The cable itself, which is the result of combined efforts from a group of major electronics corporations (including Sony, Philips, and Toshiba) is actually just a DVI cable with included wiring for audio transfers. HDMI is unique compared to a lot of connection types before it because it combines audio and video into one port.
The downside? It's a really frequent issue that some people might literally get every time they turn on certain devices. That's great news because, 99 percent of the time, it won't require replacing any of your electronics. It's usually very easy to solve and rarely indicates a critical problem.
The 'No HDMI Signal' problem is a common TV issue that most people have encountered.
