The fragility factor... according to my cable tech . Because HDMI works with a small electrical charge , it is 'more' susceptible to an electrical overload such as a lightening strike .
I had lightening enter my home through the cable company's data line . It tripped the breaker for one TV's electrical circuit , everything else was fine . But it took out a second cable boxs' HDMI port or the HDMI port on the tv that is connected to it . When the cable tech looked at the box and supply line he determined that it was one of the HDMI ports and installed a component cable in place of the HDMI cable . He then gave me the explanation above . I had previously tried another HDMI cable that did not alleviate the problem of 'no signal' .
The picture from this component cable is at least as good as the HDMI picture .
The second tv , where the breaker was tripped , has the long
HDMI run up the wall , across the attic and down another wall . This cable run was extremely difficult to do and if it has to be done again (another lightening strike)I want it to be the last time .
I live in the lightening capital of the nation and the tech stated that a surge suppressor on the line will not always protect the ports .
I looked on the Audioquest Cable site for a component cable of sufficient length and did not find any . Hence the reason for my query .
If a component cable won't handle a digital signal , how will that affect the end result ? This line is for the cable box only .
Thank You .