HDMI Cable: Spring Cleaning Made Easier
In some ways, installed HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) cables are better than having a dog. A dog has to be let out, a dog never cleans up after himself, and a dog won’t connect set-top boxes, Blu-ray/DVD players, personal computers, video game consoles and AV receivers onto one TV screen. Admittedly, this is a stretch, but what if it were possible to actually have that kind of convenience? It is!
By now I’m sure you (and every small child that’s ever come into your home) has noticed the huge rat’s nest of cables behind your television monitor. Not only is this unsightly, but more than a little dangerous to your devices and makes upgrading your current devices, such as DVD players, receivers and set top boxes, a real hassle. Imagine just unplugging one end of a cable and plugging in another. Wow, that’s amazing!
The first step to bringing you the rest of the way into the 21st Century is to establish which one of your current devices can be converted to HDMI cables. This is pretty easy as all devices associated with multimedia actually have the outputs labeled for your reading pleasure. If, for some reason, you have a DVD player manufactured by a very off brand, you can always buy one HDMI cable and see how many devices it will plug into. That’s less complicated than it sounds. If you can successfully make toast, I’m confident you can pull this off.
While you were doing this you might have noticed that your TV only has one HDMI input. Your powers of observation are commended and as a reward you are offered an HDMI hub! What is an HDMI hub? Simply put, it is a switch or way to “splice together” all of your devices. In other words you could plug your DVD player, your Blu-Ray, and your cable box into one device and that one device into your TV.
HDMI hubs range in function and price drastically. The latest-greatest HDMI switches do not require an additional remote and will switch from device to device based on which device was powered up last. Others come with a remote control, so you’re back to selecting the device that you are going to be using. They also come in different configurations that will allow you to add more devices, if that is your need. A 4×1 hub would be a hub that allows four devices to be linked to a single TV or monitor. The “4″ is for the amount of devices and the “1″ indicated the number of TVs or monitors. There are even some 4×4′s out there that will route to four monitors, but won’t get you out of the mud if you get stuck.
HDMI cables come with the same configuration but vary in price substantially. The price difference can range between $8 and $100 per cable. Nearly all are gold plated, but don’t take that for granted. There are a couple of factors to consider: distance from device to monitor and how many devices you are connecting to your hub. If you are connecting more than two devices to a hub or have a lot of electric cords in the vicinity, you might want to consider HDMI cables with thicker shielding. This will prevent “cable noise”. Something you do not hear, but will effect your audio and video quality. Distance is the other factor. The signal that is transmitted through the HDMI cable is generally only viable for 50″. If your device or origin is longer than that, you should consider buying a signal repeater or moving the source closer to the monitor.
HDMI cables also come in various types and versions. The latest version is 1.4 which is capable of carrying virtually any type of digital signal without any effort. Various types are basically nothing more than how the plug looks. If you have a plug in that looks different than the cable you have, there is an adapter in your future. No worries though, adapters are all plug and play. As an added bonus, if you see a port labeled “DVI,” you can use that (with an adapter) in place of an HDMI port. The signal translates perfectly. In fact, they could be first cousins.
The advantages of HDMI cables are obvious: condensing down your cable mess, cleaning up your signal, and allowing room for future expansion. Really, if building a car were this easy, we’d all be driving Ferraris. You can spend one afternoon redoing your cabling one time or spend a lifetime with a jumbled mess of cable literally hanging around. You’d better make up your mind quick though, because I think you just caught a dachshund back there.
Zeeman Haus enjoys writing articles online on a variety of subjects. You can check out his latest website on HDMI Review which discusses how you can get low prices on HDMI Cables, Splitters, Extenders, Boxes, and Adaptors.
