Saturday, May 14, 2011

If You Don't Use HDMI Cables You Aren't Seeing the Whole Picture

By Greg Nicholas


It may seem difficult to imagine anything other than pristine, sharp, colorful detailed images that are viewed in glorious 16:9 widescreen format today, but it was not long ago that you could still walk into an electronics store, peruse the VHS videotape selection, perhaps make a purchase, and then watch the tape at home on your square, 4:3 shaped, CRT style television. Things have changed considerably.

In less than a decade, high definition entertainment, via high-definition cable television channels, high-def gaming consoles and high-def televisions, have quickly become the standard of the entertainment industry and consumers alike. Amongst all of the high-def entertainment, games, cable channels, Blu-ray discs and large, thin, high-def monitors there is one thing that enables and connects it all - the HDMI cable.

HDMI officially stands for "High Definition Multimedia Interface"; it enables your High-def television to receive high-definition signals from an HD satellite, HD cable box or HD/Blu-Ray DVD player or gaming console. Used in conjunction with a high-def monitor, an HDMI cable can send a high definition video source and accompanying audio signal all in one cable - no more tangled, messy clutter lurking behind your TV or entertainment unit. So, HDMI cables make high definition entertainment possible and they eliminate clutter at the same time? Yes! Let's take a quick look at how they do what they do.

First off, HDMI is meant for an all-digital source. Audio and Video information is sent to your high-def TV in standard digital format. An all-digital signal being sent from a digital source to your high-def TV via an HDMI cable will produce the best possible image quality available today, delivering resolution of up to 1080p at a rate of 60 frames per second. While DVI and Component cables offer a viewing experience that is an improvement from standard definition, HDMI improves on DVI and Component and all but buries the very notion of standard definition image quality.

The HDMI cables, while small in diameter (about the same as a standard USB cable), actually contains 19 separate wires inside its housing. The 19 wires inside the cable housing are in turn capable of carrying a bandwidth of up to 5 GB per second in a completely uncompromised all digital signal. Using anything other than HDMI cables means your signal is being translated from digital, to analog, then back to digital. Each conversion essentially degrades the image quality you see on your TV screen, the result being a washed out, loose substandard picture.

Without the loss of integrity that comes with using analog, HDMI cables produce an all-digital image that is truly stunning when viewed for the first time. While the 19 wire HDMI cable is considered the current industry standard, there are also HDMI cable which house 29 wires. These 29 wire HDMI cables are, at this stage, being used primarily in the motion picture industry as well as having numerous uses in professional applications of various types. HDMI is referred to as "intelligent"; largely because of the cables ability to enable HDMI interface equipped components to "speak" to each other.

The other major improvement that HDMI offers in addition to improvement of image quality is an improvement of the accompanying audio signal. Older, analog signal interface use meant many cables for the image and separate cables for the audio signal. These audio cables were often the standard white and red, RCA left right analog cables.

While it was possible to have an impressive sounding entertainment systems before HDMI, it quite often meant having tons of cables (in addition to your video cables, TV cables, etc.) to do so. HDMI cables are capable of carrying up to 8 digital audio channels - in the same small cable that carries the all-digital picture information - thus enabling beautiful, uncompromised surround sound audio.

When you take both of these video and audio advantages and use them in unison with a current type of television, the ones made to display all the high definition goodness that HDMI makes possible, the results are nothing short of astonishing. Detail, color, sharpness - everything about the picture you see and the sound you hear is enhanced to its most breathtakingly beautiful. One of the best ways to see just how much your viewing experience can be enhanced is to watch one of your favorite movies with HDMI - details in the picture that you never saw before will jump off the screen, the colors will be more vibrant, the picture sharper, richer and true. Everything you've seen will look new again.

Using HDMI cables is quite simple: purchase the cables, bring them home, attach one end to the HDMI input on your TV, and attach the other end to your Blu-ray player, PVR or digital cable box. Switch the inputs on your TV's menu settings to HDMI (*many TV's have more than one HDMI input, be sure you know which one you're switching the remote to). Turn on your favorite movie, game or TV show, sit back and enjoy the experience. If you're making the jump from analog to HDMI it'll be like seeing TV for the first time all over again!

HDMI cables offers the absolute best in available picture and sound quality, is compatible with gaming consoles, Blu-ray players, cable boxes and PVR's, reduces clutter and visible wires in and around your TV and are simple to install and use. You really couldn't ask for more from your home entertainment experience. Try HDMI cables today and experience your entertainment at home the way it was meant to be enjoyed - you won't believe your eyes and ears.




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