I did a search on here and didn't find anything specifically addressing this. Here is what Monoprice says:
Question: What is Category 2?
Answer: Recently, HDMI Licensing, LLC announced that cables would be tested as Standard or High-Speed cables.
Standard (or ?category 1?) cables have been tested to perform at speeds of 75Mhz, which is the equivalent of a 1080i signal.
High-Speed (or ?category 2?) cables have been tested to perform at speeds of 340Mhz, which is the highest bandwidth currently available over an HDMI cable and can successfully handle 1080p signals including those at increased color depths and/or increased refresh rates. High-Speed cables are also able to accommodate higher resolution displays, such as WQXGA cinema monitors (resolution of 2560 x 1600).
It is possible for a cable to pass a 1080p signal and 1.3 extended bandwidth signal without being Category 2. These cables would have bandwidth that are beyond category 1 but below category 2. Most of our non-category 2 cables perform in this range.
Having said that, is there any reason to actually buy the category 2 instead of the category 1? I only need a 3 ft cable, and the category 2's only come in 6 ft. or 10 ft. varieties. The category 2 is only a few dollars more, but since my components are so close together on the same TV stand, I figured the 3 ft. cable would probably be best to eliminate cable/connector strain. Plus all of the "normal" colored category 2 cables are out of stock right now. I have a Sharp Aquos LC46D64U and a Toshiba HD-A3 HD-DVD player.
Having said that, is there any reason for me to get one of the category 2 cables, or is it just a gimmick?
Question: What is Category 2?
Answer: Recently, HDMI Licensing, LLC announced that cables would be tested as Standard or High-Speed cables.
Standard (or ?category 1?) cables have been tested to perform at speeds of 75Mhz, which is the equivalent of a 1080i signal.
High-Speed (or ?category 2?) cables have been tested to perform at speeds of 340Mhz, which is the highest bandwidth currently available over an HDMI cable and can successfully handle 1080p signals including those at increased color depths and/or increased refresh rates. High-Speed cables are also able to accommodate higher resolution displays, such as WQXGA cinema monitors (resolution of 2560 x 1600).
It is possible for a cable to pass a 1080p signal and 1.3 extended bandwidth signal without being Category 2. These cables would have bandwidth that are beyond category 1 but below category 2. Most of our non-category 2 cables perform in this range.
Having said that, is there any reason to actually buy the category 2 instead of the category 1? I only need a 3 ft cable, and the category 2's only come in 6 ft. or 10 ft. varieties. The category 2 is only a few dollars more, but since my components are so close together on the same TV stand, I figured the 3 ft. cable would probably be best to eliminate cable/connector strain. Plus all of the "normal" colored category 2 cables are out of stock right now. I have a Sharp Aquos LC46D64U and a Toshiba HD-A3 HD-DVD player.
Having said that, is there any reason for me to get one of the category 2 cables, or is it just a gimmick?
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