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How to make a longer HDMI cable

Surely on more than one occasion you needed make a longer hdmi cable, is nothing new. We move the furniture from place and perhaps the PC was far from our TV, it can be due to hundreds of reasons. Regardless of the reason, there are several ways to get more length in an HDMI cable and we will tell you about them a little further down.

Make a longer HDMI cable Are there limitations?

We cannot deny that an HDMI cable is very useful for several factors; personally, one of the most important is that they help solve a big problem: too many cables. Audio and image travel through a single cable and at impressive quality. Thanks to this, many devices (if not all) have adapted this technology. But as standard capabilities have evolved over time, so has the need for longer cables.

In the same way that occurs with Ethernet or USB cables, HDMI cables have certain limitations that make it difficult to make them longer. To serve as an example and to understand, an ultra-high-speed passive HDMI cable can only measure five meters. In the same way, Premium High Speed ​​passive HDMI cables have a maximum length of 25 meters.

Fortunately, it is possible to bypass these cable length limitations and extend HDMI connections quite considerable distances without having to deal with performance issues.

HDMI extenders

HDMI extenders are the easiest way to make an HDMI cable longer without losing any audio or video quality. These are made up of three main parts: a transmitter, a receiver, and a cable. Some extenders use category 5 or 6 Ethernet cables, while others use fiber optic cables.

Those that are through Ethernet, support a bandwidth of up to 2.0 (18 Gbps) and can reach up to 100 meters. However, if we have to go further, HDMI extenders over fiber optics are much better. The reason? Simple, we can extend the HDMI connection up to 1000 meters and in some cases, even more. Although, obviously, it is a bit excessive for the vast majority of people.

HDMI Repeaters

When a little more length is needed, then HDMI repeaters are ideal for “making a longer HDMI cable”, although we also ran into some limitations. The repeater is responsible for increasing the HDMI signal to compensate for the length and loss. It is a fairly small device that has two female HDMI ports that allow us to connect two cables at its ends.

The HDMI repeaters are positioned approximately halfway, they are able to help double the length of a passive HDMI cable. Something that we must consider is that some repeaters will need to be connected to the current to improve the HDMI signal.

Wireless HDMI Extenders

As for wireless HDMI extenders, we find a method that is not very well known. However, it is quite useful when the situation is complicated to install a cable between the source and the screen. These have two fundamental parts: one of these connects to the source and the other to the screen. The two communicate using radio waves in the 5 Ghz or 60 Ghz bands.

The only problem or limitation is that the vast majority of wireless extenders can support up to 1080p 60Hz quality. We found some options for those who want signals up to 4K at 30HZ like the Monoprice Blackbird Pro.

Active and Optical HDMI Cables

The above options are very good, although we may not want to increase the length of the cable that we currently have too much or we may want something simpler. For this we have two options: active and optical HDMI cables.

They are different from the passive HDMI that we are usually going to find in stores. Active cables have electronic circuitry that enhances the HDMI signal to withstand greater distances. While optical cables completely change the data transmission medium.

The big difference between passive and active HDMI cables is that they use copper wiring, optical cables use glass threads to transfer data using light. Light is much less prone to resistance and signal degradation. Precisely for this reason, optical cables can be longer than active and passive ones.

Active HDMI cables up to 25 meters long and 50-meter fiber optic HDMI cables are readily available on the market. One thing to consider is that ultra-high-speed HDMI cables are only available in short lengths.

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