The quest for the perfect high definition picture and sound is moving fast with bigger and sharper displays, even more true to life color, and fast action 3D. That’s why we are excited about the new HDMI 1.4 specification that paves the way for these future technologies. We will take you on a little tour of the benefits that this new cable standard will allow.

As we marvel at the stunning high resolution video of 1080p TVs, there is an increasing demand for even bigger TVs, and for them to look as sharp as today's 40"-50" 1080p HDTVs. The next jump will be in 70 inch screens and above. The promise of 4k by 2k resolution has been showcased by TV manufacturers at recent Consumer Electronics Shows (CES) as displays of the future. They have four times as many pixels as a 1080p TV, providing a sharp outstanding theater like picture, even with the largest sized displays and home theater screens.

3D movies and gaming are right around the corner! All the big movie studios and gaming creators are about to change how we enjoy home entertainment. As most of you know, 3D is accomplished with 2 separate images being sent to your TV, one for each eye. Current refresh rates of 60hz and 120hz, will double to 120hz and 240hz respectively in Televisions and sources. Twice the refresh rate means twice the bandwidth.

Sharing photos on the big screen is the photo album of today. However, digital cameras capture the colors differently than your TV reproduces them. The new HDMI 1.4 specification supports more “color spaces” so that photos shown on your TV are as accurate and vibrant as they are captured by your camera. In addition, Blu ray players have upgraded the color spectrum from 8-bit to 10-bit, and even as high as 16-bit.

Each of these upgrades have greater demands on cable bandwidth and speed. Think of the new HDMI as putting in more freeway lanes so that you can support a bigger city for the future.

In an effort to consolidate even more cables, future versions of HDMI 1.4 will have Ethernet built in, as well as an audio return that allows the same cable carrying video to your TV from you’re A/V receiver to also carry audio back to your A/V receiver from your TV. Products that use these features will be available sometime in Spring 2010.

Any Monster High Speed and above HDMI cables already meet the new HDMI cables for bandwidth. Feel safe that cables purchased today will meet the current bandwidth requirements of HDMI 1.4.

Delivering all of the capabilities of these new technologies into the future will demand an even larger highway than what is available today. To meet these data needs, Monster is again increasing the performance of our Speed Rated HDMI cables to remove the fear of obsolescence in the cables you purchase from us. This summer, Monster will ship the widest range of HDMI cables ever including several with speed-ratings exceeding 11.2 Gbps, 13.8 Gbps, and even 15.8 Gbps.

The chart below shows the data requirements of these new technologies and
the new data rates for Monster’s new HDMI cables.

Monster will continue its Cable for Life Performance Guarantee for our HDMI 1000 cables. Those cables will fully meet the bandwidth of HDMI 1.4. If you ever require the use of the HDMI Ethernet Channel functionality, Monster will upgrade those under our Cable for Life Performance guarantee.

Technologies move quickly, creating bigger and faster video and audio components. Monster is committed to staying ahead of this technology in a continuing effort to create the highest capacity link between them.

To that end, we applaud the arrival of HDMI 1.4 paving the way for the future.

Except for the functionality for Ethernet over HDMI, which are only needed for components and sources that have those functions, the cable performance and connectors for HDMI 1.4 and previous Monster Advanced HDMI cables are the same.

We will always strive to build the best possible products, and keep you ahead of the curve. Our Cable for Life Performance Guarantee and commitment to ongoing improvement will assure you of the most value for your money.