What You Need To Know About HDMI

RNYK recently got a couple of comments asking about HDMI. The general public doesn’t seem to know what HDMI is, but they know it’s turning up a lot. In the consumer technology world, companies often dump new formats and standards on the market, with no explanation to the buying public. People see these new words on boxes and in ads, but have no clue what they mean - or why they should care. It’s just there, all of a sudden. So as a service to our readers & customers, we’re going to break down HDMI and explain why you’ll want it.

HDMI stands for High-Definition Multimedia interface. It’s a digital replacement for analog connections like RCA and SCART. It was first released in 1999, but major electronics companies started getting behind it around 2004, when they saw how much HDMI could do. An HDMI connection lets you transfer high-defintion video and multi-channel audio through a single cable. No more wrestling that octopus of wires behind the TV stand - you get all your A/V through a single cord.

HDMI gives you massive bandwidth, on top of the convenience of a single-wire connection. For top-quality digital audio and video, you have to send an uncompressed signal to your TV or sound system. This seemed impossible, even with FireWire, until HDMI came along. It can send an uncompressed digital signal, letting you watch TV in 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i and 1080p video quality. It also gives you uncompressed (PCM) audio, plus multiple Dolby Digital formats with up to 8 channels. Long story short: you’ll get the brightest and most colorful pictures, and clearest sound, that modern technology can deliver. The only limitations are what your TV, DVD player or audio receiver can support

There’s also its versatility & power. HDMI connects to TVs, DVDs, audio receivers and so forth, but it also connects to your PC monitor regardless of resolution. So you can watch your favorite movies on your flat-screen monitor, if you’ve got an old-school TV that can’t support high-def.

It also doesn’t have a maximum cable length, which is important. Signals lose power as they travel along a wire. When a signal weakens, it leads to a drop in audio/video quality. It’s called “attenuation” and it’s inevitable, but the HDMI connection was designed to minimize attenuation - and it does a great job. We know people in the suburbs who made 100-meter HDMI cables, stringing them across their property to the neigbors’ place so they could watch high-def TV next door — with no visible drop in image or sound quality.

Now that you understand why HDMI is a big deal, you can decide if you need an HDMI cable. You probably will at some point, so we’ll make things even easier for you by pointing you at some available for purchase.

Technorati Tags:
hdmi hdtv

Tweet This Post