what is "handshake"??

mrbofus

Greetings,
As I read various posts I see "handshake" issues mainly with HDMI cables.
What exactly is a Handshake issue?
Thanks
sorry if this isnt the correct place for this question.

bobman1235

In general with any kind of digital signal, a handshake is one device talking to another device and agreeing on how to communicate. Remember back in teh days of dial-up modems, when you used to hear all that buzzing and chirping before you connected? That was a handshake - it was your computer "talking" to another computer and figuring out if they were on the same page and could actually transfer data.

Ditto with HDMI, though more complicated. In particular your DVD player or whatever may have to "handshake" with a device to make sure it's HDCP compatible - that it abides by the correct copy protection rules. It has to decide on a resolution. Things like that. Sometimes devices aren't set up to correctly get through this step, so they never figure out how to talk to each other and just give up.

mrbofus

Thanks for the response.
So not all HDMI components will work with each other?, or is it an occasional blip that people are refering to when stating handshake issues?

bobman1235

All HDMI components should theoretically work with each other, but some designers were lazy and thus their components are finicky is really the answer. Your best bet, especially with earlier HDMI devices, is just to check reviews of people with similar setups to yours.