magine you want to watch a movie that is on your laptop, and you want to watch it on a bigger screen like your TV. Or, you are playing on your Xbox and want to get better HD graphics. Or, perhaps connect the projector to the laptop?
All you need to do is connect the HDMI cable to your screen, and you are good to go. Whether you are in your home or at your workplace, you would need one today.
What Is A Hdmi Cable?
An HDMI wire transfers video data and audio data signals. All you need for the transmission to happen is an HDMI port. HDMI is an acronym for High Definition Multimedia Interface. The wire came to exists in December 2002 founded by several companies including Sony, Hitachi, Panasonic, Philips, and Toshiba.
After its production began in Europe in 2003, it met commercial success with its sales increasing exponentially from 2004, selling over 5 million, 17.4 million in 2005 up to 143 million in 2007.
Does A Hdmi Cable Carry Audio?
At first, HDMI carried videos, but as time went on, it was developed into a more flexible version like a codec where it had the capability of carrying both video and audio signals. This was after incorporating ARC (Audio Return Channel) which allows amplifiers to transmit back audio signals back to the sender device and hence producing sound
What Are The Types Of Hdmi Cable?
Since 2003, HDMI cables have undergone evolutions and have become more specific and efficient. So there are four types of HDMI cables namely:
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Standard speed
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The standard speed with Ethernet
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High speed
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High speed with Ethernet
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Standard speed
This is the type of HDMI cable capable of carrying resolutions up to 720p and 1080i making suitable for transmitting video files. It also capable of transmitting high-quality sounds and has a speed of 742.5 Megabytes per second per channel in transmitting data.
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The standard speed with Ethernet
This is the type of HDMI cable that is similar to the standard speed - except the Ethernet feature which was added later.
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High speed
The HDMI cable offers high resolutions due to their high transmission speed. Usually, their resolution is capable of more than 1080i stretching from 4K, etc.
Their speed measures up to 1.65 Gigabyte per second per channel without equalization and 3.4 Gigabyte per second per channel with equalization.
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High speed with Ethernet
This the type of HDMI cable that is similar to the High-speed HDMI cable with an Ethernet added as an extra feature to it.
HOW DO HDMI CABLES WORK?
The HDMI carries both audio data and video data. This is through standards that interpret the signals. The EIA/CEA-861 standard is the one responsible for this. It defines and translates compressed video signals, waveforms, compressed and uncompressed audio, and data.
The HDMI is electric signal sensitive, which means it carries electric signals from CEA-861 up to the final destination in which are compatible with the DVI (Digital Visual Interface). The advantage is that there won't be any need to convert the video due to signal comparability. It helps maintain the quality of the video.
The HDMI also contains a CEC ( Consumer Electronics Control) in which it acts as an antenna to help HDMI communicate with other peripheral devices and also act as a remote control to both devices in connection.
Connector Types
HDMI cables have different connector buses depending on the HDMI ports from receiver and sender devices. The connector types include the following:
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Type A
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Type B
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Type C
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Type D
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Type E
We will be taking a look at each of them in detail.
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Type A
This is standard HDMI connector type which is common on HD Televisions. Its features include
Features of Type-A connector
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Its dimensions are 13.90 X 4.45mm.
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It has 19 pins on its bus connector
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They are compatible with DVI-D older versions
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They can support a resolution up to 4k
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Type B
This is a standard HDMI connector type that is created with has high data speed but has never been implemented. Its main feature was having a dual-link version that was to increase the data speed but eventually, the single link HDMI surpassed its expectations; thus this was the main reason that it wasn't implemented.
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Type C
This is a standard HDMI connector, which is considered to be the one among the smallest in size.
Features of Type C connector
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Its dimensions are 10.42 X 2.42mm. ( This is why it is referred to as mini)
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It has 19 pins on its bus connector
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Type D
This is a standard HDMI connector, which is the smallest among all the connectors.
Features of Type D connector
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Its dimensions are 5.83 X 2.20mm. (This is why its referred to as micro)
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It has 19 pins on its bus connector
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Its configurations are completely different from A and C.
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Type E
This is a standard HDMI connector that is used in automotive applications.
Features of Type E connector
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It contains locking tabs that keep the shells from vibrating
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It has a relay connector in which helps it to connect to it automotive-type
Conclusion
HDMI has not only brought relief to the aspects of watching movies, due to limitations of screen sizes of PC but also given a huge boost to gaming, home theaters, and even other workplace solutions. Today, you can have access to 4K content with a standard HDMI cable too. Where are you using HDMI cables?
