Are HDMI cables unisex? By this I mean does it matter which end goes where.

In some connections, e.g VGA you have male/female connection but I
wonder if this is still the case with HDMI connectors.

I need to buy convertors because I have VGA monitor but my computer
board has only HDMI ports In fact two ports instead of putting one VGA
and one HDMI. It has display port as well so I might buy a connector for
it as well.

On 11/13/23 02:01 PM, this is what Lenny wrote:
> Are HDMI cables unisex? By this I mean does it matter which end goes where.
>
> In some connections, e.g VGA you have male/female connection but I
> wonder if this is still the case with HDMI connectors.
>
> I need to buy convertors because I have VGA monitor but my computer
> board has only HDMI ports In fact two ports instead of putting one VGA
> and one HDMI. It has display port as well so I might buy a connector for
> it as well.
>
HDMI cables are much like usb in the there is an A and B type connector. Male and female.
I would venture to say the alllll TV's are the female end so your cable is the male end.
Same with cale boxes or dvd players, and I'd go video cards.
Most cables you see in the store are male to male.
https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-High-Speed-HDMI-Cable-1-Pack/dp/B014I8SIJY/ref=sr_1_3

This might be to much info but look at the picture at the top showing the ends.
https://tripplite.eaton.com/products/hdmi-cable-types
--
Linux Mint 21.2 Cinnamon
Al

Big Al wrote:
> On 11/13/23 02:01 PM, this is what Lenny wrote:
>> Are HDMI cables unisex? By this I mean does it matter which end goes
>> where.
>>
>> In some connections, e.g VGA you have male/female connection but I
>> wonder if this is still the case with HDMI connectors.
>>
>> I need to buy convertors because I have VGA monitor but my computer
>> board has only HDMI ports In fact two ports instead of putting one VGA
>> and one HDMI. It has display port as well so I might buy a connector for
>> it as well.
>>
> HDMI cables are much like usb in the there is an A and B type
> connector.  Male and female.
> I would venture to say the alllll TV's are the female end so your cable
> is the male end.
> Same with cale boxes or dvd players, and I'd go video cards.
> Most cables you see in the store are male to male.
> https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-High-Speed-HDMI-Cable-1-Pack/dp/B014I8SIJY/ref=sr_1_3
>
> This might be to much info but look at the picture at the top showing
> the ends.
> https://tripplite.eaton.com/products/hdmi-cable-types
All my TVs, PCs, laptops, Apple TVs, independent DVDs are female for
HDMIs, so that a cable to connect them has to be male-to-male; be it 1
metre, 2 metre, 3 metre. And then I have a HDMI extension 10 metre cable
(male to female).
Ed

Lenny wrote:
> Are HDMI cables unisex? By this I mean does it matter which end goes
> where.
>
> In some connections, e.g VGA you have male/female connection but I
> wonder if this is still the case with HDMI connectors.
>
> I need to buy convertors because I have VGA monitor but my computer
> board has only HDMI ports In fact two ports instead of putting one VGA
> and one HDMI. It has display port as well so I might buy a connector
> for it as well.

I purchased on Amazon a long time ago a DVD (DVI?) to HDMI cable and I just
hooked it up yesterday and it works fine. I was using the monitor with VGA
because I only had 1 HDMI and 1 VGA on the old computer. Like you I
purchased a new computer that has only 1 HDMI so I am going to be purchasing
a converter for Thunderbolt 4 to HDMI for the 2nd monitor. I do not know
your monitor but it may have a DVI or DVD connection on it. I have no
reason myseff to purchase a new monitor at this time so I am going to
continue on with the old one.
--
<Bill>

Brought to you from Anchorage, Alaska

On Mon, 13 Nov 2023 19:01:09 +0000, Lenny <invalid@invalid.net> wrote:

>Are HDMI cables unisex? By this I mean does it matter which end goes where.

As long as the HDMI connector type is correct, it doesn't matter which end goes
where.

On 11/14/2023 1:04 AM, Char Jackson wrote:
> On Mon, 13 Nov 2023 19:01:09 +0000, Lenny <invalid@invalid.net> wrote:
>
>> Are HDMI cables unisex? By this I mean does it matter which end goes where.
>
> As long as the HDMI connector type is correct, it doesn't matter which end goes
> where.
>

A long rant could be placed here :-)

Yes, some standards are "real standards". The shape and keying ensure the
connector goes in the right place and does not damage anything.

However, the user is expected to use "logic" and to know some things are
HDMI In and some things are HDMI Out. It *is* possible to have an HDMI In
on a computer (add-in video capture card).

If you were to connect a male-male (common HDMI type), between two computers,
that would not be good. Because both computers would be driving the cable
at the same time, from their end.

Most people intuitively (here at least) know that you connect a
computer to a monitor. Connecting monitor to monitor (no damage),
or computer to computer (???), normally sober people don't do that.

Video capture cards or standalone HDMI boxen, they can have HDMI In and
HDMI Out (this could even be passthru). And then, the connector scheme probably
does not prevent "bad or non-functional mixes".

The only other thing of note, not rant material, is any time you
discover a new connector on the computer, examine carefully for
"locking behavior". HDMI is not secured, so nothing to learn.
DisplayPort, on the external cabling, has a "place to press with your thumb"
for release. It pays to play with that while the vid card and the cable
are on your bench, and easy to reach. You don't want to be learning
how the lock works, when the PC is on the floor, and the DP cable
is half into the carpeting.

On RJ45 and RJ11, people have learned from their exposure over time
to those standards, of the possibility of a "locking tang" that must
be depressed for release. It is best to play with stuff like that,
while you are at table level, there is good lighting, and so on.
You can tell on some (used) computing equipment, the RJ45 would
have stories to tell if it could, as the RJ45 appears to have been
beaten to death by thugs :-/ It would seem not everyone knows how
to work those cables. I can imagine tugging matches, tractor pulls,
PCs being dragged over office flooring via the RJ45 connector.

HDMI doesn't have a max length as such, as the resolution choice
may affect max cable length. If the picture has colored snow on it,
then chances are the cable quality is not good enough, or, the
cable is too long. Normally the cable that comes with the monitor,
should always work. If you had a 5K monitor at 240Hz refresh, I couldn't
begin to guess how short the cable would need to be then. That's blue
sky country. At least one recent monitor like that, they discovered
a popular video card can only drive it at 120Hz, and the video card
doesn't have the bandwidth for the whole 240Hz refresh. For 1920x1080
monitors, generally it should just work, and not be a challenge for
the little electrons.

Paul