1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,080 There's an off-repeated piece of advice among AV enthusiasts. If an HDMI cable is built to spec 2 00:00:06,080 --> 00:00:10,560 and it functions properly, there's no reason to spend extra money on something fancy, 3 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:15,520 because a digital transmission isn't nearly as susceptible to interference as an old-school 4 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:21,440 analog connection. In other words, it basically works or it doesn't. And indeed, we did a video 5 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:26,960 on our channel a while back that showed how silly certain over-engineered HDMI cables can be. 6 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:32,080 But that doesn't mean it's always a great idea to buy the cheapest, most bare-bones cable either. 7 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:36,720 So to find out what actually matters when buying an HDMI cable, we spoke to Ugreen, 8 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:42,080 a manufacturer of HDMI cables, and we'd like to thank them as well as Phillips AOC and David Sheff 9 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:47,200 for his translation services. So it turns out that using the correct material inside of an HDMI 10 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:51,520 cable can make a big difference, but that doesn't mean that you should go out and find cables with 11 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:57,200 platinum, unobtainmentium alloy, or whatever other nonsense. Cheaply made HDMI cables sometimes 12 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:01,520 use steel, which isn't a particularly good conductor, meaning it's something that you 13 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:06,800 should generally avoid. You might see cables that are made of copper coated steel, but these aren't 14 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:12,960 really any better. Instead, go for cables with pure copper wiring inside. The good news, however, 15 00:01:12,960 --> 00:01:18,000 is that copper cables aren't super expensive, and you don't need to get anything higher-grade 16 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:24,480 such as silver-plated copper. What then becomes important is how thick the wiring is inside, 17 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:29,120 which is measured by something called a gauge number, and counterintuitively a lower number 18 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:35,440 means a thicker wire. As a general rule of thumb, your cable length shouldn't exceed 1.5 meters 19 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:41,120 with a thin 32 gauge wire. But as you go thicker and thicker, you can safely have a longer and 20 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:46,000 longer cable run without having to worry about signal attenuation or interference because your 21 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:51,520 cables are too thin, as indicated by this helpful chart. However, you won't find much thicker than 22 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:57,680 24 gauge, since at that point, the cable simply becomes too thick and difficult to bend. Another 23 00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:02,480 thing to consider is the connectors on the end of the cable. Gold plating is better if you can find 24 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:07,680 it, but take note that I'm not talking about the large part on the outside that manufacturers 25 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:13,760 often color gold to give the cable a more premium look. I'm talking about the actual contacts on 26 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:18,560 the inside of the connector. Gold plating won't really affect your performance, but it will give 27 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:24,240 you better longevity as the gold is an effective barrier against wear and corrosion, especially 28 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:28,880 if you're unplugging and replugging the cable quite often, which I don't do because my TV 29 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:33,120 is too close to the wall. Once you've found a cable made with good materials, try and find out 30 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:38,240 if it's been tested to work with a wide variety of equipment. Some cheaper cables are only tested 31 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:43,200 with a couple of monitors, so they might not play very nicely with your gadgets if you're running 32 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:48,560 them in any kind of setup that isn't super straightforward, such as with an HDMI splitter. 33 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:52,320 If the manufacturer doesn't list testing methods on their website, 34 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:56,880 read reviews and find out if any other customers have had problems with compatibility. 35 00:02:56,880 --> 00:03:02,160 And on the subject of compatibility, make sure you're buying a premium high-speed cable if you 36 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:08,400 want 4K at 60Hz or HDR. These have a speed of around 18 gigabits per second, as opposed to the 37 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:13,920 10 gigabits of the more standard high-speed cable, not premium high-speed, and you'll need the extra 38 00:03:13,920 --> 00:03:18,480 bandwidth to enable higher frame rates and deeper colors. Interestingly, manufacturers actually made 39 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:23,920 these faster cables not with exotic materials or radical design changes, but simply by improving 40 00:03:23,920 --> 00:03:29,520 the manufacturing process to minimize small defects in the copper that can hurt the signal, 41 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:35,120 increase latency, and introduce interference. However, faster speeds still mean a smaller 42 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:40,960 margin for error, so if you're trying to use ultra high-speed 48 gigabit cables to get the most 43 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:46,640 out of HDMI 2.1, for example, you probably don't want to get a cable longer than 3 meters. Just 44 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:52,400 remember, generally speaking, shorter and thicker is better. Just ask Kim K. Or Colton.