In fact, there are five different types of HDMI cables available, each of which is designed to meet a particular performance standard. These different types of cables have been established by the HDMI Forum to help consumers identify and choose the cable that best suits their needs.
Standard HDMI cable – This type of HDMI cable is designed to handle most basic home applications and is tested for reliable streaming of 1080i or 720p videos – HD resolutions commonly associated with cable and satellite TV, DVD players in STREAMING and HD digital scalability.
Standard HDMI cable with Ethernet: This type of cable offers the same basic performance as the standard HDMI cable (720p or 1080i video resolution), as well as an additional dedicated data channel, known as HDMI Ethernet channel, for the device’s network. HdMI Ethernet channel functionality is available only if both connected devices are enabled for the Hdmi Ethernet channel.
HDMI Standard Automotive Cable – This type of cable also supports up to 720p/1080i but is not compatible with the HDMI Ethernet channel. However, because an automotive system can be connected to one or more internal wrecks that can affect signal strength, the standard automotive HDMI cable must send a stronger signal than other types of cables, so it is tested with standard higher performance.
High-speed HDMI cable – These days this is the most used HDMI cable that has been designed and tested to handle 1080p and beyond video resolutions, including advanced display technologies such as 4K, 3D, High Dynamic Range (HDR) and Deep Colour. If you use one of these technologies, this is the recommended cable.
High-speed HDMI cable with Ethernet: This type of cable offers the same basic performance as the high-speed HDMI cable shown above (1080p video resolution and beyond), as well as a dedicated additional data channel, known as HDMI Ethernet channel, for the HDMI device. Network. HDMI Ethernet channel functionality is available only if both connected devices are enabled for the Hdmi Ethernet channel.
Which HDMI cable should I use?
You don’t necessarily need to buy high-speed premium HDMI cables, but you need to make sure your high-speed HDMI cable is rated for 18 Gbps or you may find that it can’t handle the higher bandwidth required for 4K Ultra HD content with 60p, 4:4:4, HDR and WCG. If a cable cannot correctly deliver a full bandwidth signal of 18 Gbps, the image may fall intermittently or there is no image. This can also be a problem with short HDMI cables, but it becomes a problem over longer distances, so as a general rule, if you’re buying a new HDMI cable make sure it’s high speed and up to 18 Gbps.
Do you need a new cable for HDMI 2.1?
HDMI 2.1 is the latest version of HDMI, which is designed to cover all possible video and audio developments that we can expect to see in the next decade or more. HDMI 2.1 supports higher resolutions and faster refresh speeds, including 8K 60Hz and 4K 120Hz, and also supports Rec. 2020 and 16-bit color. In addition, version 2.1 also supports HDr with dynamic and static metadata, an enhanced audio return channel (eARC),and a VRR game mode.
To ensure that HDMI 2.1 can offer all supported features, bandwidth has been increased from 18 Gbps to 48 Gbps and there will be new cables to meet this requirement. These new 48G cables allow a bandwidth of 48 Gbps for compatibility with uncompressed HDMI 2.1 features, including 8K video with HDR. It is a robust, high-quality cable to improve bandwidth performance and exceptionally low IMI and uses existing A, C and D connectors and includes an Ethernet HDMI channel.
This new cable is compatible with HDMI specifications and can be used with existing HDMI devices. However, this does not mean that you need to purchase new HDMI cables yet because most of the new features such as dynamic metadata, and ARC and VRR game modes can be delivered using existing 18Gbps high-speed HDMI cables, in so as long as you already use 18Gbps HDMI cables at high speed then you won’t need to replace anything.
