Can a standard hdmi cable do 4K?

[#Michael]

Decided to buy a 4K tv and not sure if the hdmi cables I currently have are just fine or not.  They are standard hdmi cables from monoprice.  Do I need something different?

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

HDMI cables have not changed in a very long time. The only thing you need to look for is that it says "high speed." So yes, any cheap monoprice cable will be fine.

 

For some reason there's this myth that just wont die on the internet about HDMI cables. Perhaps it's b/c theyre marketed as such. perhaps it's b/c people are confusing the HDMI spec w/ the HDMI cable. i dont know.

[#Michael]

10 minutes ago, Jason S. said:

HDMI cables have not changed in a very long time. The only thing you need to look for is that it says "high speed." So yes, any cheap monoprice cable will be fine.

 

For some reason there's this myth that just wont die on the internet about HDMI cables. Perhaps it's b/c theyre marketed as such. perhaps it's b/c people are confusing the HDMI spec w/ the HDMI cable. i dont know.

Thanks...I actually picked up a couple of the monoprice high speed hdmi cables that are certified for 4k@60hz.  They were like $6 each.

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

see what i mean, though, about the marketing? they dont even need to be certified. the cable hasnt changed since, probably, HDMI 1.1.

 

(that's not entirely true. i believe the cable changed when the spec included Ethernet. but that's not required for the video signal, obviously)

[tsupersonic]

3 minutes ago, Jason S. said:

see what i mean, though, about the marketing? they dont even need to be certified. the cable hasnt changed since, probably, HDMI 1.1.

 

(that's not entirely true. i believe the cable changed when the spec included Ethernet. but that's not required for the video signal, obviously)

Not true at all. You need HDMI 1.4+ to output 4k video - see wiki

[neufuse Veteran]

33 minutes ago, Jason S. said:

see what i mean, though, about the marketing? they dont even need to be certified. the cable hasnt changed since, probably, HDMI 1.1.

 

(that's not entirely true. i believe the cable changed when the spec included Ethernet. but that's not required for the video signal, obviously)

yeah I got into a fight with a tv guy about that... I got a 4K TV which has a HDMI 2 port on it for 4K, I have a desktop system that supports 4K over HDMI... He told me it wouldn't work at 60Hz because my cable was HDMI 1.4.. I told him that whole thing about the cables is BS the wiring Is the same and so is the shielding.. .didn't believe me, plugged in the TV to the system set the res at 3840 x 2160 (4K at 16:9) and the refresh rate at 60Hz... worked perfectly......

Edited February 19, 2016 by neufuse

[Xilo]

16 minutes ago, Jason S. said:

see what i mean, though, about the marketing? they dont even need to be certified. the cable hasnt changed since, probably, HDMI 1.1.

 

(that's not entirely true. i believe the cable changed when the spec included Ethernet. but that's not required for the video signal, obviously)

It's just a scam by companies like Monster and Best Buy to make a killer off of overpriced cables that costs very little to make.

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

15 minutes ago, tsupersonic said:

Not true at all. You need HDMI 1.4+ to output 4k video - see wiki

youre confusing that w/ the HDMI spec. The cable doesnt matter. The spec does.

 

Directly from that wiki page: "High Speed HDMI 1.3 cables work with all HDMI 1.4 features except for the HDMI Ethernet Channel."

[tsupersonic]

29 minutes ago, Jason S. said:

youre confusing that w/ the HDMI spec. The cable doesnt matter. The spec does.

 

Directly from that wiki page: "High Speed HDMI 1.3 cables work with all HDMI 1.4 features except for the HDMI Ethernet Channel."

Ah gotcha, I misunderstood then

[+Fahim S. MVC]

Any well built cable should be able to do 4K.

 

Cables marked as 4K have been tested and proven to work. Doesn't mean other cables can't, just haven't been tested by the manufacturer.

[ACTIONpack]

You will need a 1.4a HDMI to run 4k video at 30fps. If you want 60fps then you will need to get 2.0. They are really cheap and can get it for $6 to $100 on Amazon.com. Don't spend more if you don't have to. Link to a cheap but popular one people get.

 

https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-High-Speed-HDMI-Cable-Standard/dp/B014I8SSD0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1471278697&sr=8-2&keywords=hdmi+2.0

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

15 minutes ago, ACTIONpack said:

You will need a 1.4a HDMI to run 4k video at 30fps. If you want 60fps then you will need to get 2.0. They are really cheap and can get it for $6 to $100 on Amazon.com. Don't spend more if you don't have to. Link to a cheap but popular one people get.

 

https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-High-Speed-HDMI-Cable-Standard/dp/B014I8SSD0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1471278697&sr=8-2&keywords=hdmi+2.0

you do not need "HDMI 2.0" cables. these are marketing tactics. Any HDMI cable labeled "high speed" is sufficient. HDMI is a protocol, the cable doesnt matter.

 

Yes, there are HDMI Premium certified cables. These are tested using various methods to ensure that they meet some pre-defined standards. They are valid and demand a higher price, but again, are not necessary.

 

also, please refrain from resurrecting 6mo old threads. Thanks.

[ACTIONpack]

Didn't know it was 6 months old until I post and saw most of the threads on this section of the site is old anyway. Not many people use the Home Theatre section of this site.

 

But to your post. :-)

 

There is a big difference between HDMI versions. Even though you don't need the latest HDMI to run 4k video, the high-speed transfer 10GBit/sec verse 18GBit/sec with 2.0a which you can get 60Hz. Gaming will be important and will HDR10 will work fine with 2.0 at this point, but next year HDR10 will be getting an update to its standard to be using Dynamic metadata support instead of just static which 2.0 can't do. So there is a difference to the HDMI cables and versions.

[HawkMan]

57 minutes ago, ACTIONpack said:

Didn't know it was 6 months old until I post and saw most of the threads on this section of the site is old anyway. Not many people use the Home Theatre section of this site.

 

But to your post. :-)

 

There is a big difference between HDMI versions. Even though you don't need the latest HDMI to run 4k video, the high-speed transfer 10GBit/sec verse 18GBit/sec with 2.0a which you can get 60Hz. Gaming will be important and will HDR10 will work fine with 2.0 at this point, but next year HDR10 will be getting an update to its standard to be using Dynamic metadata support instead of just static which 2.0 can't do. So there is a difference to the HDMI cables and versions.

 

There'es a difference between the hardware at the start and end of the cable. the cable is a hdmi cable and doesn't really matter at all as long as it's not broken. 

 

the only time cable quality really matters is when the cable is longer than 12 meters (which is the max certified length of the original cables, at that point you will get green "stars" on the picture or the picture will drop out randomly, on a regular non certified cable), where you will need higher quality, properly certified cables. at which points it's generally cheaper to go with HDMI over ethernet instead. 

 

But you need to read the posts you reply to, as it's been explained several times in this threa,d the spec is for the encoding and decoding hardware behind the plugs. in fact the HDMI consortium or whatever that' makes the HDMI specs have specifically said that cable makers are NOT allowed to mark cables with HDMI version numbers as there is no HDMI 1.4 cable. 

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

1 hour ago, ACTIONpack said:

Didn't know it was 6 months old until I post and saw most of the threads on this section of the site is old anyway. Not many people use the Home Theatre section of this site.

 

But to your post. :-)

 

There is a big difference between HDMI versions. Even though you don't need the latest HDMI to run 4k video, the high-speed transfer 10GBit/sec verse 18GBit/sec with 2.0a which you can get 60Hz. Gaming will be important and will HDR10 will work fine with 2.0 at this point, but next year HDR10 will be getting an update to its standard to be using Dynamic metadata support instead of just static which 2.0 can't do. So there is a difference to the HDMI cables and versions.

as Hawkman already pointed out, youre still confusing the HDMI Specification with the HDMI Cable. They are completely different. the cable does not matter. there are no <version number> cables. With few exceptions, it's just a cable.

 

These resellers and manufacturers are the ones confusing everyone by marketing cables with specific version numbers.

[LaP]

On 2016-02-19 at 10:50 AM, tsupersonic said:

Not true at all. You need HDMI 1.4+ to output 4k video - see wiki

Actually 1.4 does 4k at 30 fps only. To have 60 fps at 4k you need HDMI 2.

 

But that's the device support only (specification). Any recent cable even the cheap ones should be able to do 4k if the device is 1.4 (30 fps) or 2 (60fps).

 

As far as i know you need "special" cables for Ethernet over HDMI only.

 

[edit] did not read the whole thread before posting looks like many people already replied this sorry.

[Nerd Rage]

Unless the company is engaging in very deceptive practices, the "cable" version refers to the specification that the cable to built to.  So a HDMI 2.0 cable was built to the HDMI 2.0 specification.  There are some deceptive companies out there so you need to read the fine print in regards to which specification the cable supports, but deceptive companies aside, "cable" version = specification.

[HawkMan]

47 minutes ago, Nerd Rage said:

Unless the company is engaging in very deceptive practices, the "cable" version refers to the specification that the cable to built to.  So a HDMI 2.0 cable was built to the HDMI 2.0 specification.  There are some deceptive companies out there so you need to read the fine print in regards to which specification the cable supports, but deceptive companies aside, "cable" version = specification.

....

 

sigh...

[PGHammer]

On 8/15/2016 at 0:32 PM, ACTIONpack said:

You will need a 1.4a HDMI to run 4k video at 30fps. If you want 60fps then you will need to get 2.0. They are really cheap and can get it for $6 to $100 on Amazon.com. Don't spend more if you don't have to. Link to a cheap but popular one people get.

 

https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-High-Speed-HDMI-Cable-Standard/dp/B014I8SSD0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1471278697&sr=8-2&keywords=hdmi+2.0

These are, in fact, the very cables I'm looking for as we upgrade the existing TVs to 4K.  The part that makes me ill (on the TV end) is that the price is either identical or DOWN compared to where non-4K was five years ago or less.

 

Painful real-world example - The Samsung UN40KU6300 costs less than the Sony BX450 did when I got it for Christmas two years ago - and the Sony doesn't support 4K (not a Smart HDTV, either); the Samsung is, however, both.

 

The fact that it's flat is a non-issue; it's going on a wall (replacing the Sony, and using the same VESA-standard wall-mount and bracket) - I still have the table stand, so the BX450 will be passed down.