HDMI Cables: What You Need to Know

With so much misinformation out there about HDMI cables, we wanted to bring some facts to light so you can make an informed choice.

I know analog signals degrade over distance, but since HDMI is an all-digital signal, the digital signal stays intact right?

Wrong. A digital signal can and does degrade over distance-especially in copper cables that have similar electrical characteristics to their analog cousins. However, the fall-off in digital can be more sudden known as a “Cliff-effect”. In the simplest terms, the signal wave (square in this case) becomes degraded over distance due to the cables capacitance and lack of even and precision twists per inch. The result is a slowing and non-uniformity in the timing of the waves which causes them to become weaker, lose their shape. This can cause what is known as “jitter”.  An “eye pattern test” is used as the method for testing the cables ability to properly reproduce the signal over particular distances and at specified speeds.

Cable Construction 101: Understanding the Basic Components of Common Cables

Cable Construction 101: Understanding the Basic Components of Common Cables:

As professional systems integrators know, cables may look very similar from the outside, but they can be completely different on the inside. Construction practices, materials used, quality control and many other factors both seen and unseen contribute to the performance and reliability of a cable. So we wanted to take you “under the jacket” to look at a basic cable construction so you can make an informed choice as to the cable type, quality level and brand that is right for you.

Cable Buying Guide 101

Cable Buying Guide

Since 1974, Comprehensive products were used exclusively by professional systems integrators, installers, I.T. departments, broadcasters and pro users. These customers are after all, video, audio or computer professionals and are pretty well versed as to what is important and what is hype when it comes to connectivity products.

2 Easy Ways To Find the Cable You Need in a Few Clicks

At Comprehensive, we are often asked by some of our non-professional customers to help them sort out the maze that is audio, video and computer connections. The reality is it can be pretty overwhelming with so many different signal formats and connection types and many these days look the same. What’s a person to do?

While it would be easy to ramble on about pin-counts and other connector specifics, sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words and in the case of connections, perhaps two thousand!

Allow me to introduce you to some very cool tools that make the complex very simple.