Bandwidth and Speed are very
important when discussing the construction of a HDMI cable. One has to have a general understanding of
how these two words pertain to cables as well as how they play into the cables
functional capability. Bandwidth and
Speed are a very difficult and confusing concept for most people to grasp.
What is Bandwidth? What is speed?
Although bandwidth and speed have
much in common, they are different and are frequently and incorrectly used by
both consumers and the manufacturers to express the same thought.
·
Bandwidth refers to how much data can pass thru
a device at the same point and time.
·
Speed refers to how quickly a device can create
the data.
For example, when discussing
the differences in bandwidth needed to produce a 1080P picture (5 Gbps by Spec)
and a 4K/60, 4:2:0 picture (9.2 Gbps +/-) what we are really comparing is the
width of the high-way and the number of available traffic lanes. Think of it this way: You send a 100 vehicle
convoy between two cities down a 2 lane road at 60 miles an hour, this will give
you 2 columns 50 trucks deep. The last truck in line will not arrive at the
same time as the first. Now we increase the road to 10 lanes across and we are
only 10 trucks deep closing the time gap.
In widening the road, the trucks can now go faster and vehicle speed increases
to 120 mph. A 10 to 1 increase in
traffic flow is the result.
The trucks become data and
you get our point – wider bandwidth increases the speed of the data in a HDMI
cable.
What does this have to do
with cables and why is this part of our series?
How fast a HDMI cable sends
data is one of the most important facts of a cable and in our opinion must be a
part of this series. There is not one
physical part of a cable that increases bandwidth and speed. Wire gauge and consistency of the twist ratio
determine both speed and bandwidth. Better quality product equals better data
transfer. A cable must be well built to
be able to produce wider bandwidths and increasing speed. DPL certification on
HDMI cables is a good way to know if the cable will provide the best bandwidth
and speed.
DPL certification is neither
quick nor cheap. First it takes a while to design and build a cable that meets
the DPL standards. Second in order for DPL to maintain “Truth in testing” on
going testing is required and DPL does not get this samples from the vendor
they come from dealers or distribution, so like “UL” certification there is a
yearly fee to keep you (the vendor) up to date.
For the dealer, this is a
fantastic resource as well as a great and timely report of what is tested and real.
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