If you have just brought a new TV chances are you will be looking to buy HDMI cables, in particular the HDMI 1.3 b cable, and maybe wondering if you really need one and how it will benefit you.
For those of us old enough to remember when connecting our home entertainment bits together was easy, you know, video player to satellite box to TV, are probably thinking just what all this talk of HDMI cables is about. We all recall you simply screwed one end of the co-ax into the VCR and the other end into the back of your telly, switch it on, and away you would go. Not the best picture you had ever seen nor sound you had ever heard but it was what exactly what we expected.
As things progressed we discovered the benefits of a separate video and audio feed and so we moved away from the single co-axial RF and onto three cables. One, a yellow, for video and two others, a red and white, for audio. One for the left channel and one for the right. From this move we gained a slightly cleaner picture along with, for the first time in at home entertainment, stereo audio. That was eclipsed by S-Video, which took us one step closer to what we have today. It separated the video signal in to separate portions for color and brightness. These separated signals where then re merged inside the equipment. If you do remember laser disc players, they where the first to give us digital audio co-ax and Toslink optical connectors we are familiar with today.
The conception of the DVD signaled the end for analog signal transmission and took us into the component video cable era. By splitting the picture signal into three, component video provided a larger amount of bandwidth for each distinct stream resulting in a picture quality as yet unseen on home entertainment equipment. Sharper images, more life-like colors and less interference, like white noise, from outside sources gave picture quality a quantum leap towards the digital future. Unfortunately it also resulted in a lot of head scratching and (seemingly) miles of unwanted, unsightly wires cluttering up the back of your telly
Component video continues to be supported to this day even as we have moved (or is that pushed) towards an inevitable, totally digital future. Where DVI pointed us in that general direction, HDMI, when introduced, quickly gave the manufacturers the connection standard they needed to maintain customer confidence. But, even as I write, there is talk of stopping support for component video in favor of the HDMI connector standard. This is in all probability because component video, unlike the HDMI 1.3 b cable, is unable to carry the film industry security encryption, HDCP, which all major studios want to bring in as standard.
So that is where we are at today. HDMI 1.3 b cable delivers the signal quality everyone has come to expect along with little or no cable clutter behind your TV and a simple, idiot proof plug and play connection. If you are looking for some kind of future proofing then buy HDMI cables as this is without doubt the connection type all major players want, and the only one they will undoubtedly support in the not too distant future.
Your choice of hdmi 1.3 cable is often as vital as your choice of HDTV or Blu-ray Player. You can save yourself time and money as a result of going to Noel Swinton’s Hdmi cables reviews web-site where you can discover information and real customer comments to allow you to pick the correct cables for your digital viewing requirements.
