Atlona's flat HDMI cables: now HDMI 1.3b certified
Granted, this whole "1.3b certified" thing probably isn't as critical as it's made out to be, but for those who love assurances, Atlona's lineup of flat HDMI cables now sport the aforementioned label of certification. The cables, which are available in black and white hues and in lengths of up to 20-feet, are now guaranteed to transfer HD video at speeds of up to 10.2Gbps and high-resolution audio (Dolby TrueHD / DTS-HD Master Audio) to boot. In layman's terms, these cables simply offer up enough bandwidth to support Deep Color and "higher frame rates," but considering that the cheapest one (that would be the three-footer) rings up at $39.99, we'd say Atlona's pretty darn proud of 'em.
Filed under: Cables
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
DeadPlasmaCell @ Dec 13th 2007 2:37AM
Probably a dumb question.. but I ordered a HDMI 1.3a cable the other day, will I notice a difference compared to a normal HDMI cable?? or do the devices they're hooked up to have to be HDMI 1.3a as well??
Porfirio Reyes @ Dec 13th 2007 3:25AM
The devices have to be 1.3x compliant as well.
TrentD @ Dec 13th 2007 11:14AM
No, there's nothing that even takes advantage of the 1.3a spec's maximum data rate yet (chipsets on sources and displays only go up to 3.4 Gbps right now)
DeadPlasmaCell @ Dec 13th 2007 3:27AM
Are they "Backwards compatible" with normal HDMI devices??
Dennis @ Dec 13th 2007 4:40AM
how do u know if ur hdmi cable is 1.3 compliant? i bought a generic brand the other day and it does not specify this
andy @ Dec 13th 2007 9:58AM
Cable capability (and therefore compatability) is completely dependent on shielding, connection quality, and mostly, length. As long as the connections are correct (i.e., conforms to the HDMI spec pin for pin) there are no compatibility problems. The only problem is that an extremely long, poorly sheilded cable may have so much noise that it can't pass high frequencies cleanly enough to provide a 10gbps connection.
I'll bet that all the monoprice cables under 20 ft will handle any HDMI spec you want to try.
Question though: What features is 1.3b supposed to add? I know the 1.3 update added 1080p, but what's great about 1.3b?
JeffDM @ Dec 13th 2007 8:22AM
It's unlikely that you'd notice a difference with current devices, not many displays and players offer deep color or anything like that. I think my projector has deep color, but my player doesn't, I'm not sure if any player does right now.
TrentD @ Dec 13th 2007 11:16AM
Blu-ray and HD DVD discs don't support more than 8 bits of color depth, meaning without a complete spec revision, they can't support Deep Color on the content, even if the player has the hardware to output it.
WhoCaresWhoWins? @ Dec 13th 2007 11:17AM
My Toshiba A-35 player claims it supports Deep Color, but I don't have a display that does, so I have no way of knowing.
But a general question for everyone....If your HDMI cable length is small, let's say 6 ft or less, is there any reason to buy one of these "1.3 compliant" cables, or will any cable do fine?
JeffDM @ Dec 13th 2007 11:31AM
My take is, buy the cheaper cable now. If for some reason it's not really 1.3 compliant, by the time you need it, if you do benefit, 1.3 compliant cables will be cheap. Paying several times more now, for the hope of future compliance, doesn't make sense.
For 3ft to 6ft, I really don't know if it would make any difference.