce detrimental effects, but perhaps the pros might outweigh the cons in the unique case of the PSVR, where users can’t manually bump up graphics settings like on PC. The SweetFX injector on PC has been used successfully to enhance the image quality of VR headsets with edge sharpening, and the sharpening algorithm of the mCable signal processing may deliver similar improvements for PSVR.

However, at around $140, it’s an investment that could otherwise be spent on moving up to a PS4 Pro for example, which is likely to deliver a far more significant improvement to PSVR performance and image quality.

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Dominic Brennan
The trial version of Microsoft’s Monster Truck Madness probably had something to do with it. And certainly the original Super Mario Kart and Gran Turismo. A car nut from an early age, Dominic was always drawn to racing games above all other genres. Now a seasoned driving simulation enthusiast, and former editor of Sim Racer magazine, Dominic has followed virtual reality developments with keen interest, as cockpit-based simulation is a perfect match for the technology. Conditions could hardly be more ideal, a scientist once said. Writing about simulators lead him to Road to VR, whose broad coverage of the industry revealed the bigger picture and limitless potential of the medium. Passionate about technology and a lifelong PC gamer, Dominic suffers from the ‘tweak for days’ PC gaming condition, where he plays the same section over and over at every possible combination of visual settings to find the right balance between fidelity and performance. Based within The Fens of Lincolnshire (it’s very flat), Dominic can sometimes be found marvelling at the real world’s ‘draw distance’, wishing virtual technologies would catch up.
  • David Herrington

    Interesting product but not worth it for those interested (PS4) unless the cost comes down significantly.

  • Ragbone

    Please note, the cable does not work by itself. It must be plugged into a peripheral.

    • Caven

      You mean, like an expensive PC or gaming console? :P

      • Ragbone

        Imaginary ones may also work well, however they do not support multi-player as of yet.

        • TheCorrector

          what are you talking about?

          • Ragbone

            Imaginary peripherals, using the cable on its own does not work currently I think. You need to plug it in to connect the devices.

  • Douglas Mendez

    Would love to see an objective analysis of what this cable is doing and compare the visual benefit to spending the same amount on a higher end GPU. From the data collected by Linus it seemed that the benefit was more noticeable at lower resolutions but still would like to see if this solution is at all effective on Rift/Vive (if it is compatible)

  • Lucidfeuer

    So basically a supersampling cable. At 140$ it’s useless, any hardware can make basic supersampling on the fly, even my smartphone.

  • oompah

    Amazing
    This should be standard for all HDMI cables

  • Luke

    have it no input lag?

  • psuedonymous

    As seen in the PCPer testing, the cable does little to improve aliasing, being pretty much only effective on pure 1:1 and 2:1 high-contrast stairsteps. It’s also a bad idea in general to do [post-processing on the post-warped image, that should be confined to the pre-warped image only, before even scaling (to have the maximum number of pixels available to sample from).