What's the difference between HDMI cables? AWG, 1.3a etc.?

Question

I was looking to ger an HDMI cable from monoprice.com but there is 22AWG, 24AWG, etc, etc, and then there's ones that just say HDMI and ones that say HDMI 1.3. What's the difference and what does all this mean?

Answer 1

-HDMI supports, on a single cable, video formats, including standard, enhanced or high-definition video, plus multi-channel digital audio. Each subsequent version of the specification uses the same cables, but increases the throughput and capabilities of what can be transmitted over that cable.  For example, an HDMI v1.3 is still the same cable but has an additional option to support the new xvYCC wide color standard for some HD cameras.

-AWG stands for American Wire Gage, the measurement for wire size, which uses a numbering system for indicating thickness of the diameter of wire. 22AWG is "thicker" wire than 24AWG. The thicker the wire the less resistance in the wire.

This means that if you have long runs in your system or if you're in doubt, (and your budget will allow), go with the larger diameter wire. Your amp will have to work less to drive the signal to your components.