If you have to buy a cable HDMIthe adventure can turn into a nightmare. A simple look at Amazon shows us countless cables called HDMI 4K, HDMI 8K, HDMI High Speed, Ultra High Speed, Premium High Speed HDMI… But how crazy is this?
These are the standards in technology. Everything but standards. Let’s clarify the situation, so that you really buy the HDMI cable you need.
The main problem is that there are dozens of cable manufacturers, most of them Chinese and Taiwanese. And although there is an official nomenclature, to differentiate one from another, certain manufacturers use their own, more striking names. And that creates chaos.
Differences between a 4K HDMI cable vs. 8K
Many HDMI cables are sold as 4K and 8K HDMI cables. But that doesn’t help much. The only thing they tell us is that they work at 4K (3840 x 2160 pixels) or 8K (7680 x 4320 pixels) resolution. It’s not enough.
For example, it may be a 4K at 30Hz cable, so it won’t work for connecting a PS5 console, which requires at least 4K at 60Hz. And if it’s a 4K at 60Hz cable, you won’t be able to play games that run at 4K at 120Hz.
The same goes for 8K cables. Many are 8K at 30Hz, which is useless if you need 8K at 60Hz.
The key is in the different HDMI standards. HDMI 1.4 supports up to 4K at 30 Hz, HDMI 2.0 supports up to 4K at 60 Hz, and the HDMI 2.1 standard can reach 8K at 60 Hz and 4K at 120 Hz. The most recent is HDMI 2.2, which supports up to 16K at 60 Hz, but also supports 4K at 240 Hz, 8K at 120 Hz and 12K at 120 Hz.
Therefore, when you buy an HDMI cable, look on the box or in the specifications for the format the cable accepts: HDMI 2.0, 2.1, etc. With this you will get your maximum resolution and refresh rate.
In addition to the trade names, there is an official nomenclature that you should know, because that does tell you the official characteristics of the cable.
The official HDMI nomenclature
Although there are nine official names, the ones used now are High Speed HDMI Cable, Ultra High Speed HDMI Cable, and Premium High Speed HDMI Cable.
He cable High Speed HDMI It has a bandwidth of 10.2 Gbps and accepts 4K 30 Hz and 1080p 60 Hz signals.
He cable Premium High Speed HDMI supports 18 Gbps bandwidth and signals up to 4K 60 Hz.
Finally, the cable Ultra High Speed HDMI It debuted with the HDMI 2.1 specification. It uses a bandwidth of 48 Gbps with 8K resolution at 60 Hz and 4K at 120 Hz. It is what you need for a modern console or PC.
The last one to leave has been the Ultra96 HDMI cablewhich supports HDMI 2.2. But that one is still difficult to find, because few current devices take advantage of it.
Buy an HDMI cable It can put you in a quagmire, which will lead you to buy the wrong model. Follow these instructions so you don’t get lost.