What is the maximum distance before signal degradation occurs with HDMI connections?

The maximum distance before signal degradation occurs with HDMI connections is generally around 15 meters (approximately 50 feet) under standard conditions for typical HDMI cables. However, the actual performance can vary based on several factors, such as the quality of the cable, the devices being connected, and the resolution of the video signal.

As cable length increases, particularly beyond this 15-meter threshold, you can begin to experience problems such as signal loss, reduced image quality, or complete signal dropout. While it’s possible to find specific high-quality HDMI cables that may allow for longer distances—up to about 20 meters or more—these are not the standard performance for all HDMI cables. Therefore, stating a maximum distance of 20 meters without acknowledging the potential for degradation at that range does not align with the most commonly accepted specifications.

This emphasizes why 15 meters is typically the cited distance for reliable video and audio signal transfer over standard HDMI cables in a data center environment or similar setups. The design and use of HDMI extenders or other amplification techniques can significantly increase this distance, but such solutions go beyond the basic capabilities of standard HDMI cables.