Options outside of the better-known inexpensive brands (AmazonBasics and Monoprice are currently the top two) can be tempting, but some budget cables have weak electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding, which can disrupt your Wi-Fi network, and they might cause visual artifacts and signal drop-outs. (Then again, true High Speed cables are far less common.)īy paying attention to bandwidth rating, refresh rate, and price, you can avoid unreliable cables. You won’t find a respectable Ultra High Speed HDMI cable for $3, but you can find a good High Speed cable at that price, although it might be limited to a lower refresh rate. Price is still an important clue about the type and quality of an HDMI cable
The quickest way to determine the type is to look for its bandwidth rating. If you look on Amazon or, you’ll sometimes see products with names like “Ultra Slim High Speed Cable.” If you’re not paying close attention, you might not realize this particular example is just a high-speed cable: The “ultra” in this case refers to how thin the cord is, not the speed at which it’s capable of carrying data.Įnsure you get the right cable by looking at the actual specs. There’s no need to spend that much on any passive HDMI cable, including in-wall-rated cables such as these.Īlaina Yee/Foundry When you search for HDMI cables, use keywords only as a starting point Rather, its classification and its certification do. The price of the cable doesn’t necessarily ensure performance. That doesn’t mean you need to pay $30 or more for a cable (though active cables do cost more). Another solution for long cable runs is an HDMI signal booster, such as the Key Digital KD-HDFIX22. You’ll commonly find these cables classified as “active” HDMI cables (preface each of the cable types we’ve already discussed with “active”). If your source device is at one end of the room and your display is at the other (such as a video projector and its screen), or if your source and display are in different rooms, you might need a cable with a built-in signal amplifier to ensure the data can be transmitted from one end to the other. You need to send audio/video signals over a long distance In-wall rating should not add a significant amount to the price of the cable. Either certification is sufficient for HDMI signals. In both cases, the cable’s jacket will also be thicker and better insulated to protect the wires inside as the cable is pulled through the wall and bent inside tight spaces, such as a junction box. The difference is in the maximum voltage that each must accept: CL2 must accept up to 150 volts, while C元 must accept up to 300 volts.
#Hdmi versions code
In-wall-rated cables are made to resist fire (like during a power surge or if something nearby is burning) and not give off toxic smoke if they do burn.įor such cables, look for one of two National Electric Code (NEC) certifications: either Class 2 or Class 3 (abbreviated as CL2 and C元). Professional installers use in-wall-rated HDMI cables for this purpose, and so should you if you’re doing the work yourself.
#Hdmi versions tv
If you’ve hung your TV on the wall and now want to run your cables inside the wall to keep them out of sight, you likely won’t be able to use an HDMI cable already on-hand. You want to hide your HDMI cable inside the wall
#Hdmi versions series
If you bought a 4K TV with a true 120Hz refresh rate, like for use with a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X, you should move up to an Ultra High Speed HDMI cable. A Premium High Speed HDMI cable should cover the highest demands you’d ask of a 4K TV with a 60Hz refresh rate. The higher you go with refresh rate and bit depth-and the less color data compression you opt for-the more data that will be pushed to your TV.Īccordingly, you’ll need an HDMI cable that has adequate bandwidth.
#Hdmi versions full
The more detailed versions of the guidelines matter if you want more than just a basic TV signal: If you play video games at more than 30 frames per second, for example, or you intend to make full use of an HDR TV, or you want an HDMI cable that can also carry data over ethernet (most people do not, but that bandwidth can be used for other things).įor these types of scenarios, you must take refresh rate (measured in cycles per second, stated as Hertz, and abbreviated as Hz), the level of color precision (aka color depth, measured in bits e.g., 8-bit, 10-bit, or 12-bit), and color data compression (i.e., chroma subsampling) into consideration.
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