Belkin cables get HDMI 2.1 Ultra High Speed Certification
Belkin has received HDMI 2.1 Ultra High Speed Certification for its AV10176bt cables, meaning they’re the best you can get for 4K and 8K video and the new PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X gaming consoles.
HDMI 2.1 can handle almost triple the bandwidth of previous HDMI specifications – jumping from 18Gbps to 48Gbps. This means that the current HDMI 2.0 throughput of 4K at 60fps is upgraded to 4K120. It also supports uncompressed 8K60 with HDR (high dynamic range) and resolutions up to 10K.
The HDMI Licensing Administrator says Ultra High Speed HDMI cables also feature “exceptionally low EMI (electro-magnetic interference) which reduces interference with nearby wireless devices” like Wi-Fi routers.
Belkin’s braided AV10176bt cables also support Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), which reduces lag and eliminates partial rendering or screen tearing – particularly important for smoother gaming.
The HDMI 2.1 cables are backwards compatible and can be used with existing HDMI devices.
I’ve long been an advocate of buying the best cables you can, because it just doesn’t make sense to buy good equipment if you’re going to downgrade and throttle your audio, video or data by using crappy cables.
So, as a layman, how do you tell if a cable is good? The best way is through certification, like the HDMI 2.1 Ultra High Speed Certification just awarded to Belkin by the HDMI Forum. Approved products will display a certification sticker.
There are currently only a handful of TVs in Australia that are HDMI 2.1 compatible, but this is changing rapidly so if you’re buying an HDMI cable, it makes sense to future-proof your investment by going with 2.1 from the start.
Belkin AV10176bt HDMI 2.1 cable price
RRP $99.95 (1m)
RRP $129.95 (2m)
