Gaming monitors typically have a high refresh rate. However, if you want to take full advantage of your display’s high refresh rate, you must ensure that it has the proper input options to support such a high refresh rate at the given resolution. High-resolution monitors with fast refresh rates are what most people look for when buying a new monitor. Nevertheless, the panel type and other features would be lacking.
Today, we’ll see if an HDMI-enabled display can offer a refresh rate of 144Hz or less. A high refresh rate HDMI connection will be investigated at various resolutions as well. When it comes to HDMI cables and refresh rates, it’s important to have a basic understanding.
About HDMI Cable
The HDMI port is one of the most widely used connectivity options, and it can be found on virtually every display these days. Even streaming devices like Amazon Fire TV stick and other streaming media players like the Xbox One S and PlayStation 4 come equipped with HDMI ports. High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is the acronym for the HDMI, which debuted in 2002. Many improvements have taken place since then, and newer generations have been released that can perform at a higher level.
The best thing about using an HDMI cable is that it can transfer both audio and video signals from source to display. As a result, if you’re connecting your TV via HDMI, you’ll need an extra audio cable to use the HDMI audio output option on your TV. Monitors with built-in speakers or audio jacks are no different.
If you use HDMI cables, you’ll get the best audio quality possible, which is nearly identical to the analog option. Even modern digital optical cables can’t compare to the quality of this cable. When it comes to connecting a TV to a desktop monitor, HDMI is the most popular method of doing so.
About 144Hz Refresh Rate
If you are into gaming or video editing, you might be aware with the word 144Hz. 144Hz stands for frames per second. This word refers to the frequency, measured in hertz (Hz), at which a display panel is updated with new content. The ability of a digital display to draw graphics in less than one second is what’s meant to be understood by the term “refresh rate.” Because of this, if the refresh rate of your display is 144 hertz, it will render 144 images for the source of the video that you have connected to it every single second if it has a high enough resolution.
When opposed to monitors with slower refresh rates, 144Hz displays provide consumers the ability to take in more information every second as well as more frames per second, which makes for a more fluid gaming experience. Simply glancing at a handful of seconds’ worth of action is all that is required for experienced gamers to identify the difference between a monitor with a high refresh rate and one with a low refresh rate. A high refresh rate gives you the feeling that your system is more responsive, which contributes significantly to the immersion that you experience when you play video games.
Even the most recent titles from AAA game publishers can be rendered at a rate of more than 144 frames per second on consoles and graphic cards from the most recent generation. If you want to get the most out of your pricey graphics card or console, you will need a monitor or television with a high refresh rate.
However, this results in an increase in the amount of data collected per second. Therefore, in order to take use of the 144 Hz refresh rate of the display, the connectivity choice you make must be able to send a substantial amount of data to your display each and every second. Since we are discussing the HDMI connectivity, let’s check to verify whether or not the HDMI connection supports 144Hz output.
Does HDMI Support 144Hz Refresh Rate?
In simple words, Yes. An HDMI connection does offer up to 144Hz refresh rate support for the displays that are capable of generating such a high number of images per second. Although, simply getting an HDMI port or cable is not enough to get a 144Hz output at your desired resolution. There are a lot of versions available for an HDMI connection that have varying bandwidth capacity.
Thus, each version is capable of providing 144Hz output at a different resolution. The standard HDMI 1.4 or higher connections available with laptops and TVs offer up to 144Hz connection at Full HD 1080p resolution. The HDMI versions that were released before the 1.4 version are not capable of a 144Hz refresh rate at a high resolution. We will be taking a look at various HDMI versions released up until now and their capabilities later in the article.
For now, let’s focus on the types of HDMI cables that can offer you up to a 144Hz refresh rate. Here are the most common types of HDMI ports and cables that support 144Hz refresh rate output if they are version 1.4 or higher.
- High-Speed HDMI Cable: The high-speed HDMI cables are the best option for gaming monitors if your monitor supports a 144Hz refresh rate. It can deliver a 144Hz signal to your display at a resolution that you desire up to 1080p Full HD. Hence, you can get a fluid gaming experience without compromising the video quality.
- Ultra High Speed HDMI Cable: The ultra-high HDMI cables can deliver up to 48 Gigabit data every second once connected to a source and supported display. Hence, this cable connection is ideal for video as well as audio connections. Keep in mind that ultra high-speed HDMI cables are slightly more expensive than standard cables.
- Micro and Mini HDMI cable: The micro HDMI cable connections are available on compact devices such as cameras and laptops. But, despite the compact size of the port, the micro, as well as mini HDMI cables, can transfer up to 144Hz video signals with up to Full HD 1080p resolution.
HDMI 144Hz Through The Generations
Now that you know which HDMI cables can offer you the 144Hz refresh rate support for your display, let’s take a look at all of the HDMI versions available in the market right now. It is crucial to know the exact version of HDMI connection provided on your display so that you can check out whether it supports 144Hz refresh signals at your desired resolution or not. Also, you need to know the HDMI version before buying an HDMI cable to avoid compatibility problems.
Here are various HDMI versions released so far and their respective capabilities.
- HDMI 1.0: Released back in 2002, the HDMI 1.0 quickly became one of the most popular display connectivity options and was quickly adopted by TV manufacturers and graphic card manufacturers. As it was the first iteration of HDMI, it could only support up to 4.95 Gbps bandwidth and 24-bit color depth. The maximum supported resolution for HDMI 1.0 was 1920×1200 pixels at 60Hz.
- HDMI 1.3: The HDMI 1.3 version brought a lot of upgrades to the existing HDMI design, which includes higher resolution support, deeper color gamut, and higher color accuracy. It also introduced the lip sync feature and surround sound option for the audio signals. There was a 10 Gbps bandwidth limit for HDMI 1.3 with 48-bit color depth and up to 1440p resolution support.
- HDMI 1.4: Coming to the most used HDMI version in the market right now, the HDMI 1.4 was released back in 2009 and is still being used as a standard option for many devices. It also has 10 Gbps bandwidth speed with 48-bit color bit support. But, it offers up to 2160p resolution at a 30Hz refresh rate and standard 1080p resolution output at 144Hz.
- HDMI 2.0: Next up, we have the HDMI version 2, which is a significant improvement over previous HDMI versions. There is up to 18 Gbps bandwidth capacity available via various iterations of HDMI 2.0 cables that offer up to 240Hz refresh rate at 1080p resolution. As for the 144Hz output, it can support that with a 1440p resolution.
- HDMI 2.1: The HDMI 2.1 is the latest version of HDMI released back in 2017. Still, it is slowly being adopted as the standard display option for HDMI as it offers 48 Gbps bandwidth capacity, which is more than double of its predecessors. The maximum supported resolution with HDMI 2.1 cable is 4320p at 50Hz, and it can support 144Hz output at 2160p resolution.
What Do You Need For HDMI 144Hz?
The requirement of an HDMI port changes according to the resolution you wish to keep your display at and the refresh rate you need at the output. After going through various types and versions of HDMI cables available in the market, you must have chosen the right HDMI port for your application. If not, take a look at the following table to get a clear idea.
Required Resolution And Refresh Rate | Supported HDMI Version | Application |
1080p at 60Hz | HDMI 1.0 or higher | Standard display output for movies and 60 FPS gaming |
1080p at 144Hz | HDMI 1.4 or higher | Competitive gaming and content creation |
1440p at 144Hz | HDMI 2.0 or higher | High-resolution gaming and overall smooth viewing experience for high-resolution assets |
2160p at 144Hz | HDMI 2.1 or higher | High refresh rate 4K gaming as well as console gaming with latest consoles |
4320p at 50Hz | HDMI 2.1 or higher | The best output resolution for 8K games and videos |
Keep in mind that almost all HDMI versions are completely backward compatible. Hence, an HDMI cable that supports a 144Hz signal can be connected to either HDMI 1.3, HDMI 1.4, or even HDMI 2.0 ports without any problem. Also, you will be getting a higher refresh rate at lower resolutions with every consecutive generation of HDMI ports.
Conclusion
In the event that you are uncertain as to whether or not an HDMI cable is capable of supporting a 144Hz refresh rate, we strongly advise that you take a close look at all of the information that is offered in our post here today. You will not only determine whether an HDMI cable supports a 144Hz refresh rate or not, but you will also determine the capabilities of various HDMI versions and an HDMI version that is appropriate for your application. This will allow you to connect your device to a higher quality display.
A display that is compatible with HDMI 1.4 and provides a refresh rate of 144 hertz at 1080p should be considered an excellent option for use in competitive gaming. However, if you are thinking of purchasing a PlayStation 5 or an Xbox Series X, you want to obtain a monitor or a TV that has an HDMI 2.1 port so that you may connect them.
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