From streaming, HDTVs and high-end gaming systems to HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc™ players, the connection of choice for today’s high-definition electronics is clear: the HDMI® Cable.
Short for High-Definition Multimedia Interface, there are several types of HDMI® Cables.
Among them is Standard HDMI®. It works with 1080i or 720p video with eight channels of uncompressed audio. These cables are backwards compatible with older resolutions and bandwidth but may not support updated resolutions and bandwidth. There’s a version of this cable for Ethernet, with a channel specifically for data on this type of HDMI® Cable.
- • High Speed HDMI® supports greater than 1080p and up to 10.2Gbps bandwidth. It is recommended for Blu-Ray™ and supports 4K@30Hz, 3D and deep color formats. There is a High Speed version cable with Ethernet and for Automotive.
- • Premium High Speed HDMI® Cables support 4K/UltraHD up to 18Gbps, as well as have low EMI or electromagnetic interference.
- • The Ultra High Speed HDMI® Cable is backwards compatible with prior HDMI® devices and also has low EMI. It supports 8k@60 and 4k@120, up to 48Gbps.
- • Standard HDMI® connectors — otherwise known as “Type A” — transmit signals from a 19-pin configuration. Then there was the rarer 29-pin “Type B” HDMI® connector available for some devices that isn’t in use anymore. There is also “Type C” Mini HDMI® for tablets and “Type C” or “Micro” for smartphones. “Type E” was used on some navigation systems in particular car models but on the back end.
- • Type A is by far the most widely used HDMI® on the market. Let’s look at how they’re put together.
Once they leave the connector’s pins, signals travel via the HDMI® cable’s twisted-pair copper wires. To protect signals from deteriorating during transmission, HDMI® includes an encoding technology known as transmission minimized differential signaling, or TMDS. TMDS allows each signal to be sent in both standard and inverse formats — one through each wire of a designated twisted pair.
See the pinout chart below to learn more about the HDMI® connector, pin by pin and signal by signal.
HDMI® CONNECTOR PINOUT CHART
| PIN | FUNCTION |
|---|---|
| 1 | TMDS Data Channel 2+ |
| 2 | TMDS Data Channel 2 Shield |
| 3 | TMDS Data Channel 2- |
| 4 | TMDS Data Channel 1+ |
| 5 | TMDS Data Channel 1 Shield |
| 6 | TMDS Data Channel 1- |
| 7 | TMDS Data Channel 0+ |
| 8 | TMDS Data Channel 0 Shield |
| 9 | TMDS Data 0- |
| 10 | TMDS Clock+ |
| 11 | TMDS Clock Shield |
| 12 | TMDS Clock- |
| 13 | CEC |
| 14 | No Connect |
| 15 | DDC Clock |
| 16 | DDC Data |
| 17 | Ground |
| 18 | Power (+5V) |
| 19 | Hot Plug Detect |
Shop at CableOrganizer® for a range of HDMI® Cables for your high-definition electronics.
