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HDMI stands for High-Definition Multimedia Interface, and that's a pretty good description of what it is. In layman's terms, HDMI is a type of digital connection that's capable of trans... Read more [+]
HDMI stands for High-Definition Multimedia Interface, and that's a pretty good description of what it is. In layman's terms, HDMI is a type of digital connection that's capable of transmitting high-definition video and high-resolution audio over a single cable. To do the same thing with analog cables, you'd need to connect three component-video cables plus six analog audio cables--that's a whole lot of cable clutter.
HDMI can deliver the best image quality of any of the cable types available today. It can handle high-definition video of up to 1080p resolution at 60 frames per second, which is the most bandwidth-intensive video format currently available. The older PC-based DVI connection offers equivalent quality, but it is rarely available on HDTVs or video components these days. Component video is found on nearly all electronics that output high-def video, and its image quality is slightly lower than HDMI, but it's really difficult for most people to tell the difference. Many viewers are probably familiar with the quality associated with the various standard-definition video cables--namely S-Video, composite (the yellow video cable), and RF--and HDMI provides a potentially huge improvement over all of them. As always, however, the biggest factor in video quality is the source; a low-quality source delivered over HDMI will still look worse than a high-quality source over S-Video.
For audio, HDMI is the reigning king of quality as well. It supports the ability to carry eight channels of 24-bit audio at 192kHz--enough to handle even the highest resolution audio soundtracks such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. The only other connection type that can deliver the same quality are multichannel analog audio cables, but you'd need to run as many as eight separate cables to get the same quality. Digital audio cables--both optical and coaxial--can deliver multichannel audio, but are limited to lower-resolution audio signals.
For more information on HDMI, please read HDMI Quick Guide
