HDMI Simplified

HDMI is confusing: there are endless variations on versions, ratings, gauge, bandwidth, and length. Unless you are running a 2560×1600 ultra-high-def screen 100 feet from your video source, them most of these options boil away.

There are perhaps two options that any of us care about: length and in-wall rating. First, length.

Only you know what length you need, but most people need about 6 or 10-foot cables. Odds are your home entertainment system components are all within a few feet of each other.

The one exception to this also comes with our in-wall rating. If you have an HD projector, you’ll probably need a longer cable, and it will probably need to have an in-wall rating of CL2 or CL3 (in the US). In simple terms: you don’t want the cable to catch fire. Depending on where you live, not using such cables may violate the Electric Code.

Do you really need a 22-AWG HDMI 1.3b1 340 MHz 10.2Gbps Category 2 cable? Do you really need all that extra stuff on there? For 99% of us, no. Most HDTVs won’t display higher than 1080p video anyways, so most of those specs are completely irrelevant: all HDMI cables are capable of 1080p and lower video with no problems for most lengths.

The 1% of us who need to run better than 1080p resolutions, at great lengths, can start to be concerned at this terminology. Specifically, “Category 2″ is the main phrase that you want to look for: this means that the cable is rated for at least 1080p (”Category 1″ only guarantees 720p and 1080i).

And remember, as long as the cable is well-constructed, it almost doesn’t matter what it says on the fancy package. I’ve had unpackaged, unmarked 30-foot cables run 1080i with no problems. I mean, it’s a digital cable: it’s just a bunch of copper wires shoved in plastic. There’s not a lot of magic you can work there. If the cable works, then it works.

Also, don’t spend as much on your cable as you did on the HDTV you are hooking it up to: there are a lot of reputable cable vendors on eBay, and you can get some fine quality cables there without spending too much (for example, I recently bought a very nice 10-ft cable for around $13).

There’s not a lot to worry about: the changing HDMI standards, for the most part, change what is required of the components attached to it. And we’ll talk more about that later.