Signal
A cable either carries what the source is sending or it does not, and the deciding factors are the length of the run and the marking on the jacket. Measure the route before you choose a cable.
In this section
HDMI Bandwidth
What the Gbps figure covers, why the weakest link decides, and when a cable is worth suspecting.
Cable Length
The three segments of a real run, how much slack to add, and which listed length covers it.
In-Wall Cable Rating
The marking that decides whether a cable may go inside a wall, and the three things that stop the job.
ARC and eARC
How sound travels back from the screen to the bar, and the port label that decides whether it can.
Other Inputs
Directional adapter cables, counting the sockets you actually have, and why adapters stack badly.
Order of work
Measure the route
Three segments along the path the cable takes, plus slack. The length decides more than any other figure on a cable listing.
Check the jacket
If any part of the run goes inside a wall, the marking on the jacket becomes the first filter and everything else waits.
Then the figures
Bandwidth and format claims matter last, and only against what both ends of your own chain can already do.
Tool in this section
- Cable Length — Length of the run, with the formula printed underneath it.
The parts page
Cables are placed on one line by the only figure they all state in the same units: HDMI Cables.