When HDMI 1.4 made its debut, HEC or HDMI Ethernet Channel was pitched as a convenience factor. Rather than relying on two separate cables for AV and Ethernet, users could just use one cable connected to a TV or home entertainment device to fulfill their needs. READ NEXT: The best 1080p, 1440p, 4K and ultrawide monitors Does the physical construction of the cable matter? We have learned a lot about HDMI with ethernet. It was designed to help manage systems without the need for a multitude of ethernet connections. While the idea was sound, when it came to real-world applications, there just wasn’t enough to make it financially feasible to design compatible devices. For most devices, a WiFi connection is just more convenient. Using your HDMI cables to transfer the internet can save you a lot of hassle when it comes to wiring. It can also offer you a stable, secure, and ultra-fast connection depending on your devices, moreover, there are ways to extend them as well in case you need to (our guide). To gain a better understanding of how this technology works, we should first explore what HEC is. What is HEC / HDMI Ethernet Channel?

HDMI Cable with Ethernet: Everything you Need to Know - Gek Buzz HDMI Cable with Ethernet: Everything you Need to Know - Gek Buzz

Colour can also be affected, as Category 1 and Category 2 cables haven’t got the bandwidth to convey the enhanced 10-bit colour depths, or Deep Colour, output by 4K Blu-ray players and 4K HDR consoles, let alone the 12-bit colour depth used by some Dolby Vision screens and 4K Blu-ray players. Ethernet and Wi-Fi interfaces were readily available to TV and home entertainment device manufacturers at cheaper fees. It was the least of their priorities to make significant changes to their device’s hardware and software to support such a niche function like HEC. These specs tie into the HDMI connection standards, which is why you might see some Category 3 cables listed as HDMI 2.0 cables and some Category 3 (8K) cables listed as HDMI 2.1. Basically, if you have a 4K console with an HDMI 2.0 output and a 4K HDR TV with an HDMI 2.0 input, then you’re going to need a Category 3 cable running between them, or you run the risk of only getting 4K at 30Hz. As you know, HDMI is the standard all-in-one audiovisual connection for devices, and you might be surprised to know that some HDMI cables can carry over the internet too. You might have heard that HDMI can carry over ethernet signals and you’re wondering if using HDMI cables to connect to the internet is a good idea.It is true that you can find ethernet being used in home applications, but for the most part, all devices use WiFi. This is one of the main hurdles HEC had to overcome and, for the most part, didn’t. There is one area where HEC was implemented, although in a much different way. This is the reason we see ethernet included in most HDMI cables produced today. Best Uses of HDMI Ethernet Channel/HEC Connectivity As it turns out, even though HDMI cables with ethernet are practical in theory, there are very few devices that support the feature. In fact, I haven’t come across a single one. It’s also worth mentioning that an HDMI cable with Ethernet costs mostly the same as any other standard high-quality HDMI cable. The Concept Behind HDMI Ethernet Channel

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Picture the scene. You have a set-top box, games console and Blu-ray player all plugged into your TV via HDMI. Think of this example. Say you have a soundbar hooked up to your TV. Using CEC, you can use the remote control for your TV to manage the sound coming from your soundbar. The TV does this by transferring that information across the HDMI cable to your soundbar. You need to make sure your devices are CEC compatible to make sure they will work in this fashion. Conclusion LG was the first manufacturer to go all-in with the new standard, producing the first 4K TVs to sport HDMI 2.1 ports in 2019. All LG's 2022 and 2023 OLED TVs have up to four HDMI 2.1 ports, with Samsung offering one on most models and four on its flagship sets. Meanwhile, much of Panasonic and Sony's 2022 and 2023 ranges also sport a mixture of ports. Unlike ARC, eARC is facilitated only on HDMI 2.1 certified devices and select HDMI 2.0-compliant products. Is there any use for HDMI Cable with Ethernet?The ethernet channel built into compatible HDMI cables can transfer data between two connected devices. This allows them to share the wired connection. To better understand how this works, we need to open up an HDMI cable and see what’s inside. An HDMI cable has 19 pins that it uses to transfer all kinds of data. The idea of HEC was to connect one HDMI cable with ethernet from a modem or router to a TV and then all the devices that are connected to that TV via HDMI can also benefit from the internet connection (Gaming consoles, Bluray Players, etc). It would allow you to use one cable for all your connection needs (audiovisual and internet) instead of having to use separate connections. Why Didn’t Internet over HDMI Catch On? This configuration does not detract from the function of the other pins, and for the most part, doesn’t affect the price of the cable either. As a result, you would be hard-pressed to find an HDMI cable these days without ethernet being included.HDMI cables come in different types, including 1) standard with ethernet, 2) high-speed with ethernet, and 3) ultra-high-speed with ethernet. All these cables listed above will be able to handle transferring internet data at speeds up to 100 Mbps. How to Tell if Your Devices are HEC Compatible

HDMI Cables - Different Cable Types HDMI Cables - Different Cable Types

Or perhaps your smart TV is using a built-in video app such as Netflix, Disney+ or Prime Video. Either way, you don’t want to use your TV’s speakers for audio – you’d rather hear everything played through a soundbar or AV receiver instead. While the design and construction of the cable might not make any difference to your image or sound quality (as long as it works properly), it will make it more robust and reliable, or affect how easy it is to connect your screen and source devices. HEC is dead, but its companion protocol ARC or Audio Return Channel isn’t. In fact, ever since the release of the HDMI 1.4 standard, ARC used the same pins on the connector as HEC. Thus, they are referred to as HEAC (HDMI Ethernet Audio Control) when combined, which you may sometimes find in the spec charts of HDMI cables. Since 2009, HDMI cables have builtin ethernet capabilities, but not many people are using HDMI cables to connect to the internet. There aren’t even many devices that support the internet over HDMI. Why is that? Is it more efficient than ethernet cables or is it a useless feature? Should you buy an HDMI cable with ethernet?Many of these pins are connected to twisting pairs of wires that are wrapped in a protective layer. These are called shielded twisted pairs. What HDMI with ethernet cables do is use wires that are usually designated as straight-through wires to be twisted pairs like the others. This allows for the internet data to be transmitted over these pairs. Since HDMI ARC and HEC use the same pins, any HDMI cable that is marked as “HDMI with Ethernet” or ARC will work. Ultimately, I wouldn’t worry too much about finding the perfect HDMI cable, most modern ones built within the last decade should work just fine. What about eARC? When you switch to an HDMI input, ARC intelligently detects it and creates a bidirectional link between the source and audio device, transmitting the audio streams to the sound system connected to your TV over a unified interface. It eliminates the hassle of plugging in multiple cables and allows users to have an overall clean setup. As high definition A/V technology continues to advance, the specification for HDMI equipment and cabling is continually updated to ensure reliability and maximum performance. Version 2.0 is the latest version of the HDMI specification, as issued by HDMI Licensing, LLC. What you should know about HDMI 2.0:

High Speed HDMI 2.1 SANDSTROM Gold Series S2HDMI321 Ultra High Speed HDMI 2.1

This HDMI cable certification program is administered by the agent for the HDMI Specification, HDMI Licensing Administrator, Inc. and: After all, Ethernet-enabled HDMI cables allow audio, video, and network data transmissions from the primary source to IP-based smart media devices with zero compromises in quality. Though all of it seemed practical in marketing terms, only a handful of devices managed to put HEC to fair use, and not even the ones available domestically. Reasons why Ethernet over HDMI didn’t Take Off If you have an HEC compatible device, it will most likely self-describe somewhere in the user’s manual. Unfortunately, this technology is rarely implemented, and you would be hard-pressed to find a device that uses HEC. Through our research, we were unable to find any modern consumer device that uses HEC. Plenty of products other than TVs also offer eARC connectivity. Onkyo and Pioneer were the first to offer eARC updates on select AV products such as the Onkyo TX-RZ830, Integra DRX-5.2, Pioneer SC-LX502 and Pioneer VSX-LX503 AV receivers. All these factors led to HEC to be a rarely utilized tool in the consumer electronics world. While the applications for HEC may seem apparent, especially with gaming consoles and computer systems, the fact is that it never quite caught on. One factor that may not have been predicted by the engineers who dreamed up HEC is the evolution of WiFi. While hard-line connections are still more stable and secure, advances in WiFi have made them somewhat obsolete when it comes to consumer use.Keep in mind that installing a cable supporting HDMI 2.0 features does not give your existing devices with previous HDMI specifications the ability to experience 4K x 2K resolution, 3D, audio return or Ethernet. It’s the A/V and Data equipment that has these features – the HDMI cable merely has the capability to support them. Features that were added by the HDMI 2.0 specification: