With the streaming wars heating up, the fight is for the biggest screen in your home. All the streaming companies are looking for a way to make you stream TV shows, and movies that they make, and some of them come with devices. On the other hand, some streaming services run over the air and don’t require a special hardware device.

Buying the hardware is not expensive. It is often a one-time purchase and can last you about a decade, after which standards may change and you might end up wanting to upgrade. But the subscription cost of each service tends to mount up quite significantly. So you have to be really picky about which service you like, and even which networks, film studios you like so you can plan for the future.

However, just because the streaming services and boxes want to be in your TV, doesn’t mean your TV is ready for this upgrade. Fortunately for you, for a long time now, TVs have come with HDMI ports, at least one if not more. And apart from the HDMI port, there are usually other audio video ports.

Now, of course, you will say that all streaming boxes come with the HDMI connector so how can you use other ports on the TV. I have two words for you: HDMI adapters! And on top of those, you can also buy HDMI splitter.

So how do you go about this?

If You Have One HDMI Port On Your TV:

It is likely that you may just have one of these ports on your TV, so you can buy HDMI splitter. Plug in this splitter in the port, and you instantly have two HDMI ports! Now you can use one for a streaming stick and maybe another one for a soundbar, if you don’t want another streaming option.

If You Have Older Ports:

On top of one HDMI port, if you have older audio video ports like the DisplayPort, then you can get one of the HDMI adapters available in the market. This way, you can plug in your streaming stick in the DisplayPort with the adapter and then plug in a soundbar in the HDMI port.

In either and all cases, it is quite likely that the TV’s inbuilt speakers are not up to the performance that your favourite TV show and movie need. So a soundbar can really help enhance this situation.

Now that the hardware issues are clear, let’s come down to how to actually decide what streaming service you want to use. There are a few things to keep in mind:

What Ecosystem Are You In:

The simple answer to this question is what ecosystem are most of your devices? Do you use an Android phone or an iOS one? Do you have smart home gadgets? If so, then are they madebygoogle devices? Or are they a variety of products that Amazon makes? Or do they work with the Apple ecosystem? Unfortunately, walled gardens are on the rise, and at least for the next 4-5 years, we have to play in one.

So if you are in Google’s garden, it makes sense to get a Chromecast because it will work with your Google Assistant, from both the smart speaker and your Android phone. Google’s original content and streaming services come from Play Movies and YouTube originals.

If you have amazon’s Echo devices around the house, they might work best with Amazon’s Fire TV stick. (Until a while ago, you couldn’t play Prime Video on Chromecast. Big tech competes in the same market and sometimes the customer suffers due to it.) But now it’s all fine. That, most certainly should be a decision making factor, even if there is little under your control.

If you are an Apple house, then you can go with their Apple TV, which offers its streaming service with the original shows exclusively on Apple devices.

Streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, etc., are fortunately just over the air ones and don’t add to this confusing list of devices you have to buy.

The trick, and it is no shortcut, is to figure out which service has everything you watch, and if it will always continue to have the things that you generally like to watch. Next thing to tackle is what streaming device you can get it on and if that device integrates well into your ecosystem.

Once you figure that out, SF Cable has all the HDMI adapters you need, and we will be more than happy to help you figure out variants based on your TV. Browse our collection here and get in touch with us for any further questions you may have.

Source: https://www.sfcable.com/blog/guide-choosing-right-streaming-service/

A TV in 2020 has one port that it absolutely cannot get enough of the HDMI port. Let's get to know it today.

HDMI is the acronym of High Definition Multimedia Interface and it came to be in 2003! The best thing about it then was that it did away with the need for separate cables for audio and video. Since then, there is more to it and the best hdmi cables are ones that give you crisp video, with immersive audio, faster than you can blink.

HDMI has become the standard, replacing all kinds of previously popular audio-video standards.

Why has this happened? What is so great about the HDMI cable?

Let's look at some of the things that make it a popular choice:

Superior quality data transfer:

The best HDMI cables can transfer data in high quality without any compromise. With evolving versions of the cable, the reliability, and speed of this transfer also improve. The high resolution that it supports, makes the picture on the TV look good. Your TV is only as good as your HDMI cable allows it to be, after all.

End to end security:

The gadgets that are actively using the HDMI cable or even HDMI adapters can access the data that it is transferring. One cannot access it remotely.

Input = Output:

With the HDMI cable, the quality of data you input is the output you get to see. There is no compromise and no loss in the cable. Since the standard is digital, the loss of data in analog to digital conversion does not come into play here. This makes them an ideal choice for transmitting anything in high definition.

Cable management:

Who loves to detangle a mess of wires from behind a TV? The answer is no one. One cable for audio and video dramatically cuts down on the wires that you have to deal with on a regular basis.

Since HDMI cables are available in varying lengths, you can get the length you need for your setup and optimize your cable management even better. One cable that doesn't even dangle over the table? Yes, please!

Conversion to different things:

Since not everything uses an HDMI port, you can use several hdmi adapters for connecting to a DVI port, a DisplayPort or even a USB port. The adapters come in handy for sticky situations like that.

The next question that we must ask is where to use the HDMI cable?

Workstation:

If you are setting up a workstation, you should connect your monitor(s) to your CPU with HDMI cables. This will ensure high definition, no lag output, which is perfect for editing video and audio if that is your requirement. It is also good for any intensive development-related work.

Entertainment setup:

For an entertainment setup, you need elements that give you an immersive experience. You need a TV that can support high resolutions like 4K HDR10+. Additionally, you need a soundbar because TV speakers are generally terrible. For this, HDMI ARC comes in handy and can give you your money's worth.

Gaming setup:

The one place where data lag can affect the result negatively is gaming. Imagine you are playing an intense multiplayer game and your video lags! You'd be dead before you even see where you are going! With the latest HDMI cables, you will always be one step ahead, therefore minimizing death risks.

You cannot simply hope to get the resolution that your TV promises unless you use the HDMI cable that is compatible with it. With different versions available, make sure to check the version that will likely work best for you and then buy it.

There are several reasons for this cable's popularity and the universal appeal that it has. This serves as a compact list of a few of those. The HDMI standard is here to stay this decade, that's for sure. So if you are investing in a setup, make sure to get the latest versions even though they might be slightly pricey right now.

Source: https://www.sooperarticles.com/shopping-articles/electronics-articles/why-hdmi-cable-gives-you-2020-display-1764116.html

HDMI cables are easy to find, but make sure to check exactly which one you need and it can benefit you in various ways.  https://www.sooperarticles.com/shopping-articles/electronics-articles/different-use-cases-mini-micro-hdmi-cables-1746852.html

The purpose of technology is to make your life simpler. But if you have gone to buy a new TV or a streaming box in the past couple of years, you know that there is nothing simple about it. If you look at the features and specifications, you will see a lot of phrases, which seem to be self-explanatory but are definitely not.

Let’s attempt to figure out the multiple devices that are available and navigate how to get the most of them, what cables to use, etc.

Display Resolution:

HD Ready [720p (1280x720 pixels)] sounds pretty good until you do some basic research and realize that’s not the same as Full HD [1080p (1920x1080 pixels)]. Then as you go for a much higher resolution than that, you get 4K and 8K displays. 8K is not mainstream yet, so we don’t have to worry about that now.

The “p” that you see here after 720 and 1080 refers to ‘progressive scan’. This, along with the screen refresh rate, decides the potential smoothness of your display. The refresh rate is generally 30 Hertz. Refresh rate means frames per second. This applies to standard, mid-range TV displays.

Technology/Streaming Solutions:

Major TV brands nowadays have operating systems for their televisions. LG has WebOS, Samsung has Tizen, and Sony has Android TV (it previously used to rely on Sony Internet TV apps). These operating systems are why you have SmartTVs now. They generally tend to have most of the streaming services on them, so you should be able to watch your TV shows easily. However, some of them might not have certain apps or the apps can be laggy and annoying to use. Then you need to plug in a streaming device.

Streaming devices come in all shapes and sizes. Some are just slightly larger than a thumb drive and have an HDMI connector, which you can directly plug right into the TV, while some are circular or in the shape of a small box. These, generally connect to the TV via cables. In this article, we are going to focus on a specific type of connector: the HDMI cable.

Connectors:

HDMI stands for High Definition Multimedia Interface, and it is the digital standard. HDMI cables are the upgrade we got from the RCA cables, which could not carry both, audio and video, in one cable. HDMI cables can carry both sound and video with just one cable and therefore only requires one port.

HDMI cords are great when it comes to decluttering. Before HDMI cables, if you wanted to connect anything to your TV, it required separate audio and video cables. More cables mean more ports. While having more ports is always beneficial, and there is no downside to it, it does take up real estate on the TV. Analog ports have to be more than one, to plug in a single device, so they take up more space too. This means there is less space for HDMI or USB ports, which are newer connectors and are able to transfer data, better and faster.

With the multiple above-mentioned streaming devices available and new ones coming out often enough, you might need more than one HDMI port to plug them into.

But you are not going to be attaching just a streaming device to your TV. Most TVs come with pretty terrible speakers. And if you have a great 4k display, the content you watch deserves to have equally great audio. This is where soundbars come in. One of the newer types of HDMI cords that have come out is HDMI ARC or Audio Return Channel. So this one cable that could send, both audio and video to your TV, can now return audio and give the output from a soundbar.

Concluding:

At the end of the day, simply having a TV with the best resolution or access to a number of streaming services is not going to guarantee an incredible viewing experience. You will need the right HDMI cord to make things work together and avoid tripping on a bunch of wires.

This Article is Originally posted here; An HDMI Cable: Most Essential Tool for Your TV Setup

If you found this article useful, here are some other articles that may be of interest.

The Evolution of HDMI Cables Over The Years

A Guided Tour on HDMI Cables, Their Types, and Functionalities

Indications Tell You That It’s Time to Upgrade HDMI Cable