An interesting description from Blue Jeans Cable about HDMI....
"HDMI is a digital signal format, developed primarily as a platform for the implementation of HDCP (High Definition Content Protection) to prevent consumers from having complete access to the contents of high-definition digital recordings. As one might expect from a standard that was developed to serve the content provider industries, rather than the best interests of the consumer, HDMI is something of a mess. The signal is not robust over distance because it was designed to run balanced when it should have been run unbalanced (SDI, the commercial digital video standard, can be run hundreds of feet over a single coax without any performance issues); the HDMI cable is an unnecessarily-complicated rat's-nest arrangement involving nineteen conductors; switches, repeaters and distribution amplifiers, by virtue of this complicated scheme, are made unnecessarily expensive; and the HDMI plug is prone to falling out of the jack with little more than a light tug. As more and more manufacturers move to implement HDMI on more home theater devices, however, it falls to the consumer to try to make the best of this dubious and poorly-thought-out standard."
