Because it supports digital copy protection of all signals, HDMI cables are included for devices such as the Apple TV, Blu-Ray players, and game consoles, among other similar electronic products. The HDMI standard allows for the transfer of both digital video and audio signals via the same interface (port) and cable, capable of providing high-definition (HD) video at resolutions of 1,920 x 1,200 pixels and 8 audio channels simultaneously. In addition analog signals carry less information than digital, so the original image such a scenario starts out as less 'sharp' than what can be achieved in digital. The analog signal would lose some information in the conversion to digital, and more information is lost when converted back to digital. However, newer display devices used digital signals, too, so the process became a two-step conversion from digital to analog and back to digital, with concurrent degradation of the signal. When digital signals became more common, VGA cables were enhanced with converters to enable an analog-to-digital conversion.

At the time they were first released (1987), analog signals were the norm. VGA cables were designed to carry only video signals from a device to a display.

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