Why are wires (auxiliary, HDMI) so thin? Wouldn’t thicker larger wires transmit a signal more easily?

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Why are wires (auxiliary, HDMI) so thin? Wouldn’t thicker larger wires transmit a signal more easily?

In: Engineering

6 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

On the power end, cables have to be thicker if they are to handle more amperage over more length. Regular HDMI carries maybe 1/100th of an Amp, while power-supplying HDMI carries still less than an Amp. For reference, that cord on your space heater is carrying maybe 10 Amps. That cord isn’t very thick, so think of how thin the wires can be to carry the tiny current in an HDMI cable.

There’s really no benefit in making a cable too thick, little if any gain at a greatly increased cost. For example, you’re not getting any benefit running your phone charger off of a thick 10 gauge cable rated at 20 Amps, over a thinner cable only rated for 5 Amps, because you’re pulling maybe 2 Amps max.

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