Amid a global spectrum of high definition format battles, none is so misunderstood as the debate between HDMI and component video. Some videophiles expect HDMI to completely outpace the "vintage" analog format, while true experts in the field know there are distinct advantages and disadvantages to each format. This article will give you a better idea of the technologies that make up these video formats, and prove that the differences are not as lopsided as you may think.

Assumptions That Mask The Facts

If you talk to any half-witted video enthusiast or ask an associate at your local big box retailer - bearing in mind that the two groups are pretty much the same - they’ll unmistakably tell you that HDMI is better than component, case closed, end of story. This is just based on tired assumptions of the entire audio/visual industry. HDMI is based on a digital technology while component is analog, HDMI is a more recent development and HDMI costs more. Conventional wisdom says that newer formats are better, digital is always the best and a higher price tag equals higher quality.

Mad Catz component video cable

Living under the guise of these kinds of stereotypes will eventually tear your brain to shreds. They’re just not true. Component video cables can deliver really high quality pictures, just like HDMI. They also tend to be a bit more robust, especially if you need a really long cable.

Cables Unlimited HDMI cable

Another issue is that digital is rarely all that it’s cracked up to be. On one side, digital technologies have vastly improved mechanisms to weed out imperfections caused by their analog counterparts. Unfortunately, on the flip side, it’s also an excuse to employ cuts to make the new technology as cheap as possible. Specifically, when the HDMI standard was developed, a very robust system of checks and balances was tossed out, in favor of a cheap alternative that can lead to degradation of the cable signal over time. The analog component cable has no such built-in flaw, and in most cases should be able to last a lifetime without problems.