# Speed



## soundoff (Oct 3, 2007)

What exactly makes an HDMI cable high speed ?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

nothing, its a bit of a sales gimmick. Its generally just a better quality cable but not always.


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## trevorv (Oct 8, 2012)

Not really a sales gimmick. It's how fast it can get the information back and fourth from source and display. There are many that claim to do what other more expensive cables can do, but I'll have to argue that I haven't seen a budget HDMI perform as well as a moderately priced quality cable. However I matched a Key Digital HDMI cable with an Audio Quest very expensive HDMI and the less expensive Key Digital looked 100% better. My client was then asking why I had sold him the Audio Quest. Lesson learned. Most expensive not always the best but do not go cheap, you pat for what you get. I now there's a lot of support for the Monoprice HDMIs. I tried them and did not like them at all. 

Although no maximum length for an HDMI cable is specified, signal attenuation (dependent on the cable's construction quality and conducting materials) limits usable lengths in practice.[67] HDMI 1.3 defines two cable categories: Category 1-certified cables, which have been tested at 74.5 MHz (which would include resolutions such as 720p60 and 1080i60), and Category 2-certified cables, which have been tested at 340 MHz (which would include resolutions such as 1080p60 and 2160p30).[62][68][69] Category 1 HDMI cables are marketed as "Standard" and Category 2 HDMI cables as "High Speed".[1] This labeling guideline for HDMI cables went into effect on October 17, 2008.[70][71] Category 1 and 2 cables can either meet the required parameter specifications for interpair skew, far-end crosstalk, attenuation and differential impedance, or they can meet the required nonequalized/equalized eye diagram requirements.[68] A cable of about 5 meters (16 ft) can be manufactured to Category 1 specifications easily and inexpensively by using 28 AWG (0.081 mm²) conductors.[67] With better quality construction and materials, including 24 AWG (0.205 mm²) conductors, an HDMI cable can reach lengths of up to 15 meters (49 ft).[67] Many HDMI cables under 5 meters of length that were made before the HDMI 1.3 specification can work as Category 2 cables, but only Category 2-tested cables are guaranteed to work.[72]
As of the HDMI 1.4 specification, these are the following cable types defined for HDMI in general:[73][74]
Standard HDMI Cable – up to 1080i and 720p
Standard HDMI Cable with Ethernet
Automotive HDMI Cable
High Speed HDMI Cable – 1080p, 4K, 3D and deep color
High Speed HDMI Cable with Ethernet
An HDMI cable is usually composed of four shielded twisted pairs, with impedance of the order of 100 Ω, plus several separate conductors.


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## inigowilson (Apr 10, 2020)

Basically, the reasoning that HDMI cables can take anything you throw at them is based on the fact that it's difficult to test for future advances. High Speed HDMI cables support resolutions up to 4kx2k and beyond, so as long as the cable you are purchasing is High Speed, you should be fine with any current devices. You can also look for bells and whistles like the added Ethernet Channel and extra shielding, but if you're comparing apples to apples when it comes down to price, the cheap HDMI cables work just as well as the expensive ones. All you're really paying for is a name.
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*Ping Speed Test*


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