You should never solder your own HDMI plugs on to the end of a raw or cut cable, says Kordz Australia director David Meyer.

“HDMI is a very exacting specification, and the hand termination of a cable outside of an approved factory will result in a non-approved cable,” Kordz director David Meyer says.

“If you can get a site-terminated HDMI cable to work at all, it probably won’t reliably pass any of the higher bandwidth formats like 720p – much less 1080i or 1080p.

“Installers should approach the site termination of HDMI in the same way as Category 6 cabling. You would never cut a Cat 6 cable then stick it back together.

“HDMI is also based on twisted pairs, but it carries up to 10 times the bandwidth of Cat 6.”

David says site termination is not viable because consistency cannot be guaranteed, so the cable would not be certified.

“Some manufacturers are developing products that claim site termination, but these will never be endorsed by the HDMI organisation.

“However, it does recognise active extension systems, which offer a higher level of predictability.”