[Info-vax] OT: "HDMI 2.0 cables"

[Dirk Munk]

MG wrote:
> Dirk Munk schreef op 23-jan-2015 om 13:44:
>> Actually, you might be wrong here.
>
> "Might" eh?  How about this: Want to bet on it?
>
>
>> According to Wiki there are/were two cable qualities, Cat1 cables
>> (tested at 74.5 MHz) and Cat2 (tested at 340MHz). HDMI 1.4 uses a
>> 340MHz clock rate, but HDMI 2.0 uses a 600MHz clock rate. So indeed
>> there may be new HDMI 2.0 cables tested at 600MHz. HDMI cables are
>> twisted pair cables.
>
> "May"?  (What's next, "maybe" and "perhaps"?)  Tell me, where are
> these magical "HDMI 2.0" cables?  Please enlighten me.
>
>
>> It's just like with UTP Cat3, Cat5, Cat5e, Cat6 and Cat7.
>
> Except it's not.
>
>   - MG

You really didn't look at the technical details, now did you?

Here's a link to a page on hdmi.org describing the 5 different cable 
types and qualities that are defined today:

http://www.hdmi.org/consumer/finding_right_cable.aspx

The high speed cables are defined in the HDMI 1.4b standard, and are 
tested for a clock rate of 340MHz. These cables are sufficient for any 
consumer equipment that is on sale today.

The quality of the cables becomes important when they get longer. If you 
look for it you will find test with long HDMI cables, and then it 
becomes clear that indeed there are differences in cable quality.

The HDMI 2.0 standard however also defines the 8k TV standards etc. and 
for that the clock rate can be as high as 600MHz, well in access of the 
340MHz specification of today's high speed cables as defined in HDMI 1.4b.

Now don't you think that at some point there must be a new cable 
standard for the 600MHz clock rate?

Quite often cable manufacturers produce new type of cables with much 
higher specifications than the official specifications at that moment. I 
once had to put ethernet wiring in a building, and I wanted it to be 
ready for 100mb ethernet. However the cat5 standard didn't exist at the 
time. Never the less I did get proper cables.

Same thing happened with multi-mode fibres. There is an OM3 standard, 
but some companies also had an unofficial OM3-plus standard with much 
better specifications. Later on that became the OM4 standard.

I'm not saying that the cables that are advertised as HDMI 2.0 cables 
today are tested for 600MHz. But if they are produced by a reputable 
company, they just might be.