HDMI Cable Buying Guide

An HDMI cable delivers high definition content to an HDTV set. They are far superior to component video cables because they deliver content digitally (think 0s and 1s) vs. component cables still which use analog technology that we see in older generation TV sets.

When shopping for an HDMI cable, it is important to remember that HDMI technology is preferred over more obsolete forms of digital audio and video connections such as component video. Component video can deliver HDTV content at a resolution of up to 1080i. What this means is that at 1080i, you are seeing video that is interlaced (hence the ""i"" in 1080i) with lower resolution images to produce video that only seems to be of a higher quality.

HDMI cables, however, have a maximum resolution of 1080p (the letter ""p"" does make all the difference). This means you can get video made of the highest quality images available. With 1080p, the video is composed of images that have 1080 horizontal lines of resolution, rather than lower quality images that are laced together.

What many consumers don’t realize is that you will experience far superior sound quality with HDMI cables as well. Unlike component video, HDMI supports 5.1 surround-sound which is important or any home theater system, to create the sound you would get at a movie theater.

So why settle for component video? HDMI uses digital technology that HDTV sets were built to run on. Higher quality HDMI cables may prove to be better further down the road as they support a higher bandwidth. Higher end cables will be especially necessary in the future when HDTV's will run on a more powerful signal. Whatever brand of HDMI cable you do choose to purchase, remember to select one that supports 1080p resolution.