Mar
29
HDMI 1.3 Cables: Certified vs. Compatible
Filed Under HDMI | Leave a Comment
You may have seen “1.3 certified” used as a selling point for HDMI cables recently but there are a few things you should know before paying a premium for these certified cables. Yes HDMI 1.3 is a recent revision to the original HDMI specification which adds extended support for deep-color and higher transmission rates. 1.3 also has additional support for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio over the original specifications, but unless your source and display are HDMI 1.3 capable, the cable itself won’t add anything to the equation.
What’s more, some cables that haven’t been 1.3 certified (often sold as compatible) may be perfectly capable of delivering all of the HDMI 1.3 features. In other words, the lack of certification doesn’t mean the cable couldn’t pass if tested. This isn’t a new phenomenon in the audio/video world either. Many receivers that haven’t been submitted for THX approval could easily meet or exceed the criteria for THX approval. Often times it just doesn’t make sense to pay to have lower-end models tested.
Likewise, short of buying from a well known manufacturer or reseller, simply stating that a cable is 1.3 certified doesn’t always make it so. Thus far there really hasn’t been a big push for any kind of documentation or third-party verification of test results. None of this was in anyway meant to debunk the benefits of 1.3 or cast doubt on any reseller; I just want you to keep things in perspective when purchasing new cables.
Mar
12
Add HDMI Switching to any System
Filed Under HDMI | Leave a Comment
People who spend any time at all talking to me in person are often surprised to find out I’m not a proponent of constant equipment upgrades. Even as someone who sells A/V gear for a living I really don’t see the need to toss out gear that’s in perfect working order, there’s always time for upgrades and replacements down the road. That said, two of the biggest changes to happen to home theater gear in the last few years were 1080p displays and HDMI switching for A/V receivers. While I can’t help with turning a 720p display into one capable of displaying 1080p I can help with the HDMI switching issue.
Assuming you have a recent AVR without HDMI switching (but would like to add it) and a universal remote-control and your source equipment is equipped with optical and or digital coaxial audio outputs, the process is actually quite simple. First you’ll need a HDMI switcher with an infra-red (IR) remote control, I told you it was simple… Monoprice sell’s these for as little as forty dollars but search around for “IR HDMI switcher” you never know what you might find.
Ok, with HDMI switcher in hand, the audio cables ran to their respective inputs (sans video cables) on the receiver, all that’s left to do is hook-up the switcher and program the remote. Hooking up the switcher couldn’t be more straightforward, run one HDMI cable to your display and then the individual cables to your source devices.
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