How did HDMI 1.3 effect cable design and what is Category 2?
First it is important to note that most of the HDMI 1.3 changes affected devices, not cables. But allowing devices to show higher resolutions, with more colors, at higher refresh rates and with more channels of audio takes more and more data and that data must be transmitted over a cable. HDMI 1.3 did specify Category 1 cables and Category 2 cables. Category 1 certified cables must be able to transmit data @ 2.25Gbps. This is the old HDMI cable spec before there were different categories of cable. Category 2 certified cables must be able to transmit data @ 10 Gbps. One thing to be aware of is the term ‘HDMI 1.3 compatible’. All HDMI cables are HDMI 1.3 compatible but not every HDMI cable is certified by an ATC and not every HDMI certified cable is certified as a Category 2. An HDMI 1.3 compatible cable will work with HDMI 1.3 devices but may not be able to display the highest resolutions/color depths/refresh rates.
