Cheap HDMI Cable

HDMI is short for High Definition Multimedia Interface, and with the number of audio-visual devices using HDMI increasing dramatically, the need for economical HDMI leads is growing. A cheap HDMI cable could be all you need to hook up your home entertainment equipment.

What's Special About an HDMI cable?

An HDMI cable looks somewhat like a USB lead and has a 19 pin connection, it's maximum bandwidth is currently 5 gigabits per second. It can simultaneously transmit both audio and video signals. A big step up from the old-style analog SCART system, HDMI uses pure, uncompressed digital data. HDMI is now being used on many LCD and Plasma TVs, DVD players and recorders, Blu-ray players and Home Theater Systems. Modern TVs normally have several HDMI sockets allowing you to plug in a wide variety of audio and video devices. As well as providing a high-quality link, using HDMI can reduce the number of leads needed to connect your home entertainment devices.

Why Buy a Cheap HDMI Cable?

Although many retailers will try to sell you expensive HDMI leads, there's a lot of evidence to show that it's not necessary to pay premium prices to obtain a cable which provides a good signal. For example, higher cost cables will feature gold-plated connectors, which many experts view as a gimmick, rather than a valuable extra. A digital signal is simply a stream of 1's and 0's, the data will either be sent or it won't - there's no mid ground. This means that a more expensive cable won't result in a 'better' signal being transmitted - despite what the salesman might tell you. With the difference in price between cheap and premium cables being as much as $40, it makes sense to buy a cheap cable and spend what you save on other parts of your home entertainment system. The only exception to this is if you need a particularly long HDMI cable, say more than 10 or 15 feet, in which case studies have shown that cheap versions may have bandwidth issues.