Don't Waste Money on an Expensive HDMI Lead - By: Ned Benjamin

HDMI is fast becoming the interface of choice for a wide variety of home entertainment devices. You will find HDMI sockets on many LCD and plasma TVs, projectors, DVD recorders and players and home theater systems.

What is HDMI?

Without going into the technical details, the High Definition Multimedia Interface simply allows the transmission of both video and audio in a digital, rather than analogue, fashion. It is somewhat similar to the DVI interface you may be familiar with which is found on many computers and set-top boxes, but DVI can only carry video signals. You can however easily buy a DVI to HDMI converter, for example to connect an LCD TV to your computer for a high quality digital display.

The Benefits of HDMI

With older interfaces, such as SCART and component video, extra steps are involved in translating signals between analogue and digital formats; every time this happens the signal is degraded. HDMI solves this problem by transmitting an uncompressed digital signal, improving quality and fidelity. It supports the latest 1080p high definition video standards, as well as being backwards-compatible with lower resolution standards. It also allows for high quality digital audio over as many as 8 channels, all on the same cable. The ease with which you can now connect your audio and video devices is greatly increased. As you no longer need separate leads for audio and video, cable management is much easier. Also, HDMI has much greater bandwidth than that needed for any mainstream audio or video device currently on the market, for that reason it's 'future-proof'

What Type of Cable Should I Buy?

With HDMI cables varying in price from under $10 to $50 or more, you may wonder what the difference is between the multitude of cables on the market. The answer is not very much. A salesperson may tell you that their premium cable with gold-plated connectors and specially thick wiring is superior to cheaper offerings, but this is largely untrue. Don't be seduced by sales talk and gimmicks. As the cable is only transmitting digital signals -- 1's and 0's -- it will either work or it won't, there's no halfway house. It's not possible to get a 'better' signal by using a special coating on the plug or different wire.

If you're in the process of setting up your home entertainment devices, then you would be well advised to opt for cheap hdmi cables and spend the money you will save on other parts of the system.

About the Author

Don't waste money on an expensive lead. A cheap HDMI cable is generally all you need to connect your HDMI-enabled devices together. Visit http://www.cheaphdmicable.org to learn more. You'll also find information about using a long HDMI cable.

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