Page 4 - 1708

(Continued from page 1) sent, but if possible, HDMI should be your first
your address list. Remember that one person
may be assigned to more than one category.
John, for example, may be in your garden club
and in your bridge club. When you assign
people to different “groups” in your email con-
tact list this enables you to send a group email
to everyone in that group. Pretty cool, eh?
Can you imagine the huge databases used by
airline companies or the military? Not only
customer information but parts, inventory,
sales, and so much more information can be
organized and available in different ways for
different people.
Of course, there are many more tools, op-
tions, and capabilities to a database applica- the TV. You select which of the inputs you
tion. Each may have many possibilities and
some limitations, but I think this article will
help you understand the basic concepts about
the databases you are already using.
Back to Basics
The HDMI Cable and
Connectors
Jim Cerny, Forum Leader, Sarasota Technology
User’s Group, FL
April 2017 issue, Sarasota Monitor
www.thestug.org
jimcerny123 (at) gmail.com
As technology changes, hopefully for the bet-
ter, more and more devices are available to
us. For most of us who use technology for
personal and home use, we would like to con-
nect some devices to our TVs to enjoy the big
screen video and great sound experience.
The latest connection cable type that does this
for us is HDMI which stands for “High Defini-
tion Media Interface”. The cable connectors
(the standard size and a mini size) are shown
in the photo. They have a shape to them that
allows them to be inserted only one way, so
do not force it into the port, try turning it over
(180 degrees) and try again.
The purpose of HDMI is to replace different
kinds of connectors and cables with one type
that, hopefully, can handle all your device con-
nections. Do you remember the old days
when there were separate audio/stereo and
video cables? Today almost all of the newer
devices (laptops, TV’s, DVD players, etc.) will
come with at least one HDMI connector port.
The older style connectors may also be pre-
4
choice to make those connections.
Your TV remote control will have a button la-
beled “input”, and when you press this button
different input options (that is, what is coming
INTO your TV) will be displayed and allow you
to select which one you want. One option will
be “cable” which means your TV will show
your cable programs – the cable you pay for
each month. But other choices will include one
or more HDMI inputs, usually labeled HDMI-1,
HDMI-2, etc. If you have more than one device
connected to your TV it is best for each device
to connect to its own HDMI port on the back of
want to view on your TV by using the “input”
button on your remote. Of course, there must
be something (video and sound) coming into
that port to the TV for you to see anything. For
example, you may have a DVD player con-
nected to HDMI-1, but if your DVD player is
not on and playing something, you will not see
anything on your TV when you select that input
option. If you have some older devices which
may not have an HDMI connector, you can
purchase a converter device to allow it to con-
nect.
Lastly, I am always amazed by the cost of ca-
bles – after all, they are just wires with plugs
on the ends, right? If you checkout the prices
of cables at stores and the prices on the inter-
net, you will be shocked at the high prices they
can charge for these things. Yes, some cables
are higher quality than others and may come
with better “shielding” to protect the signal, but
most prices are much too high for what you
get. My advice would be to shop on-line and
get the cheapest cable that meets your needs,
but make sure you can return it if you are not
happy with it. If it doesn’t work for you, then
return it and move up to the next higher-priced
(and hopefully better quality) cable.
You can find out more about HDMI cables and
connectors by asking Google, of course. But
connecting them is easy, even for us ama-
teurs.