Cables
HDMI cables are the most over-sold product in this catalogue and one of the simplest to choose. Two certification categories cover everything, length decides reliability, and everything else on the packaging is construction. This guide is those two facts and what to do past three metres.
Premium High Speed is certified for 18 Gbit/s — 4K at 60 Hz. Ultra High Speed is certified for 48 Gbit/s — 4K at 120 Hz and 8K at 60. Both carry a verifiable certification. “HDMI 2.1” printed on a cable is not a specification, and HDMI licensing forbids selling cables by version number precisely because it tells you nothing.
The Ubluker or the Southlight, both certified, in the shortest length that reaches. This is the entire decision for a run between a television and a bar or a source.
The Orei extender sends the signal over network cable, which reaches far further than copper HDMI. Read the cable category it requires and whether the pair is HDBaseT or a compressed variant.
The UGREEN switch handles the bidirectional case. Look at bandwidth, EDID handling and HDCP version rather than at socket count: a unit rated 18 Gbit/s will not pass 4K at 120 Hz whatever its sockets suggest, and a device that mishandles EDID will downgrade the better of two displays.
Shorten the cable before replacing it with a better one. Length is the cause far more often than quality, and a two-metre certified cable costs less than the five-metre one that failed.
1.5 m · official HDMI Forum certification label on the packaging · 48 Gbit/s · VRR, ALLM, QMS, QFT, SBTM, CEC · HDCP 2.2 and 2.3 · VESA DSC 1.2 · eARC and ARC
A short certified cable that lists the gaming features by name — VRR, ALLM, QMS, QFT — rather than leaving them implied by a version number.
Best for: A console or streaming box next to the television, where a short run and every gaming feature matter.
≈ $14 / £8 / 11 €
3 m · certified Ultra High Speed · 48 Gbit/s stated · 8K 60 Hz and 4K 120 Hz · eARC · braided nylon with aluminium alloy housing
Three metres is the length at which passive copper still carries 48 Gbit/s reliably — and the certification is what makes that claim verifiable rather than printed.
Best for: A projector or receiver up to three metres from the source, at 4K 120 Hz or 8K.
≈ 7 €
transmitter and receiver pair over Cat 5e/6/7 · over 50 m at 1080p · 4K 30 Hz stated in the title · HDMI loop-out at the transmitter · IR return path both directions · M-JPEG compression, stated · two 5 V 1 A power supplies included · 1-year warranty
A pair with an infrared return path — so a remote works at the far end — and a loop-out for a local screen, on stated M-JPEG compression.
Best for: A projector in another room where the source has to be controlled by remote from the viewing position.
≈ $45 / £36 / 55 €
3 in / 1 out switch · 4K 60 Hz, 1440p 120 Hz, 1080p 240 Hz · stated bandwidth 18 Gbit/s · USB-powered, 5 V 1 A minimum required · IR remote plus manual button · no automatic switching
The bandwidth here matches the resolution claim — 18 Gbit/s — and the maker states plainly that it needs power and will not switch automatically.
Best for: Three demanding 4K sources into one screen, changed regularly from the sofa.
≈ $20 / £14 / 19 €
Past certification, no. A certified Ultra High Speed cable carries 48 Gbit/s and so does one costing five times more. Braiding, plating and thickness are durability and construction rather than bandwidth.
An active cable, which is directional and marked at each end, or an optical one, which reaches tens of metres. Fitting an optical cable the wrong way round is the most common failure on that shelf, and the arrows are printed small.
Over short runs, no. A certified cable does the job completely, and above that the money mostly buys packaging.
On long runs, where signal loss is real and construction genuinely differs. That is where paying attention pays off.
No. If your source or display does not support something, no cable will change that. Check both ends first.
The certification. It exists precisely so you can buy against a stated specification rather than marketing language.
Usually the cable or the connection. Reseat it and test with a spare; that diagnoses most cases in a minute.
Think about how you will replace it, and check whether fire ratings apply where you live. Both matter more than the brand.
Projectors, soundbars and receivers swing by fifty euros or more across the year, and the biggest "discounts" often land at prices the same model sold for six weeks earlier. UniverTrack tracks the real price history across retailers, spots fake reductions, and alerts you when it is genuinely the moment to buy.
