The Difference between Gold-Plated HDMI Cables and Regular HDMI Cables
What is striking about Gold HDMI cables are their appearance. The connectors that plug into devices and screens have a thin coating of gold, which makes them really easy to differentiate over normal ones.
Because of this extra layer of gold over the connectors, the price of gold HDMI cables is typically more than normal ones. This higher price tag also poses the question whether the cost is justified by performance while purchasing gold HDMI cables than the regular ones?
Many people, especially the gold HDMI manufacturers, claim that the gold plating helps in the optimum transmission of signals. The theory is that gold being a good conductor of electricity transmits signals better than regular cables. As a result, there is very less quality loss or deterioration of the video as the signal passes in and out of the cable.
The issue with this claim is that HDMI cables transmit digital signals. Approximately a decade ago, there was a major push to replace analog televisions with digital ones. Claims such as the above are remnants of the analog age, where signals could be blurry or unclear.
Analog signals used a waveform to transmit data. These waves were susceptible to interference and misinterpretation, which sometimes resulted in a blurry image. Digital signals, however, are purely 1s and 0s. There's no room for misinterpretation here; it's either one thing or the other.
If you plug in an HDMI cable and the video has no faults, you get the best picture quality available. An individual cannot purchase a gold cable and see a better image. However, gold-plated connectors are good for highest signal transfer rate and they have resistance to corrosion. They meet the latest HDMI standards that support bandwidth up to 18Gbps and backwards compatible with earlier versions
If you happen to see white dots all over the screen, known as "snow" or "sparkles", do not think it is because of lack of gold on the cable and connectors. It is usually a fault with the cable itself and the issue is due to the 1s and 0s not arriving at all.
Commercial application
If you use your cables for commercial purpose, having to connect and disconnect the cables daily or on a regular basis, then gold-plated HDMI cables might be the ideal choice. Gold-plated cables are not only beefier in construction, but the gold coat protects them from various elements. Although gold-plated cables are advantageous, to repeat what was said before — the regular HDMI cables can also provide decent picture quality.
However, there is a more than just theoretical improvement in clarity of the signals being transmitted with gold-plated cables. They are definitely better conductors of electricity compared to regular HDMI cables. Gold-plated cables provide the same high quality images as the source.
While the differences between gold-plated HDMI cables and regular HDMI cables may not be very noticeable, when it comes to durability and conductivity, gold-plated cables win hands down.