Common HDMI Cable Terms for your TV cable

Common HDMI Terms:

First things first, what is HDMI?
HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) is the first and only industry supported, uncompressed, all-digital audio/video interface. HDMI delivers a crystal clear, all-digital audio and video signal through a single cable, greatly simplifying the cabling process and provides a high quality home theater experience. An HDMI cable provides an interface between any audio/video source (DVD player, DVR, Gaming console) and an audio and/or video monitor (Television, PC).

What are "Gold Plated" connectors?
Gold plating refers to the connectors. Most HDMI connectors nowadays have gold plated, corrosion resistant connectors. The main purpose is to reduce corrosion that would impede signal transfer.

What's the difference between HDMI and DVI?
HDMI and DVI are the exact same as one another, image-quality-wise. The principal differences being that HDMI carries audio and uses a different type of connector. HDMI can be a big advantage since your only running 1 wire, making your installation easier and with less clutter. I personally prefer to work with the HDMI cables as well, since the connector is smaller and easier to work with. Here you can see the size difference:

What is AWG?
AWG (American Wire Gauge) is a standardized wire gauge system used since 1857 for the diameter of wire. The lower the number, the larger the size of the cable. For example, a 22awg wire is significantly larger than a 28awg wire.

What size AWG should I use?
As a general rule of thumb, HDMI cables 15ft or less can use a 28awg wire, while anything longer than that would benefit from a 22 or 24 awg wire. That will insure you don't have any signal loss.

What are Ferrite Cores and what do they do?
Ferrite cores are are a barrel shaped device (see picture below) that assists in signal transfer and help eliminate interference.

1080i vs 1080p
1080 refers to the vertical lines of resolution (1920 x 1080). Both 1080i and 1080p have 1,080 lines of resolution, but the way the picture gets conveyed onto the screen is different. 1080i conveys the images in an interlaced format. As the picture is being "painted" on the screen, the odd-numbered lines of resolution appear on your screen first, followed by the even-numbered lines--all within 1/30 of a second. 1080p conveys all of the lines of resolution sequentially in a single pass, which makes for a smoother, cleaner image, especially when watching sports and other motion-intensive content.

Bandwidth
Bandwidth is the carrying capacity of a data. High-bandwidth connections are also known as high-speed connections, because they can transmit large quantities of data very quickly. HDMI has extremely high bandwidth capacity: up to 10.2 gigabits per second.

Component Cable
Component video cables are commonly referred to as R, G, B (red, green, blue) and consists of 3 separate cables (usually connected together) that distribute the 3 primary color components to the display.

Compression
Technologies designed to increase the carrying capacity of a data connection by compacting the data stream at one end and re-expanding it at the other end. One of the advantages of HDMI over other connection technologies is its enormous carrying capacity, which makes compression unnecessary.

Deep Color
The expanded bandwidth of HDMI 1.3 is allowing manufacturers to design displays with much greater Color Depth. These new “Deep Color” monitors will be capable of rendering many more distinct hues than current displays – up to trillions of colors rather than thousands or millions.

DTV
Digital televisions, the successor technology to analog TV, are televisions capable of receiveing a ditigal terrestrial or cable broadcast signal.

HD
HD (High Definition) is usually used to describe any device capable of generating or displaying a signal with a resolution of at least 720 vertical lines.


HDCP
HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) is a form of digital copy protection, developed by Intel to prevent copyrighted audiovisual content.

HD-DVD
High-definition DVD, one of two potential successor technologies to the DVD. A high-density optical disc format designed for the storage of high-definition video. HDMI is the interconnect standard for HD-DVD players.

HDMI Repeater
An HDMI repeater is a device that both receives and sends HDMI signals, such as an AV receiver. A/V receivers are considered HDMI repeaters.

HDMI Source
HDMI source refers to a device that sends an HDMI signal. Examples would be a DVD player or Set-top box.

HDMI Version 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4?
HDMI devices are manufactured to adhere to various versions of the specification, in which each version is given a number. Each subsequent version of the specification is backward-compatible and uses the same kind of cable but increases the bandwidth and/or capabilities of what can be transmitted over the cable. A product listed as having an HDMI version does not necessarily mean that it will have all of the features that are listed for that version, since some HDMI features are optional, such as Deep Color and xvYCC.


HDTV
An HDTV (High Definition Television) is a TV capable of displaying a 720p signal or better.


Mini HDMI Connector
A miniature HDMI connector, introduced in HDMI 1.3, designed for use in mobile and hand held products where space is at a premium. The Mini HDMI Connector is pin-for-pin compatible with the larger Standard HDMI Connector and completely compatible as well. The Mini HDMI Connector is referred to as the Type C Connector in the HDMI specification.

MPEG
MPEG is part of a family of audio/video codecs developed by the Motion Picture Experts Group. The majority of TV content, including cable, broadcast, and satellite, is currently transmitted in the MPEG-2 format. HD-DVD and Blu-ray disc players, along with some recently launched satellites, rely on the newer and more powerful MPEG-4 format.

NTSC
The legacy analog television broadcast system used in the US, being replaced by the ATSC digital system.

Refresh Rate
The frequency with which a video image is refreshed, expressed as either frames per second (i.e. 60 fps) or as an equivalent frequency (i.e. 60 Hz). Faster refresh rates tend to render smoother motion sequences. Refresh rates for broadcast TV vary by region – for example, European HD systems run at 50 Hz.

Set-top Box
A device for decoding incoming AV signals, such as programs from a cable or satellite TV network. Many models also include DVR (digital video recorder) technology. Virtually all STBs now rely on HDMI output.


YCbCr Color
A family of color spaces, used in some HD applications, where color is expressed using a luma component plus red and blue chroma components, rather than by describing absolute color values, as in the RGB color model. Also known as YPbPr color. 

 Now you know it all and where to get your HDMI cables from.

Thanks!

"By Mercy Salinas"