WEBVTT 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 00:00:06.080 --> 00:00:10.560 and it functions properly, there's no reason to spend extra money on something fancy, 00:00:10.560 --> 00:00:15.520 because a digital transmission isn't nearly as susceptible to interference as an old-school 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 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. 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. 00:00:32.080 --> 00:00:36.720 So to find out what actually matters when buying an HDMI cable, we spoke to Ugreen, 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 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 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 00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:57.200 platinum, unobtainmentium alloy, or whatever other nonsense. Cheaply made HDMI cables sometimes 00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:01.520 use steel, which isn't a particularly good conductor, meaning it's something that you 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 00:01:06.800 --> 00:01:12.960 really any better. Instead, go for cables with pure copper wiring inside. The good news, however, 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 00:01:18.080 --> 00:01:24.480 such as silver-plated copper. What then becomes important is how thick the wiring is inside, 00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:29.120 which is measured by something called a gauge number, and counterintuitively a lower number 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 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 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:46.000 longer cable run without having to worry about signal attenuation or interference because your 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 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 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 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 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 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 00:02:18.560 --> 00:02:24.240 you better longevity as the gold is an effective barrier against wear and corrosion, especially 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 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 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 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 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. 00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:52.320 If the manufacturer doesn't list testing methods on their website, 00:02:52.320 --> 00:02:56.880 read reviews and find out if any other customers have had problems with compatibility. 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 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 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 00:03:13.920 --> 00:03:18.480 bandwidth to enable higher frame rates and deeper colors. Interestingly, manufacturers actually made 00:03:18.480 --> 00:03:23.920 these faster cables not with exotic materials or radical design changes, but simply by improving 00:03:23.920 --> 00:03:29.520 the manufacturing process to minimize small defects in the copper that can hurt the signal, 00:03:29.520 --> 00:03:35.120 increase latency, and introduce interference. However, faster speeds still mean a smaller 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 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 00:03:46.640 --> 00:03:52.400 remember, generally speaking, shorter and thicker is better. Just ask Kim K. Or Colton.