What is HDMI?

Question

Will it improve my video quality on my HDTV? Can i connect it to my satellite cable receiver box to improve video quality? If so is it a drastic improvement. How much does it cost?

Answer 1

HDMI is the high definition media interface cable standard. It offers the best video and sound transmission from your player to your TV. Yes, you can connect it to your sat receiver if you have the HD version.

It will not be a drastic improvement over component cables. HDMI has better noise shielding and eliminates having to use 5 cables. The video and sound are in one cable. The cost range from $10-$129 for 6ft. I found the $10 gold plated cable(ver1.3a) is just as good as the $100 cables from monster. You wont notice a thing different.

Answer 2

HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is an interface standard used for audiovisual equipment such as high-definition television and home theater systems. With 19 wires wrapped in a single cable that resembles a USB wire, HDMI is able to carry a bandwidth of 5 Gbps (gigabits per second). This is more than twice the bandwidth needed to transmit multi-channel audio and video, future-proofing HDMI for some time to come. This and several other factors make HDMI much more desirable than its predecessors, component video, S-Video and composite video.

HDMI is an uncompressed, all-digital signal, while the aforementioned interfaces are all analog. With an analog interface, a clean digital source is translated into less precise analog, sent to the television, then converted back to a digital signal to display on screen. At each translation, the digital signal loses integrity, resulting in some distortion of picture quality. HDMI preserves the source signal, eliminating analog conversion to deliver the sharpest, richest picture possible.

Answer 3

HDMI = High-definition multimedia interface.

It's supposed to be the best standard for connecting your HD video components, because it sends the digital information without digital-to-analog conversion (like component video cables). It also sends the audio information, so you don't have to hook up additional audio cables.

If your satellite receiver has HDMI out and your TV has HDMI in, you can use it. I don't know how much it will be improved. That depends on the quality of your TV and the component video cables its replacing.

I have never done a side-by-side comparison of HDMI and component video cables. So, I don't know how much of an improvement you get.

I think they start at around $30.