An HDMI cable is an HDMI cable, right? Wrong! HDMI has been around forever at this point so many corrections and updates. This is great for developing video and audio technology, but not so good for ensuring you have the right cables to get the picture quality you need.
Why it’s easy to end up with the wrong HDMI cable
Don’t worry, it’s not your fault
The simple fact is that most HDMI cables look the same. Manufacturers change colors or coatings, but if you have two random cables in front of you, there’s generally no way to tell at a glance. The connector itself has remained completely unchanged, so the cable from 2010 will be connected to the TV from 2025 and vice versa.
This is how old cables are converted to newer installations. This happened to me when I upgraded from a 60Hz 4K TV to a 120Hz 4K OLED. It was a pain to open the channel and change the cables, but little did I know that my previously good cables couldn’t handle the demands of the new OLED TV!
It also doesn’t help that cable retailers tend to use vague terms like “4K ready” and “high performance.” Is this 4K at 30Hz? High performance compared to what? If you’re lucky, the actual specifications of the cable are printed somewhere on the connector or cable sleeve, if not, just hope you didn’t drop the box or you’ll have some cleaning to do.
How HDMI versions convert to cable types
Too many numbers, too much confusion
With each major version of HDMI-1.4,2.0,2.1, the main improvement has been a leap in bandwidth. We got enough bandwidth for 4K with HDMI 1.4, but only at 30Hz. So much for a movie or TV show that doesn’t exceed that number, but isn’t useful for modern console gaming or PC use. With HDMI 2.0 we got 4K60Hz and basic HDR support. HDMI 2.1 has made the biggest leap yet by introducing improved audio features such as 4K120, 8K, VRR, ALLM and eARC.
The problem is that the people behind HDMI decided to use very useless names:
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High Speed HDMI: Good for 1080p and basic 4K30
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Premium High Speed HDMI: 4K60 with HDR
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Ultra High Speed HDMI: 4K120, 8K, VRR and eARC
- Ultra96 HDMI: Offers 96Gbps bandwidth and allows all the features of HDMI 2.2 such as uncompressed full chroma formats.
There are older HDMI standards like “Standard”, but that’s only good for 720p or lower-end 1080 standards, and you’re lucky to have such a cable. You can apply officially HDMI website to see the various official markings that should be on the packaging of these cables.
Symptoms that indicate your HDMI cable is holding back your setup
Have you experienced any of these problems?
HDMI is backwards compatible, so there’s never a problem using a newer cable with an older system, but the reverse isn’t true. If the cable you’re using can’t provide the bandwidth you need, there are several obvious and not-so-obvious symptoms.
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You cannot reach the resolution or refresh rate that your display supports. This is true for both monitors and TVs. For example, when you plug in your game console, your TV shows “4K 30Hz”.
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When you want to enable features like VRR or ALLM, they are not available on consoles like PS5, Xbox Series X or gaming PC.
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The sound quality is not as high as expected, or features such as eARC do not work.
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Blinking, random black screens or HDMI handshake failures.
If your HDMI cables work fine at low settings but not at higher settings, if you know the display and support of your source device, it’s probably too low spec a cable to do the job.
How to determine which HDMI cable you really have
This can be a bit of a guessing game
How do you know what cable you’re looking at before you plug it in, if it’s wrong it’s annoying to have to pull it out again? the first place to check is the cable sleeve or connector housing. Often there is a mark that will say “Ultra High Speed” or one of the other official designations. If it doesn’t say anything anywhere, there’s a good chance the cable is older than the modern HDMI certification.
There may also be a small QR code printed on the connector itself, which you can use to check the certification on newer cables. If you still have the packaging, this is the most obvious way to stop them.
You may need a new cable
If you just can’t tell, just test the cable, but don’t install it permanently until you’re sure it works as required. If you have, don’t forget it Intermediate devices passing through HDMI through them, they also must meet higher standards, otherwise your HDMI signal will be downgraded to the lowest denominator in the chain. Once you’ve identified your cables, consider labeling them.
- length(s)
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1ft, 3.3ft, 6.6ft, 9.8ft, 16.4ft, 20ft, 25ft
- Brand
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Cable Issues
