HDMI Cable

[Martin Racette]

Hi,

I have bought a few HDMI cables, but I just found out that there is
different specification for them , and I would like to know how do I find
out whether the cable are 1.3 or ealier

 

[UCLAN]

I have bought a few HDMI cables, but I just found out that there is
different specification for them , and I would like to know how do I
find out whether the cable are 1.3 or ealier

Unless you are sending 1080p signals over more than 3 meters, you don't
worry about it. Most all cables sold lately are "1.3" cables.

Nice summary at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI#Versions

 

[Martin Racette]

I still don't know how to identify whether my cables are 1.3 or not, I read
the whole page on Wikipedia (I can not say that I undertood everything, but
I did most)

 

[UCLAN]

[...top posting corrected]

I still don't know how to identify whether my cables are 1.3 or not, I
read the whole page on Wikipedia (I can not say that I undertood
everything, but I did most)

As I stated, you don't worry about it unless you are sending 1080p signals
over 3 meters.

If you *must* know, check the retail packaging the cables came in, or the
online site at which they were purchased.

If none of the above works, and you can't sleep at night without knowing,
buy new cables.

Good HDMI cable FAQ at http://www.hdmi.org/learningcenter/kb.aspx#46

 

[Martin Racette]

It is not that I can not sleep at night, it is somehow PVR and DVD, are made
to use 1.3 cable, and since I change my flat screen TV there is not signal
that goes from either of them when they are using HDMI

So I want to know if it is the cable or not before I buy new one, at over
$30/cable, I do not want to throw them away for nothing

[...top posting corrected]

I still don't know how to identify whether my cables are 1.3 or not, I
read the whole page on Wikipedia (I can not say that I undertood
everything, but I did most)

As I stated, you don't worry about it unless you are sending 1080p signals
over 3 meters.

If you *must* know, check the retail packaging the cables came in, or the
online site at which they were purchased.

If none of the above works, and you can't sleep at night without knowing,
buy new cables.

Good HDMI cable FAQ at http://www.hdmi.org/learningcenter/kb.aspx#46

 

[UCLAN]

It is not that I can not sleep at night, it is somehow PVR and DVD, are
made to use 1.3 cable, and since I change my flat screen TV there is not
signal that goes from either of them when they are using HDMI

Your "not signal" problem is not because of lack of v1.3 cables. It is
because of a bad cable, or incorrect implentation on your part. For less
than 3-5 meter runs, v1.3 cables are not mandatory.

What you haven't told us is the history of these cables.

From the FAQ:

"Q. Can HDMI cables contribute to devices not working properly together?"

"The vast majority of image quality or interoperability issues with HDMI
devices are related to the software (firmware) used for device communication
and content protection, and have nothing to do with the HDMI cable. In
particular, these issues are often caused by the software related to HDCP
handshaking, or from devices improperly handling the device capability
information read through HDMI (e.g. the device has an incorrect EDID, or an
inability to properly read an EDID). It is fairly uncommon for the cable to be
the cause of HDMI compatibility problems. In fact, the robustness of the HDMI
specification has been verified by the fact that we have not found a compliant
HDMI cable that is the root cause of HDMI playback issues with compliant
devices."

"Q. What is the difference between a “Standard” HDMI cable and a “High-Speed”
HDMI cable?"

"Recently, HDMI Licensing, LLC announced that cables would be tested as
Standard or High-Speed cables.

* Standard (or “category 1”) HDMI cables have been tested to perform at
speeds of 75Mhz or up to 2.25Gbps, which is the equivalent of a 720p/1080i
signal.
* High Speed (or “category 2”) HDMI cables have been tested to perform at
speeds of 340Mhz or up to 10.2Gbps, which is the highest bandwidth currently
available over an HDMI cable and can successfully handle 1080p signals
including those at increased color depths and/or increased refresh rates from
the Source. High-Speed cables are also able to accommodate higher resolution
displays, such as WQXGA cinema monitors (resolution of 2560 x 1600).

"Q. Will my Standard cable work in High Speed applications?"

Although a Standard HDMI cable may not have been tested to support the higher
bandwidth requirements of cables rated to support high speeds, existing
cables, especially ones of shorter lengths (i.e., less than 2 meters), will
generally perform adequately in higher speed situations. The quality of the
HDMI receiver chip (in the TV, for example) has a large effect on the ability
to cleanly recover and display the HDMI signal. A significant majority,
perhaps all, of the HDMI TVs and projectors that support 1080p on the HDMI
inputs are designed with quality receiver chips that may cleanly recover the
1080p HDMI signal using a Standard-rated HDMI cable. These receiver chips use
technology called “cable equalization” in order to counter the signal
reduction (attenuation) caused by a cable. We have seen successful
demonstrations of 1080p signal runs on a >50 ft. cable, and a 720p signal run
on a >75 ft. cable. However, the only way to guarantee that your cable will
perform at higher speeds is to purchase a cable that has been tested at the
higher speeds and labeled as “High-Speed.”

More good stuff in the FAQs. Read 'em!