Promate 2.1 HDMI cable

S

Sachb

Full Audioholic
Hello Audioholics, I was in a big dillema today whether to upgrade my cheap Transd HDMI 2.0 cable to HDMI 2.1.

I recently purchased an Android Box for 4K HDR and HD audio support, since my blu ray and Sony android TV couldn't do both.

Sony bdp S5500 HD audio support but limited to 1080p

Sony TV X9000 series 4K support but no eARC for HD audio and no eARC in denon either.

So to do both I got Android Box A95X F2 S902X2 with quad core processor.

It does 4K and Passthrough with third party software.

Since HDR10 and Dolby Vision were important for me I thought it would be a good idea to upgrade from hdmi 2.0 to HDMI 2.1 for HDR10 passthrough.

So, is my purchase justifiable?


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S

Sachb

Full Audioholic
I could have got the X700 blu ray but I went the cheaper route and got the android box, Since economy is bad and jobs are scarce.

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lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
HDMI cable isn't designated by the hardware type. It's designated by speed. https://hdmi.org/resource/cables

Did you need a higher capability cable now particularly? The old one wasn't working with your setup?
 
S

Sachb

Full Audioholic
HDMI cable isn't designated by the hardware type. It's designated by speed. https://hdmi.org/resource/cables

Did you need a higher capability cable now particularly? The old one wasn't working with your setup?
I did some research and found that for HDR/10 to pass correctly one needs a HDMI 2.0a version of the cable, so I was eager to get it since, the current cable was just HDMI 2.0 and not HDMI 2.0a, that too a cheap brand named "Trans".

Now my TV shows HDR when I play HDR videos.
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lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
So what you read also ignores correct spec. What speed did you require? So did you get your additional level of HDR now?
 
S

Sachb

Full Audioholic
So what you read also ignores correct spec. What speed did you require? So did you get your additional level of HDR now?
Yes, I tested a video sample of the Sony Demo and I can confirm that HDR is working as expected and now the HDR symbol shows up on my Sony Television which is under picture setting.

Before that the HDR didn't lit up and i had to manually force it.

My TV autodetects HDR 10 as now the metadeta is being sent from my android box to the TV correctly.

With the previous trans cable it wouldn't I believe.

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O

Otto Plyot

Junior Audioholic
What is the length of your cable run? Regardless of the product descriptions and marketing hype, there aren't any HDMI cables yet on the market that have been proven to carry the HDMI 2.1 feature sets with no issues. One of the major problems is that there are no consumer devices yet with HDMI 2.1 chipsets capable of all of the HDMI 2.1 feature sets to test the cable on including the lab bench testing. A cable can be tested to show that it is capable of 48Gbps but that is no guarantee that the cable can pass the HDMI 2.1 features that require 48Gbps with no errors. Even if you can get a cable that has proven to handle 48Gbps, the current HDMI chipsets are standardized on 18Gbps, and its the chipsets that determine in a large part of what you get. The cable is just the data pipe.

HDMI 2.0 is very capable of handling 4k HDR, depending on your cable length so if your run is under about 25' or less, a Premium High Speed HDMI cable should work.
 
S

Sachb

Full Audioholic
What is the length of your cable run? Regardless of the product descriptions and marketing hype, there aren't any HDMI cables yet on the market that have been proven to carry the HDMI 2.1 feature sets with no issues. One of the major problems is that there are no consumer devices yet with HDMI 2.1 chipsets capable of all of the HDMI 2.1 feature sets to test the cable on including the lab bench testing. A cable can be tested to show that it is capable of 48Gbps but that is no guarantee that the cable can pass the HDMI 2.1 features that require 48Gbps with no errors. Even if you can get a cable that has proven to handle 48Gbps, the current HDMI chipsets are standardized on 18Gbps, and its the chipsets that determine in a large part of what you get. The cable is just the data pipe.

HDMI 2.0 is very capable of handling 4k HDR, depending on your cable length so if your run is under about 25' or less, a Premium High Speed HDMI cable should work.
The length of the cable which I bought is 2 meter, or say 200 cm.

My previous cable was 3 meter but hdmi 2.0.
I read somewhere for HDR to pass correctly one needs 2.0a hdmi cable, is 2.0a different than plain HDMI 2.0?

Also few websites mention that my Android box supports HDMI 2.1.

Link: https://m.gearbest.com/tv-box/pp_009145226302.html

My denon X2300W which is HDMI 2.0a I believe.

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O

Otto Plyot

Junior Audioholic
The length of the cable which I bought is 2 meter, or say 200 cm.

My previous cable was 3 meter but hdmi 2.0.
I read somewhere for HDR to pass correctly one needs 2.0a hdmi cable, is 2.0a different than plain HDMI 2.0?

Also few websites mention that my Android box supports HDMI 2.1.

Link: https://m.gearbest.com/tv-box/pp_009145226302.html

My denon X2300W which is HDMI 2.0a I believe.

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2m is 6', well within the HDMI 2.0 hardware specifications, and within the HDMI 2.1 specifications as well for a passive HDMI cable.

There is no such thing as an "HDMI 2.0" cable. HDMI.org asked cable mfrs years ago to not label their cables with HDMI specification number. Just label the cable as either High Speed HDMI or Premium High Speed HDMI. Premium High Speed HDMI cables are certified (they will come with a QR label of authenticity) by HDMI.org as to meeting ALL HDMI 2.0 hardware specifications. At your length, that's all you need to worry about. I've never had any issues passing 4k HDR (Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG) with a Premium High Speed cable.

Supporting HDMI 2.1 is very misleading. If your Android box is capable of eARC or VRR, those two protocols are part of the HDMI 2.1 feature set but are possible with HDMI 2.0 hardware as well. And, as with the Premium cables, there is no such thing as an "HDMI 2.1" cable. The cable can be labeled as High Speed HDMI or Ultra High Speed HDMI (48Gbps) but that too is very misleading because there is no way to validate the 48Gbps bandwidth because there aren't any consumer devices yet that are validated for 48Gbps, let alone the HDMI 2.1 feature sets that require that bandwidth.

I would try a Premium High Speed HDMI cable and see how that goes. Make sure there are no sharp bends (bend radius) in the cable setup and that there is no undue strain on the HDMI input. Give yourself some slack.

It's important that all of your HDMI connected devices support the same HDMI hardware version, which is currently HDMI 2.0. If not, only the in-common HDMI protocols well be used. In other words, connecting an HDMI 2.0 device to an HDMI 1.4 device will only utilize the HDMI 1.4 protocol sets. The cable is just a data pipe. It can not change or modify the signal it is carrying. That is determined by the HDMI chipsets on the sink and source end.
 
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