About HDMI..

Today, I am going to share about HDMI cables which is the de facto standard used by most home theater systems and computers for transmitting multimedia audio video signals across the networks nowadays. I am sure you have heard of HDMI when you are shopping for a RCA home theater system or latest computers.

HDMI - High Definition Multimedia Interface.

From the name, you can understand that it is an interface. HDMI first comes about with the gaining popularity of Blue-ray DVD players and flat panel LCD/LED televisions.

In HDMI, you have 19 individual wires wrapped inside and what makes HDMI so special is that it's capable of transmitting a gigantic rate of 10.2 Gbps which should be enough to last through the burgeoning audio-visual requirements for the next 5 years at least. This by itself, is already a sure-sell feature over other AV interfaces like component video or composite video.

Another sure-sell advantage of HDMI is that it is pure digital transmission without the need for signal conversion at sender/receiver end, thus making the picturs and sounds even sharper and clearer.



Please note that like all hardware standards, HDMI progresses and there are a few versions of HDMI now. The latest version i heard of is HDMI version 1.4. Although HDMI versions are backward compatible, do check this fact out when you are shopping for your HDMI cables or supported devices.

Price is a big confusion in HDMI cables. The price range can be very wide and this may confuse shoppers who are not very familiar with AV products. Let me explain.

Of course, branded HDMI cables certainly cost a few time more than unknown brands. So do you think it is worth to spend $200 to $300 for a 2m HDMI cable when there are cheaper alternatives that sell at ten times lesser?

I believe in quality of scale. If you have a super high end home theater system, you should not let its quality suffer by using a poor grade HDMI cable. In this case, I would advise you to invest in a top end HDMI cable so that the true performance of the expensive home theater system can be unleashed. Vice versa, if yours a entry level home theater system that cost justs $200, a $20 HDMI cable will suffice most of the time.

Okay, I shall sign off now. Let me continue with my movie, Terminator 4, on my RCA Home Theater System with a bag of chips on my hands.