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Qtx · 24-05-2014, 16:08

For the price difference it is worth paying the extra quid or two for a 1.4a/b or 2.0 HDMI cable as it gives you scope to upgrade your equipment in the future without upgrading your cables.

1.4a has ARC/Audio Return Channel which allows digital sound to be sent through the HDMI cable rather than a separate optical cable, which is handy if you add an AV receiver to your setup. 1.4a is also good enough to handle the new UltraHD/4k tv's that are just coming out, although only at up to 30 frames per second which is ok for films but not broadcast tv or 4k gaming consoles but they are some way off still. You would need HDMI 2 cables to support those.

Some of the older HDMI also don't support CEC which many products now support under various names. It's what allows your tv remote to also control your dvd/blueray player and other devices that support it. For LG it's called Simplink, Sony call it Bravia Link Control, Samsung call it AnyNet+ etc. I can use my tv remote to control my Onkyo and XBMC on the Pi and it was handy until I got the Harmony remote.

I recently got these 2.0 cables in a few lengths (seems i'm always adding more HDMI devices around the house!) and not only do they look good they also have a decent build quality. Future proof too.

24-05-2014, 16:08	#18
Qtx CF's Worst Nightmare Join Date: May 2012 Location: Probably outside the M25 Services: Sky Fibre Unlimited 40/10 Posts: 3,473	Re: HDMI connections For the price difference it is worth paying the extra quid or two for a 1.4a/b or 2.0 HDMI cable as it gives you scope to upgrade your equipment in the future without upgrading your cables. 1.4a has ARC/Audio Return Channel which allows digital sound to be sent through the HDMI cable rather than a separate optical cable, which is handy if you add an AV receiver to your setup. 1.4a is also good enough to handle the new UltraHD/4k tv's that are just coming out, although only at up to 30 frames per second which is ok for films but not broadcast tv or 4k gaming consoles but they are some way off still. You would need HDMI 2 cables to support those. Some of the older HDMI also don't support CEC which many products now support under various names. It's what allows your tv remote to also control your dvd/blueray player and other devices that support it. For LG it's called Simplink, Sony call it Bravia Link Control, Samsung call it AnyNet+ etc. I can use my tv remote to control my Onkyo and XBMC on the Pi and it was handy until I got the Harmony remote. I recently got these 2.0 cables in a few lengths (seems i'm always adding more HDMI devices around the house!) and not only do they look good they also have a decent build quality. Future proof too.