What is an HDMI Cable?
Other methods can be used to connect home theater video components, such as component video, S-video and DVI (digital visual interface). These are legacy type connections that may not have the ability to work properly with some of the latest high definition technologies, such as 1080p resolution and Deep Color. Some HDTVs require the use of an HDMI cable to achieve 1080p resolution from Blu-ray or HD DVD players or cable boxes. It is therefore safe to assume that you should use a quality HDMI cable, at least when matching 1080p video components to any 1080p HDTV.
Are all the cables the same?
No. According to the official HDMI site, there are two types of cables. Standard Speed cables, also called Category 1, support 720p and 1080i resolutions. Standard Speed cables are not rated for 1080p. High Speed cables, also called Category 2, are rated for all HDTV resolutions, including 1080p. A Category 1 cable has been tested for speeds up to 75 MHz, while a Category 2 cable is approved for up to 340 MHz.
According to literature from the HDMI organization, a high speed cable should have a marking that says, High Speed on the cable. If it does not have this designation, assume it is a Standard Speed cable. However, I have not seen this designation on the HDMI cables I have checked. A better measure may be to check for HDMI 1.3a certification on the package and the HDMI logo on the connectors. The logo is supposed to assure that the cables have been tested and certified.
Do I need to purchase expensive cables?
No, but you should purchase cables from a quality manufacturer. The price on many Monster cables exceeds $100 per cable, but good quality cables can be found for as little as $20. If you have a 720p or 1080i system with a short cable run, almost any cable should work. If you are working with 1080p HDTV equipment, you might want to invest more than $5 for HDMI cables. I’m using a Philips 6 foot High Speed HDMI Cable that I found at Wal-Mart for $35. The cable is certified for 1.3a and works great.
Whether you are using a $120 Monster cable or a $10 El-Cheapo cable, it is important to keep all audio and video cables away from power cords and cables. AC current can create problems with hum on audio cables and can distort video signals. A good rule of thumb is to always keep audio and video cables and speaker wires at least six inches away from power cords whenever possible–and never bundle cables with power cords.
What are all the different versions, such as 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3?
The HDMI standard has evolved since it was introduced in 2003. Each new version adds new capabilities. The current standard is 1.3a. The versions are more related to the capabilities that may or may not be required by your home theater components as well as the ability of the cable to deliver those features without loss of quality. All of the versions support 1080p when the cables are certified.
What is the maximum length for an HDMI cable?
The HDMI specifications do not limit cable length, but it is intuitive that long cable runs will lose signal strength. The longer the cable length, the higher the quality requirement become in order to prevent signal degradation or loss. Devices such as HDMI repeaters are available that amplify a signal when very long cable runs are required. There are also special cables with built-in signal amplifiers called active, boosted, amplified or equalized cables that are powered by the HDMI wiring and therefore do not need an external power supply.
Although I have not tried it, from what I have read it is safe to use cables without amplification for runs of up to 10 meters (32.8 feet). It is interesting to note that an AV amplifier with HDMI connectors is considered to be a repeater.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
Nice post. I am still a bit unlear about the versions of HDMI, 1.0 to 1.3. You said that they all support 1080p…but what is the difference from version to version?
April 30th, 2008 at 8:57 am
Hi Trevor
All of the current HDMI cable versions should support the 1.3a or 1.3b standards.
Like I said, each new standard adds capabilities. These include audio enhancements, such as Dolby® TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio™. They also include video enhancements, such as increased bandwidth (speed), Deep Color and increased contrast. Deep Color allows HD televisions to move from millions of colors to billions of colors by increasing the color depth capability from 24-bit color to 48-bit color. That is more of a feature for the future.
May 6th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
My TV is 1080p, and my receiver and blu-ray player have all the new codecs. This means I need 1.3 correct? How can I tell if my HDMI cable is 1.3 or 1.0? I bought the cables a little over 1 year ago.
May 8th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Hi Dave
Any HDMI cable of reasonable quality purchased a year ago should work fine with 1080p, especially if you only need a cable run of 3 to 6 feet. If the run is short and you keep the HDMI cable away from power cords, it should work fine.
The problem with any HDMI cable is in determining which spec it meets. I have yet to find any cable that indicates that it is a high-speed cable in the manner that is is described on the HDMI site. They indicate that Category 2 cables (high definition) should have that printed on the cable. I think it is safe to assume that Category 1 cables are obsolete and no longer on the market.
Put it this way, if the cable was manufactured in China and you paid less than $10 for it a year ago, it probably does not meet the specifications. Most cables sold today do meet the 1.3 spec. You do not really need a version 1.3 cable. 1.3 just means that it can be used with a amplifiers and HD televisions that have a lot of features that have not yet hit the market. The 1.3 spec pretty much assures future compatibility.
If you need to run an HDMI cable across an AC power cord, do it at a 90 degree angle. That minimizes the interference. Never bundle (tie wrap) a HDMI cable with a power cord. The same goes for speaker wires. Never bundle them with power cords because you can pick up an AC hum. It is always best to keep both video and audio cables at least 6 inches away from power cords whenever possible.
May 9th, 2008 at 2:48 am
Don’t you need a version 1.3 cable to get DTS-HD, and TrueHD? The cable I have now is a monster cable made for PS3 that cost $100 dollars. I bought it before I knew that you don’t need to spend so much for a quality HDMI. I searched for the cable online to see if it was 1.3, but it doesnt say that it is, but it also doesnt say what version it is. My reciever and my samsung blu-ray player have DTS-HD and all the other new lossless audio codecs, so I need a version 1.3 cable to be able to get lossless audio correct?
May 9th, 2008 at 5:17 am
Hi Dave
Part of the problem is that cables do not indicate which specification they were designed to meet. However, the thing that you need to understand is that cables are not re-deigned to meet new version specifications. Most HDMI cables manufactured three years ago meet the current 1.3b specification. We are just talking about a few wires, some shielding and two connectors. There isn’t any rocket science built into an HDMI cable.
The features that new HDMI versions add are built into your home theater hardware, not the HDMI cables. The version just sets a new minimum standard for working with new hardware features.
I wouldn’t be concerned at all about a Monster cable meeting the current spec. Monster cables are over-engineered as well as overpriced.
Check out the FAQ page in the HDMI.org site. It should dispel most of your concerns.
July 8th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
hi tech , i buy a new super blu player from lg ,,,,now i turn on the player and the screen put”please wait ” its this correct ,the dvd case dont open either ,i have to buy an hmdi cable to set up first????? ,thanks
July 12th, 2008 at 8:22 am
Hi Ernesto
I do highly recommend that you use an HDMI cable, but you can set up your Blu-Ray player using component video and digital or optical cable for the audio.
Your issue, however, appears to be the normal, very frustrating boot process for Blue-Ray players. It can take up to two minutes for some Blu-Ray players to boot up, and up to another two minutes for a Blu-Ray disk to load the initial programs and start playing. Some of the new disks are displaying an icon or a message that lets you know this, but some of the older Blu-Ray disks do not.
Some of the newer Blu-Ray players have reduced the boot up times. I expect to see that improve further with future generations of players.
You cannot open or close the disk compartment on most players while the unit is booting.
You did not mention whether or not the disk eventually starts to play. Assuming it does play, everything sounds normal.
July 14th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Good explanation about the HDMI cable. As Tech says, the HDMI cable is just a cable. It is passing video and audio together. , and it is digital (as in o’s and 1’s0, so if something is wrong something is wrong. i.e., it either works or NOT.
Tec, What I do not see here is the difference between HDMI at 60Hz and HDMI at 120 Hz, that salesmen at either CC or BB want to stick to customers. Would you light some light on the difference? to me it does not matter as the one device that cares about 120 Hz deal is the TV itself, the input whatever wheter 60 or less than 120 will be taken care of by the TV component conversion work!!??
Thank you
July 14th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Hi Julio
There isn’t any difference between running an HDMI cable with a television running at 60 Hz or the higher quality 120 Hz. As you already figured out, that is a function of the HDTV, and not the cable.
I have a Sony XBR4 with a refresh rate of 120 Hz. All it does is use interpolation to create an additional video frame that averages the actual frames before and after. It is a method for reducing motion blurs. We like action films, so that feature was important to us.
The primary reason why the sales reps at BB or CC try to convince you that you need an expensive Monster cable is because they get $120 to $130 for that cable. The problem is that it doesn’t work any differently than any other cable that meets the HDMI specifications. I’ve seen $15 cables that work just as well.
There is nothing magic or high-tech about any HDMI cable. The connectors are different, but it is basically a DVI cable with audio. Just look for a cable with quality connectors, some shielding on the wiring and a certification or statement that it meets the HDMI standard. Regardless of which cable you buy, keep it away from power cords and power supplies when hooking up your components.
July 21st, 2008 at 12:19 pm
I own a 40″ Sony Bravia with 1080p, and fell for the sales gimmick when i bought the tv (the sales rep told me that I needed the expensive Monster Cable for my ps3). So, in a nutshell, when I go to purchase another one, I just have to make sure that the cable is high speed, Category 2, with a 1.3b specification that is about 3 feet (the cable box is right next to the tv)?
July 22nd, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Hi Joe
Don’t feel all alone. Most people fall for the Monster Cable pitch. There isn’t anything wrong with a Monster Cable except the price. The guy at Best Buy tried to tell me that I needed a Monster Cable when I bought my Sony XBR4, but I just chuckled and ignored the pitch.
I have not yet seen a cable that states that it is a category 2 cable, like the HDMI site advises you to look for. Even the Monster Cable doesn’t mention that. Just looks for a cable that states that it is 1.3 compatible or certified. I would be suspicious of the $1.99 cables that you find on eBay, but there isn’t any rocket science built into an HDMI cable. I look for good connectors (gold plated) and shielding. I am impressed with the Philips cable I bought at Wal-Mart.
August 18th, 2008 at 7:41 am
I purchased a 32″ 720p Bravia and plan on hooking it to my cable HD box. The provider included regular cables. Is there any advantage to using HDMI vs these normal cables in this situation?
Also the DVD player I plan on getting has a HDMI plug. Should this be used in this situation over regular cables?
Thanks a lot.
August 18th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Hi John
I’m not sure which type of cables are “regular cables”. If they are red, green and blue, they are component video cables. Component video cables can carry a high definition signal, but it is analog, not digital. You probably won’t notice a difference at 720p, but if you had a larger screen 1080p television, it might be worthwhile to use HDMI cables. Most cable companies are transmitting in 720p or 1080i, not the top end HD 1080p.
If you are buying a Blu-ray player (I assume you are if it has HDMI connections), you may want to use an HDMI cable. That is because Blu-ray players have upscaling features. That means it improves the quality of standard DVDs so that they look much better when played on a high definition television. If you do not use HDMI cables, the upscaling feature will not work. I am very impressed with the upscaling features of most Blu-ray players. Most standard DVD movies look pretty good on an upscaling player.
By the way, several surveys that I’ve seen recently have indicated that most people cannot tell the difference between 720p and 1080i. 720p is in itself a big improvement over standard analog television. And the only time you can really take advantage of 1080p is with a Blu-ray player and a 1080p HDTV.
August 19th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Thanks for the answer. Yes by “regular” I meant component! I did a test and really didn’t see a noticeable difference between the 2 cabling systems picture-wise with my digital cable connection.
One interesting thing I do notice is that using an HDMI connection from the cable box to the TV, and having the cable box using HDMI for the sound output results in much better sound than using the component cables and other sound output choices.
The DVD player I mentioned with HDMI does upscaling but is not Blu-ray. But is sounds like from what you said this is kind of a moot point with 720p to use HDMI. Maybe using HDMI for either connection is overkill.
August 20th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Hi John
You probably also have DVI connections on that upscaling player. A DVI connection would also give you digital high definition.
It is interesting that you noticed a difference with the sound quality using HDMI.
HDMI is always my top choice when dealing with a 1080p HDTV and a Blu-ray player, but for other HD combinations you can achieve great results with other connections. But if you already have HDMI cables, you can’t go wrong by using them.
If you read some of my other articles about players, you will find that I am a big fan of upscaling players. I still buy standard DVDs for most of my movie purchases.
August 27th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
I’m confused as to how to maximize the benefit of an HDMI cable. My signal is routed through a Cox cable company supplied VTR box and then into my 720P set. Sound is processed through an 100 watt RMS tuner and Bose surround sound system. I think I understand that an HDMI cable will not greatly improve my picture quality, but could improve the sound. That being the case, do I connect the cable from the VTR box to the receiver?, or…………………?
August 27th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
Hi Lyn
An HDMI cable is really just an all-in-one cable. You could get the same quality from a DVI connection for video and a coaxial or optical connection for sound.
In your case, if you are not already using a digital connection for sound, you might want to try that, but you are probably not going to see a big difference with a signal from a cable company. That doesn’t match the quality you can get from a Blu-ray player. The most noticeable difference for HDMI is with 1080p resolution and upscaling DVD player setups. If you only have one HDMI cable, use if to connect your Blu-ray player to your HDTV.
It is confusing, isn’t it? It doesn’t help when the sales people are trained to try to convince people that you need to buy a $130 Monster HDMI cable or the quality will suffer. In some cases, HDMI does not offer any advantage at all.
September 4th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Hi,
I’m working on a home theater installation and ran into a problem with my hdmi cable. Essentially, it doesn’t work. I didn’t test it beforehand, as I hadn’t all the components. I’m getting the cable replaced, so it’s not a huge deal, but I just had a few questions about some things I wasn’t sure about. When running HDMI through walls, are there any limitations i should be aware of? I stuck to the general low voltage rules, a)cross high voltage at 90 degrees if you have to, (I didn’t), b)don’t run parallel within a foot of high voltage and not for more than 5 feet, (didn’t have to). I did run it bundled with other low voltage cable, mainly coaxial to the cable box, and speaker wire to the surround sound. I couldn’t find anything stating this would cause problems. I also have a couple of fairly sharp turns in it, basically an four 90 degree turns over 4 feet. Again, I couldn’t find anything stating this would cause problems. Does anyone know of anything I’m missing?
September 4th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Hi Jon
You didn’t say how how long the total run is.
It sounds like you are doing everything right. I’ve seen electricians who didn’t know how to run in-wall speaker wires correctly, so kudos for doing your homework. It is OK to bundle HDMI with coax, but just keep it away from any AC lines. AC induces hum and distortion.
The maximum limitation for the length of an unamplified HDMI cable is 15 meters or 50 feet. Some installers say that you really shouldn’t go more than 5 meters or 15 feet without using an amplifier, which is also called a repeater. A lot depends upon the quality of the cable. Check to see what the manufacturer recommends for the maximum run length. It is also a good idea to use shielded cable. You never know what someone will place up against a wall that could affect the signal.
There are cables available with built-in repeaters and there are repeaters that are connected between HDMI cable runs. If you are doing a long run, you might want to look into that. You cannot just put the repeaters at the end of a run. They have to go in the middle of the run.
BTW, any time a cable is connected to an HDMI device, such as a home theater amplifier or an HDMI switch, the digital signal is automatically amplified to full strength. But if the signal is not strong enough to meet a minimum threshold, it fails to be amplified.
September 5th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
I have a Sony XBR 1080p. I am connected to a cable co. (TWC). I have component video cables and HDMI cable and of course coaxial cable. Which and how do I hook them up for best HD reception (knowing it would be better to really go to Dish or Direct). Can you use HDMI from the box to the TV without using the Coaxial cable or do you need to run both? I am dissappointed with the picture resolution compared to satellite and just want to make sure I am hooking up to get the best possible resolution from cable. Thanks!
September 5th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Hi Mark
An HDMI cable carries both audio and video, so you only need a single HDMI cable from the cable box to your HDTV. Don’t hook up the other cables. You could be creating problems with competing signals.
The problem could be with the signal from your cable company. Many cable and satellite companies use 720p for a high definition signal. Some use 1080i. Digital service may be only be 480p. They also use compression techniques to save bandwidth.
Because you have an HDMI connection on your cable box you should have high definition service. A lot of people think that subscribing to a cable company’s digital service means that they have high definition. Digital services does not mean you are receiving high definition.
To improve the picture quality you might try turning down the brightness and the sharpness on your Sony TV. When I first installed my Sony HDTV the picture quality was horrible. In fact, it was so bad that I thought there was something wrong with it. It took about a half hour to get it to look right. The problem was that the factory setup was too bright, too contrasty and too sharp. People looked like cartoons and there were wavy patterns in all the solid areas. Also, try the different video modes on your Sony. Use the one that looks best in your viewing environment.