HDMI cables are what the majority of people use as video transmission cables for TVs and monitors these days. They’re great tools for transmitting video and come in different lengths and versions.
Before buying long HDMI cables, however, you should ask yourself whether or not the length in some way affects the performance of the image, and in that case, what you can do about it.
That’s why I’m here – to guide you through HDMI lengths, versions, and performance. After reading this resource, you will hopefully have all of your questions answered.
Yes, the length of an HDMI cable affects performance. When the length of an HDMI cable is too long, you can start losing signal to your screen. This is especially true when transmitting high-resolution images, as they are much more demanding to transmit. In general, twenty feet is the max length recommended for HDMI cables before you should look into getting an HDMI extender or a fiber optic HDMI cable.
So, now you know approximately how HDMI cable length affects performance. However, there are more relevant questions to be asked about this. Should I buy a newer HDMI cable to resolve this issue? What types of HDMI cables are there? Keep reading to find out more about HDMI cable length, versions, and performance.
How Do HDMI Cables Work?
HDMI cables were first introduced in the year of 2002. HDMI stands for High-Definition Multimedia Interface, and they were far better than their predecessor VGA, because of the general update in performance plus the inclusion of audio.
HDMI cables are compatible with almost every device that connects to a monitor, and pretty much everyone has one or multiple HDMI connections in their home.
HDMI cables also come in various versions, some older than others. Older HDMI cables transmit resolutions that aren’t very good by today’s standards, while the new HDMI cables can transmit images up to 8K resolution at 60Hz.
Old HDMI cables are known to have a somewhat short lifespan, too. Thereby, if you consistently lose signal, check how old your HDMI cable is. If it’s an old HDMI cable, you might need to buy a new one.
HDMI cables can also get affected by external factors, so make sure you don’t have the cable bundled together with power cables or that the HDMI cable is folded in any way.
Now, let’s go over different versions of HDMI and how long they can be extended without losing signal.
How Long Can an HDMI Cable Be Before Losing Quality?
The length of which an HDMI cable can go depends, as I mentioned before, on the type of HDMI cable. It’s not necessarily the case that older cables have a shorter reach than newer cables because old HDMI cables only transmit 720p or 1080i resolutions, which is much less demanding on the cable.
Newer HDMI cables transmit up to 8K at 60z, which means that the bandwidth demands are far greater. However, transmitting lesser resolutions such as 1080p with long, new, cables is usually fine.
The bottom line is that your configuration and type of HDMI cable matter in regard to how long an HDMI cable can be before losing quality.
Let’s go over the different versions of HDMI cables and how far they can extend (in optimal conditions) without losing quality in performance.
Standard HDMI
The standard HDMI cable was once the most common video transmission cable in people’s homes, but nowadays, it’s rarer. You don’t usually get them when buying new TVs, consoles, and other things that come with an HDMI cable.
The standard HDMI cable can carry your signal for 15-16 feet without any issue whatsoever, and in perfect conditions, it can stretch as far as 49 ft. Of course, it’s not ideal for this, and other, more modern HDMI cables are probably better for such distances (more specifically, fiber optic HDMI cables)
As I mentioned briefly above, the standard HDMI cable is old, and the highest HDMI format they can transmit reliably is 1080i or 720p. Using a standard HDMI cable for qualities higher than this can make the HDMI cable lose signal.
This is the same for bandwidth and refresh rates. Standard HDMI cables support up to 60hz refresh rate.
High-Speed HDMI
High-speed HDMI is the next step from the standard HDMI, supporting resolutions such as 1080p at 60hz. These HDMI cables still transmit the signal through a copper wire, however, so their reach is limited.
In fact, to sustain the uptick in quality from the standard HDMI cable, the high-speed HDMI cable has a lesser maximum reach than the standard HDMI cable.
High-speed HDMI cables typically have a maximum reach of about 25 ft. High-speed HDMI cables can also support 4K video at 30Hz, something that cannot be said for the standard HDMI cable.
Premium High-Speed HDMI
Premium high-speed HDMI cables are meant to transmit super-high-resolution images, which means that a lot of bandwidth is used. That’s why premium high-speed HDMI cables are usually very short in length.
These cables can support 4K at 60Hz, and as I mentioned before, this takes a lot of bandwidth. I recommend that you run these cables at very short lengths. 10 ft is about the maximum length that these cables give with a reliable signal.
If this is too short for your needs, you can look into getting an HDMI extender, which is a device that lets you extend your HDMI connection without having to settle for a worse resolution.
You can also buy a fiber optic HDMI. These aren’t meant to be used with extenders, however.
Ultra High-Speed HDMI
The ultra high-speed HDMI is meant to be able to run really, really, high resolutions, such as 8K. Not only that, it can run 8K at 60Hz and 4K at 120Hz. This requires massive amounts of bandwidth, so the length is limited.
Run these cables at 10-15 ft to avoid dropping the signal. These cables also support any other HDMI functions such as HDR, VRR, and so forth.
If you’re unsure of what HDMI cable to get and you’re not concerned about the length of the cable, you should buy one of these. They support any configuration possible with HDMI.
As I said before, if you really want to secure a connection without signal interference, use an HDMI extender instead of buying a really long cable.
Read more: How Can You Tell If an HDMI Cable Supports 4k?
What Happens If an HDMI Cable Is Too Long?
When an HDMI cable becomes “too long”, it starts to lose signal. This will mean that the picture on your monitor will start to flicker or go black. This is not the only factor regarding signal drop-off, however, as external factors matter too.
For example, if the cable has creases or bends in it, the signal will have a bigger chance of being intercepted and disturbed. If you bundle a bunch of cables together, there might also be a signal disturbance as the HDMI cable gets affected by the high voltage of for example power cables.
The loss is signal because of length is called “signal degradation”. The signal gets worse and worse the longer the cable is, which means that a very long cable is going to cause more signal degradation.
Can You Improve Long HDMI Cables?
As I briefly touched on earlier, you can improve the signal of your HDMI cables without having to move around your setup. The most common way of doing this is using an HDMI extender.
HDMI extenders are neat little devices that let you connect your HDMI cable to your source device from great distances using CAT cables and two HDMI cables.
Basically, you connect one HDMI to one extender unit, connect the CAT cable to the other end of that unit, connect the other end of the CAT cable to the other extender unit, and then the back of that unit is connected to your source device with another HDMI cable.
It’s very simple, really. The only somewhat annoying thing is getting the configuration right without having a bundle of CAT cables laying around.
This will also solve any signal loss problems you may have had. CAT cables won’t have any signal degradation.
Even better, you can use this method with almost any resolution and hertz. If you want to transmit 4K at 120Hz, however, the picture might get a bit janky and I would recommend instead getting a fiber optic HDMI cable.
What is a Fiber Optic HDMI Cable?
Fiber optic HDMI cables are HDMI cables that use different technology than your ordinary HDMI cables. See, regular HDMI cables use copper wire to transmit signals. Fiber optic HDMI cables use optical fiber for this.
This means that you can run a fiber optic cable over larger spaces without it losing any signal strength. So, is this a more worthwhile investment than an HDMI extender? Well, I’d say that comes down to your personal preferences and situation.
Both are fine options, and none is better than the other at retaining signal as both do it just fine. Fiber optic cables are certainly more simple for anyone to set up as they simply work as a regular copper wire HDMI cable, however.
There isn’t really any realistic maximum range of optimal output for fiber optic HDMI cable, as they can transfer data up to 1000 ft away.