Recent Problems Have Occured with Active HDMI® Cables, Thinner Passive HDMI Cables and Also Longer Passive HDMI Cables.

4/9/18 UPDATE: This issue was first reported in April of 2017 with DirecTV. Now, we’re seeing it with CATV and also with thinner passive HDMI cables and have updated the article to reflect this new information, as of April 2018.

April 2018 - Our tech support team has recently seen an increase in calls about active, thin passive and longer HDMI cables not working with DirecTV receivers and CATV boxes. In every case the system had been working fine, in some cases for years, until sometime in the past 3 months. When the failure occurs the TV will display an HDCP incompatibility warning. This is a new issue and it has taken us a bit to understand the problem, however we think that we have this figured out.

Are you hearing that HDMI® cable manufacturers already have 8K HDMI 2.1 cables and wondering how this can be? HDMI has not officially released the Compliance Test Specification (CTS) for HDMI version 2.1 (as of the original publish date of this article). So how can there already be Ultra High Speed HDMI Cables on the market?

According to HDMI, Ultra High Speed HDMI Cables are the proposed “format for the next generation of HDMI (officially HDMI 2.1), this new format may support bandwidths upwards to 48 Gbps. Please note however that the Cable Performance Compliancy Standards have not been finalized and that the entire transmission format has changed, this means that there is no way to test for this new specification”.

HDMI Cables will Expand Bandwidth via the 4th High Speed Video Channel, Currently the Clock Channel

As HDMI version 2.1 continues its rollout, Metra Home Theater Group spoke with HDMI expert Jeff Boccaccio of DPL Labs to hear his take on the adoption of 8K content and how it will affect existing HDMI cables. Since version 2.1 is such a significant change regarding bandwidth, Boccaccio thinks that this change will be implemented incrementally, starting with 24Gbps.

As home theater enthusiasts and technology professionals eagerly await the rollout of HDMI 2.1, manufacturers are working to bring 4K/120, 4:4:4, 12 bit color, dynamic HDR and 8K into mainstream production. While details for Ultra High Speed HDMI Cables are still being finalized, we do know that the next step in 8K will require 24Gbps bandwidth by reassigning the 4th channel, currently used as the clocking lane, to carry video.

24Gbps Cables

4K content and displays have become mainstream, but now the future holds something bigger: 8K! While HDMI hasn’t officially released the Compliance Test Specifications (CTS) for HDMI version 2.1 as of December 2018, we do know that the next step in 8K will require 24Gbps bandwidth by reassigning the 4th channel, currently used as the clock lane, to carry video.

We are prepared for the future and many of Metra Home Theater Group’s 18Gbps HDMI cables can already support 24Gbps. These cables were engineered to carry either clock or video in the fourth lane, as we anticipated and prepared for the new format and technology. These cables also support the new enhanced audio return channel (eARC*), in addition to 4K, HDR and more. This makes them ideal for the latest high-performance gaming consoles, which have exploded in popularity with more than 2.5 billion video gamers around the world (according to the European Mobile Game Market, 2016).

Whether you’re pre-wiring a new home, installing a home theater system for your client or selling retail products in your store, Metra Home Theater Group has you covered with the latest technology for AV connectivity.