Anyone who is currently considering making the switch from analogue connectors such as SCART or VGA to HDMI cables will no doubt want to know whether they will get better quality with the latter.

The simple answer to this is yes, HDMI cables, which carry both audio and video signals in one compact cable, generally promise a superior result compared to SCART, S-Video, RGB and VGA. This is especially the case if you want to use them on High Definition devices such as HDTVs or even 3DTVs.

However, the quality you get when connecting devices using HDMI cables does also depend on the capabilities and quality of the display you are using. For example, some displays convert to a lower native resolution, no matter how good the HDMI cable is.

The surefire way to guarantee better quality using HDMI cables is to check for an ‘HD Ready’ logo on the TV you are planning to buy. You should also do this with other devices such as set-top boxes and DVD players. Get the very latest HDMI cable specification available – HDMI 1.4 cables are usually best for all applications – and you should be able to enjoy far better quality than ever before.