Okay to Use 8K-capable HDMI Cable for 4K and 1080p Devices?

S

SoundEro

Enthusiast
I have a Denon AVR-X4700H AV receiver. It is capable of handling 8K via a couple of ports. There is an 8K HDMI In port and a couple 8K HDMI Out ports. There are six HDMI In ports that are designated as 4K.

In addition to 8K devices, could I use an 8K-capable HDMI cable to connect the receiver to 4K or 1080p devices and still have everything work correctly? And could that 8K HDMI cable be used in any of the ports?

I had assumed that, if an HDMI cable can handle 8K it would also be able to accommodate lower resolutions. Is that assumption correct? I was considering, for the sake of simplicity, to use the same type of cable (8K-capable HDMI) for all the devices.

But only if they can work that way, of course...
 
-Jim-

-Jim-

Audioholic General
Certainly. That way you wouldn't have to remember what cable is for what connection. Enjoy!
 
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lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Thankfully hdmi is backwards compatible :) I shudder to think otherwise....
 
Verdinut

Verdinut

Audioholic Spartan
But if you don't have any 8K product, and are not planning to go for the 8K definition, you are wasting money in getting an 8K compatible cable. IMO, 8K will fail for home use as 3D video did. The 4K format is amply sufficient for home use.

However, if you have the room space and can afford a 20 foot wide screen, then an 8K video system might be interesting.
 
G

Golfx

Full Audioholic
8k does seem to still have a cache among AVR and TV manufacturers hoping to sell newer units. But it is very telling that no major movie or tv production company is producing any 8k content.


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S

SoundEro

Enthusiast
Certainly. That way you wouldn't have to remember what cable is for what connection. Enjoy!
That’s precisely what I had in mind, Jim. I just like to make things as simple as possible.
 
S

SoundEro

Enthusiast
Thankfully hdmi is backwards compatible :) I shudder to think otherwise....
Yeah, me, too. I imagine HDMI was designed to be the easiest, most straightforward type of AV connection. That’s why I like it.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Yeah, me, too. I imagine HDMI was designed to be the easiest, most straightforward type of AV connection. That’s why I like it.
Well, it has issues in a variety of ways but not likely going anywhere anytime soon.....
 
S

SoundEro

Enthusiast
8k does seem to still have a cache among AVR and TV manufacturers hoping to sell newer units. But it is very telling that no major movie or tv production company is producing any 8k content.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
The electronics/equipment manufacturers are always technologically way ahead of the production companies and studios. It’s always the case that a particular technology exists before there is much (or any) content to take advantage of it in a way that is broadly accessible to end-users.

That said, 8K cameras and workflows have become more common among filmmakers and other creatives lately.
 
-Jim-

-Jim-

Audioholic General
Yeah, me, too. I imagine HDMI was designed to be the easiest, most straightforward type of AV connection. That’s why I like it.
Actually Consumer convenience was not at the forefront of HDMI. It's all about copyright protection of digital content. And that till cause "handshake issues" today - years later.
 
T

Trebdp83

Audioholic Ninja
Beside copy protection, there is the issue of bandwidth. Just a few years ago, a 10gbps HDMI cable was sufficient and still would be for older devices. HDMI 2.0 and 2.1 features require cables with more bandwidth. HDMI cables rated at 18gbps and supporting ethernet will do for HDMI 2.0 and 2.1 features EXCEPT 4K HDR @120fps or 8K @60fps. Those features require cables rated at 48gbps. Look for Premium Certified cables if going with 18gbps cables and Ultra Certified cables when going with 48gbps cables. Many devices will detect and make the appropriate output settings based on the various connections in the system. There can be handshake issues if some settings are on or off. The receiver's HDMI setting should be at STANDARD and not ENHANCED when connected to an older 1080p TV. If there are still any issues with older devices, you can change the HDCP(High-Bandwidth Copy Protection) version for each input. Sometimes a change from 2.3 to 1.4 can fix an issue. There usually aren't too many issues with HDMI cables if you have the bandwidth for the assignment but there will be issues if you come up short.
 
G

Golfx

Full Audioholic
I replaced an AVR using preouts with an AVP and started a series of persistent and yet random audio drop outs sometimes on all sources simultaneously, Apple TV 4K (new), Roku ultra (old and new), OPPO 203. No one from any forum or manufacturer could logically offer a solution. Go to solutions were to unplug everything, factory reset everything, reinsert HDMI connections to different HDMI inputs, its the eARC checking from tv so reinsert main AVP out to non eARC, buy new cables, make sure all cables are not 3 ft but 2-3 meters, etc. It calmed somewhat if I watched smart apps on the TV (out of necessity) and used eARC to AVP for sound. That seemed to have fixed it for 2-5 days but it always returned—more so on Apple TV. So 4 days ago I signed up for Apple tvOS beta plan and that update seems to have solved it—for at least 4 days now. What no one can explain is why if one of the sources is the problem does it also cause audio dropouts on the other sources even the oppo?? Common theme would be the LG TV (C9 2019) but all those possible CEC simplilink settings are off. Sigh. So HDMI seems to have ghosts that no one engineer or company team can solve.


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T

Trebdp83

Audioholic Ninja
It gets tricky with many devices and HDMI cables. Firstly, all of the cables in the system should be the same. If you have six devices, an AVR and TV, then you need seven identically specced cables if connecting everything directly to the AVR and then out to the TV. They need to be at a minimum 18gbps with ethernet support. At this point I think everybody is hitting the ceiling with these cables and 48gbps cables are almost a must and are good for everything. Make sure HDMI-CEC is off in every single device if worried about issues. This would include any TV and AVR control settings in the Apple TV 4K and Roku Ultra. While the Apple TV 4K can control and be controlled using HDMI-CEC, the Roku Ultra is finicky. It can control the power and volume of a TV. It cannot directly control power and volume of an AVR but it will do so if HDMI-CEC is ON as the TV will send the command to the AVR.
 
G

Golfx

Full Audioholic
Thanks for another piece of a solution. So far we are holding fine. What stumps all is the oppo also doing dropouts. Sigh.


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