Ultra High Speed HDMI 2.1 Cables Now Entering Wide Market Availability

erek

erek

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"Shipments of Premium High Speed HDMI Cables grow along with expansion of 4K content distribution:
With the explosion of 4K content, this cable is vital to both the consumer and commercial sectors connecting 4K cable, satellite and IPTV set top boxes to TVs. It is specified globally for use by service providers for in-home installations. It also requires packaging to display the Premium HDMI Cable Certification Label for added verification of compliance and to prevent counterfeiting; this cable certification program is also administered by HDMI LA."

https://www.techpowerup.com/276855/...-cables-now-entering-wide-market-availability
 
When I was redoing the wiring in my living room this was a serious issue.

I never did run a third HDMI 2.1 cable because mono price ran out and many other sellers didn’t specify what revision they used and if they did they want monster level premiums for the cables.

Worst part of 2020.
 
erek said:
"Shipments of Premium High Speed HDMI Cables grow along with expansion of 4K content distribution:
With the explosion of 4K content, this cable is vital to both the consumer and commercial sectors connecting 4K cable, satellite and IPTV set top boxes to TVs.
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That sound a bit much, 24-30 fps TV signal 4K should work with HDMI 1.4 and surely HDMI "2.0 cable" no ?

There is a lot of non sense around cable, so that tend to be my first reflex, hdmi cable for cable/satellite/iptv demand way less bandwidth than high fps and I imagine many old and cheap one will work (and some won't, need to try to know).
 
Sycraft said:
Really for anything over 10-12 feet you should consider fiber optic. It isn't that much money these days and you don't have to worry about issues.
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Do cables have HDMI plugs? (yeah I really don't know anything about fiber optics beyond the audio cable that does have a special plug)
 
sfsuphysics said:
Do cables have HDMI plugs? (yeah I really don't know anything about fiber optics beyond the audio cable that does have a special plug)
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Ditto. I had no idea optical HDMI cables were a thing.

I have to wonder if the transducers introduce input lag.
 
sfsuphysics said:
Do cables have HDMI plugs? (yeah I really don't know anything about fiber optics beyond the audio cable that does have a special plug)
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Yep. They have normal HDMI plugs on the end. All the electro-optical components are inside the plugs, powered by the ports themselves. The 4 data lanes are fiber optic, the rest is just copper. Here is an example of a 2.1 cable. There are cheaper ones, but that is a good brand. The 2.0b cables that only do 4k60 are cheaper still than that. I don't currently have a 2.1 cable, as I don't have a 2.1 TV, but I have a 2.0b cable that I've long used to hook my computer to my TV since it is about 40 feet away. Works great. Only real thing of note is they are directional, since one end has lasers and the other has optical sensors so you have to make sure you plug the right end in to the right spot.

Zarathustra[H] said:
Ditto. I had no idea optical HDMI cables were a thing.

I have to wonder if the transducers introduce input lag.
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Nope. They use the same serial lasers as QSFP networking gear. Those are simple electrical to optical converters. They just transform pulses of electricity in to light. There is no encoding or modulation done in the conversion. As such, no lag.
 
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I got a few of them last October when I got my new TV, not that I really needed 2.1 cables (none of my devices support it on the device side) but if I was gonna buy a 4k ready cable I decided that I might as well make sure that I got a newest, best ones.

I just got em off Amazon for like $15 each.
 
Sycraft said:
Yep. They have normal HDMI plugs on the end. All the electro-optical components are inside the plugs, powered by the ports themselves. The 4 data lanes are fiber optic, the rest is just copper. Here is an example of a 2.1 cable. There are cheaper ones, but that is a good brand. The 2.0b cables that only do 4k60 are cheaper still than that. I don't currently have a 2.1 cable, as I don't have a 2.1 TV, but I have a 2.0b cable that I've long used to hook my computer to my TV since it is about 40 feet away. Works great. Only real thing of note is they are directional, since one end has lasers and the other has optical sensors so you have to make sure you plug the right end in to the right spot.


Nope. They use the same serial lasers as QSFP networking gear. Those are simple electrical to optical converters. They just transform pulses of electricity in to light. There is no encoding or modulation done in the conversion. As such, no lag.
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I really liked the C2G rapid run fiber for my conference room AV setups, it was clean and really easy for maintenance to pull. It was a shame they killed the lineup.
 
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Lakados said:
I really liked the C2G rapid run fiber for my conference room AV setups, it was clean and really easy for maintenance to pull. It was a shame they killed the lineup.
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Ruipro is a great choice if you end up needing more in the future. Their stuff is well made and they have no issues with all kinds of video modes.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Maybe you can get 4k over a cable longer than 10 feet now, unlike the last time I tried back in 2015.
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Nope. There are more problems making a 48Gbps bandwidth cable to long distance than a 18Gbps cable. Who’da think it?
 
I bought some Zeskit's off Amazon a few months ago. I don't think at the time they were "certified" but they are 48GBps cables and solved picture issues when HDR was on.
 
Archaea said:
Nope. There are more problems making a 48Gbps bandwidth cable to long distance than a 18Gbps cable. Who’da think it?
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I have a 15ft Zeskit cable that works at 4k@120hz

GoodBoy said:
I bought some Zeskit's off Amazon a few months ago. I don't think at the time they were "certified" but they are 48GBps cables and solved picture issues when HDR was on.
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Same, I believe the HDMI certification group took their sweet time in getting the process rolled out whereas cables that could do 48gbps were in the market for years (my 4 year old ~10ft cable worked fine for me.) I believe the packaging has been updated on Zeskit cables with the official HDMI certification.
 
Are the ones being sold on Amazon for $20 legit? I remember earlier revision cables being a total crapshoot at first. Some of the cheap Monoprice-style cables worked with new equipment and some didn't. And there was always Monster cable, which definitely DID work, but were marked up 500%.
 
Domingo said:
Are the ones being sold on Amazon for $20 legit? I remember earlier revision cables being a total crapshoot at first. Some of the cheap Monoprice-style cables worked with new equipment and some didn't. And there was always Monster cable, which definitely DID work, but were marked up 500%.
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The best way to be sure is to look for the actual legit HDMI 2.1 certification. Otherwise it's up in the air and you have to piece it together from reviews, etc. $20 doesn't sound cheap for a cable to be honest, but you can't judge quality from the price.
 
hajalie24 said:
The best way to be sure is to look for the actual legit HDMI 2.1 certification. Otherwise it's up in the air and you have to piece it together from reviews, etc. $20 doesn't sound cheap for a cable to be honest, but you can't judge quality from the price.
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Specifically, you want to follow this:

https://hdmi.org/spec21sub/ultrahighspeedcable

1610120965838.png
 
Domingo said:
Are the ones being sold on Amazon for $20 legit? I remember earlier revision cables being a total crapshoot at first. Some of the cheap Monoprice-style cables worked with new equipment and some didn't. And there was always Monster cable, which definitely DID work, but were marked up 500%.
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The Zeskit's are legit, and show as certified now. 48GBps.
 
Where the fuck was that cable (zeskit) when I was running cables through the wall lol
 
I'm just glad the prices aren't bad. I remember when ALL HDMI cables were expensive and 3-feet long. That was right when they were starting to replace Toslink cables. If you wanted something longer, you were gonna get robbed. "High Speed" HDMI was like a lesser version of the same issue.
 
Domingo said:
I'm just glad the prices aren't bad. I remember when ALL HDMI cables were expensive and 3-feet long. That was right when they were starting to replace Toslink cables. If you wanted something longer, you were gonna get robbed. "High Speed" HDMI was like a lesser version of the same issue.
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The days of Monster Cable. DVI cables were $$
 
When I did my basement and set it up for a home theater, I left allowance for newer cables, etc. I did not run conduit: instead, I laid the wiring from the AV to the projector on U brackets. I ran 2 hdmi and one component video cable. (Lol...component video was a thing then. ;) ) I tied them off with high-test line where I could reach.

Looks like it's getting nigh on time to buy some fiber-optic hdmi 2.1 and see how tough it'll be to pull them through. (It's a total run, vertical and horizontal, of about 30 feet.)

I foresee some drywall repairs being needed. :)
 
Revenant_Knight said:
Probably wouldn’t.

Word of Warning: once you go high refresh rate, you can’t go back.
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Expensive building a new PC from scratch. My old one is 10 yrs old now.
Part of me saying why worry about a vu=ideo card when your monitor is so basic and I cant afford both right now.
 
Bassman99 said:
Expensive building a new PC from scratch. My old one is 10 yrs old now.
Part of me saying why worry about a vu=ideo card when your monitor is so basic and I cant afford both right now.
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Well, you don't want to underpower it either. I have a HTPC that's connected to a still good looking Sony TV from 2010. It's 1080P at 60hz. The HTPC has a GTX 1070 in it, but that's getting long in the tooth. I want to try and lock 60FPS at Ultra settings on whatever I'm playing on that system. Basically put, I need a GPU and CPU that gives me a solid amount above that to ensure no drops.

I had a Zotac EN1070 on it before. This is a i5-6400T at 2.4GHZ (4Core/4 Thread) with a GTX 1070 Laptop GPU. Despite decent GPU for the resolution, the CPU was absolutely bottlenecking me even in older games such as Battlefield 1. I then swapped the 6400T for a 6700T (4 Core / 8 Thread) at 3.2GHZ. All the CPU bottlenecks vanished.

But newer games such as Cyberpunk and Medium are choking at 1080P on the GTX 1070. So as long as my CPU can feed it, I plan to upgrade even at 1080P 60HZ.
 
Revenant_Knight said:
Well, you don't want to underpower it either. I have a HTPC that's connected to a still good looking Sony TV from 2010. It's 1080P at 60hz. The HTPC has a GTX 1070 in it, but that's getting long in the tooth. I want to try and lock 60FPS at Ultra settings on whatever I'm playing on that system. Basically put, I need a GPU and CPU that gives me a solid amount above that to ensure no drops.

I had a Zotac EN1070 on it before. This is a i5-6400T at 2.4GHZ (4Core/4 Thread) with a GTX 1070 Laptop GPU. Despite decent GPU for the resolution, the CPU was absolutely bottlenecking me even in older games such as Battlefield 1. I then swapped the 6400T for a 6700T (4 Core / 8 Thread) at 3.2GHZ. All the CPU bottlenecks vanished.

But newer games such as Cyberpunk and Medium are choking at 1080P on the GTX 1070. So as long as my CPU can feed it, I plan to upgrade even at 1080P 60HZ.
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Right now Im running an Optiplex 7050 with I5-7600.
I bought it and then month later I decided I want something better, and just prefer a PC I built myself.
Id just rather buy better components slowly instead of buying cheaper stuff so I can do it now.
 
Revenant_Knight said:
But newer games such as Cyberpunk and Medium are choking at 1080P on the GTX 1070. So as long as my CPU can feed it, I plan to upgrade even at 1080P 60HZ.
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I got Cyberpunk running okay on a GTX 1060 6GB. Had to lower render scale (FidelityFX) to 50% but it was playable.

However, you really need G-Sync/FreeSync to get it smooth. Without VRR it was a real struggle to play. Also, newer cards could use DLSS, which makes a huge difference.
 
cybereality said:
I got Cyberpunk running okay on a GTX 1060 6GB. Had to lower render scale (FidelityFX) to 50% but it was playable.

However, you really need G-Sync/FreeSync to get it smooth. Without VRR it was a real struggle to play. Also, newer cards could use DLSS, which makes a huge difference.
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Yeah...Cyberpunk is an issue. I've got a rig with 3070 and 9900K. To get it playable at max settings (including Psycho level Ray Tracing), I have to output at 1080P to the TV. On top of that, I have to set DLSS to performance mode which I believe drops it down to 1/2 res. So with DLSS it's rendering at 540P.

I actually tried rendering it at 4K to the TV and using Ultra Performance but for whatever reason, the above method looked and ran better.

HDMI 2.1 and Gsync compatibility has been the savior of that game.
 
Bassman99 said:
Right now Im running an Optiplex 7050 with I5-7600.
I bought it and then month later I decided I want something better, and just prefer a PC I built myself.
Id just rather buy better components slowly instead of buying cheaper stuff so I can do it now.
Click to expand...

That CPU will bottleneck you in newer games due to thread count.

It's hard to say what to buy right now. It's almost better putting something on payments or getting a prebuilt. I'm a small form factor fan so if I HAD to buy a prebuilt right now, it would probably be something weird like the Zotac Magnus One.
 
Revenant_Knight said:
Yeah...Cyberpunk is an issue. I've got a rig with 3070 and 9900K. To get it playable at max settings (including Psycho level Ray Tracing), I have to output at 1080P to the TV. On top of that, I have to set DLSS to performance mode which I believe drops it down to 1/2 res. So with DLSS it's rendering at 540P.

I actually tried rendering it at 4K to the TV and using Ultra Performance but for whatever reason, the above method looked and ran better.

HDMI 2.1 and Gsync compatibility has been the savior of that game.
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Try turning cascaded shadows to Low, texture quality 1 step below psycho. I use these settings and everything else is max. DLSS is set to quality, deep field is off (makes stuff across street out of focus, I don't like it). This is on a 2080Ti + g-sync display. It plays pretty well, but I think my cpu might be bottlenecking it a little bit.
 
GoodBoy said:
Try turning cascaded shadows to Low, texture quality 1 step below psycho. I use these settings and everything else is max. DLSS is set to quality, deep field is off (makes stuff across street out of focus, I don't like it). This is on a 2080Ti + g-sync display. It plays pretty well, but I think my cpu might be bottlenecking it a little bit.
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I’ve been running with the Digital Foundry optimized settings which are similar to what you suggest. It can definitely claw back a few frames.
 
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