Audio and visual equipment is improving at an incredible pace and it seems like a groundbreaking piece of technology is being introduced every other week. One piece of equipment that has stood the test of time is the often unappreciated HDMI cable. Those of us who remember a time before this nifty cable should be able to attest to the mess that was caused by early cabling solutions. When the HDMI cable came along it effectively replaced the VGA cable and greatly enhanced the capabilities of audio-visual equipment.
HDMI is an acronym for High Definition Multimedia Interface and the HDMI cable has become the global standard for transmitting high-quality video and audio between compatible devices. This one cable allows you to improve the quality of your television and sound system, with most devices being designed to accommodate an HDMI cable. HDMI was introduced to the world around 2003 and it is actually proprietary hardware, with the proprietor and the patent owner being HDMI.org. This means that manufacturers are required to licence all HDMI hardware with HDMI.org if they want their equipment to be HDMI-certified.
Different HDMI Cables
HDMI cables need to keep up with the rapid advancement of entertainment devices such as televisions, media streamers, game consoles, PCs and Blu-ray players. 4K resolution is becoming ever more prevalent along with High dynamic range (HDR) content that provides a wider range of colours and light to improve viewing experiences. There is more information per pixel that needs to be transmitted as quality increases and more data that needs to move between devices, so you need to get the right device for the job for the best results.
There is no shortage of choice when you go shopping for an HDMI cable and you will most likely find various cables at different prices. There are different versions of HDMI that have been released since its inception, with the oldest being version 1.0 and the latest being version 2.1. There are many versions in between but these days all HDMI cables have to be manufactured to the specification of HDMI 1.4 at the very least. HDMI 1.4 can accommodate 4K resolution content at up to 24 frames per second and even though this is nothing to scoff at, this technology is still older than a decade.
When HDMI 2.0 was released it increased the maximum bandwidth that an HDMI cable is able to transmit from 10 gigabytes per second (Gbps) to 18Gbps. Version 2.0 also supports 4K video at 60 frames per second and all the different HDR formats as well. As far as audio capabilities, HDMI 2.0 has dynamic lip-sync capabilities and works with any IEC 61937-compliant compressed audio streams, such as Dolby Digital and DTS. This version also enables the user to run up to four multi-stream audio outputs at the same time.
If you are in the market for an HDMI cable you need to look no further than PPM Audio Visual! We stock a range of cables at different lengths to meet your needs. Get in touch with us for more information about our products or prices, or browse our website to find everything you need to improve your setup at home or the office.
