High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is the current connection standard for HDTVs and HD monitors, replacing old RCA cables for TV or VGA linkups for computers back in the 1980s and 1990s. Many pieces of audio-video equipment for modern consumer electronics depend on this format or standard for their connection needs, although there are also other formats out there like DisplayPort (DP) and Digital Visual Interface (DVI) also exist.
It promises less cable clutter by only using one cable to facilitate HD audio-video streaming. However, HDMI cables tend to deal with loads of pressure and distress that shorten their lives.
Has Your HDMI Cable Gone Bad or What?
Your HDMI cables won’t last forever. No cable lasts forever, even analog cables have a set lifespan no matter how well you take care of them. So can an HDMI cable go bad? Yes. The most common problem you might face with an HDMI cable that has gone bad is a terrible connection between the device and the cable. This is particularly the case if you’re plugging and unplugging the cable regularly in order to make it work, but you’re ironically shortening its lifespan for good measure.
To be more specific, check the following general signs of a bad cable.
- Discoloration.
- The video is fuzzy or blurry.
- Poor resolution or fallback mode.
- The screen flashes or fades to black.
- Part of the screen is intermittent or goes in and out of existence.
- The whole picture is intermittent or goes in and out of existence.
- There’s no sound or picture at all due to no signal going through the cable.
- The sound goes in and out if you’re using your TV speakers through the HDMI connection.
Specific Causes and Symptoms of a Bad HDMI Cable
Aside from the aforementioned common signs of a cable that has gone bad, there are also other specific symptoms and causes of a bad HDMI cable that you should definitely watch out for.
- Sparkles: If your screen has white, multi-colored dots manifesting all over it, then it might be suffering from shooting stars or sparkles. It happens if the cable is completely or even a little over its tolerance. This usually comes about when the HDMI cable that’s lower gauge is tasked to carry a signal for 75 feet far or much more than that. In such cases, it’s better to get a Cat5/Cat6/Cat7 cable extender instead
It can also occur among short cables if the pin inside the connector is slightly bent or damaged, thus leading to a compromised or stressed connector when push comes to shove. The occurrence of sparkles is a telltale and common signal that your cable is of poor quality or has gone bad. Check the connector for damage and replace the cable with a new one in case the pins have become bent or destroyed.
- Lack of Control: HDMI-enabled appliances and devices are able to communicate with one another through the format’s CEC or Consumer Electronics Control feature. This tech reduces or negates the need to make manual settings between HD televisions, receivers, and other sources since devices are made aware of the other’s capabilities once they’re turned on, thus they can simply follow suit with little to no adjustment on your part.
If such an option is turned on in your HDMI-compliant devices, you should be able to use a remote’s power button to turn your system devices on or off simultaneously. If your cable has been compromised in any way from the wiring to the connector then there should be a loss of CEC functionality or control via remote. Other signs include a CEC-controlled device shutting down on its own or random loss of picture.
- Blank Screen: If your HDMI display like your HDTV, HDMI monitor, or HDMI projector feature a blank screen even when connected to your device then your cable might’ve gone bad. When turning on your display and device, you should be able to yield an image provided that the cable they’re linked together by is functioning at full capacity and connected to the correct input and output.
Try swapping cables, powering off all the devices, turn them back on, and reconnect the cable. You should isolate which is the culprit behind this blank screen situation. This should not be confused with a “No Signal” sign over your HDTV, which indicated a completely dead cable that’s not working at all. The blank or black screen indicates that it’s on its way to making your cable into a recyclable, at any rate.
- Solarization: If the colors of the images on your HDVT or HD monitor’s screen are ill-defined and odd then some solarization is probably happening. Usually, this condition runs in tandem with getting sparkles or shooting stars all over your screen as well, since they’re caused by the same issues with bent connector pins and low-gauge cables dealing with long-distance transmissions. It’s as if you used an Adobe Photoshop or Instagram filter over the picture or something.
Or it looks like you’re viewing your video or game through a rainbow-colored oil slick. The solarization phenomenon makes the picture get a light green, blue, or pink tinge or border on things that shouldn’t have them, making it obvious that there’s a connectivity problem. On-screen items that have a wide array of blended colors such as flesh tones will make the presence of solarization the most obvious whenever your cable is acting up.
Troubleshooting an HDMI Cable That Has Gone Bad
Once these abovementioned things start happening to you and your audio-video setup or home entertainment center, you should do the following steps to ensure that your cable is responsible for the terrible, inconsistent, or nonexistent AV signal.
- Turn Off The HDMI Source: Turn off your game console, DVD or BD player, or satellite/cable box. Afterward, unplug the HDMI cable itself in order to physically check of yourself the state or condition of the connection. Look for broken or bent pins. Wiggle the connection on the back of your HDMI source device as well as on your television set. Make sure you have a solid connection and nothing is broken.
Some users even use duct tape on the HDMI cable to secure it to the back of the TV and make it work fine, although buying new cables is usually the better option since those are so cheap. However, are you sure it’s the cable that’s damaged?
- Test for a Bad HDMI Output for the Display: If turning your devices on or off and checking the cable isn’t enough to fix the connection then you should rule out whether it’s the source or destination that’s causing the connectivity issue. This is especially the case if you’re not sure your cable has gone bad and you weren’t able to identify physical damage on it. If your television has multiple connections for HDMI then try another output connection to see if that works instead. Maybe it isn’t the cable but the output that’s compromised.
Use your TV remote to change your TV input source too. Did you see a picture or get sound afterward? If so, then your television has a bad HDMI port that might require fixing or servicing down the line.
- Test for a Bad HDMI Output for the HDMI Source Device: Maybe it’s your cable box, game console, or DVD/BD player that’s acting up. Maybe its port is dirty or damaged. It’s harder to experiment on device outputs since they only use one. Let’s say your DVD player isn’t working with your HDMI cable. Check the device out by using another display input, like on a projector, as well as brand new cables to make sure you’re not using a compromised cable. Your DVD might even have a separate port option, like a composite or component connection to put your composite or component cable into.
Link it to the TV that accepts such connections. Did you get picture and sound out of them instead? Then perhaps it’s an HDMI cable issue after all. Otherwise, your DVD player itself is busted and it’s not delivering any transmissions to any of its available ports at all.
- Test for a Bad HDMI Cable: If you’ve eliminated all other options of cable failure then if you have a bad cable. It’s simple enough to fix. Just get new ones. You can duct tape them to connections to extend their life as far as possible, but usually, if you have the money to buy these cheap cables then that’s the optimal choice. You can even upgrade to high-speed, premium high-speed, and ultra-high-speed cables.
It’s better to find out where the problem lies through the process of elimination even if you already have an inkling suspicion that it’s your cable that’s giving you issues because you never know. Maybe it’s a combination of bad ports or a DVD player on its last legs. Better to be safe than to be sorry.
In a Nutshell
Indeed, the pressures and stress that an HDMI cable can tolerate can be pretty intense, such that it might eventually exhibit on-screen distress once it has become damaged enough. Are you sure it’s your HDMI cable that has gone bad instead of your HD source devices like your Blu-ray Disc or DVD player, your game console from Sony to Nintendo, or your satellite or cable box? You should debug the cable to make sure that it is a cable issue.
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