Also like USB it does not work very well and it can and does crash/damage equipment.
USB went some way towards dealing with the issue by introducing a “safely remove” feature.
HDMI has no such feature.
You should never hotplug HDMI equipment.
All devices should be completely removed from power while making or breaking connections.
Not in standby, completely removed from a power source.
Otherwise you are playing russian roulette with your equipment , one day you will hotplug and find that none of your HDMI ports will work any more because the HDMI chipset has been fried by an ESD/EOS event.
If you are seeing sparks, this is a combination of ESD and EOS.
ESD is electro static discharge from the body.
EOS is electrical over stress from HDMI 5v line not dealing with the sudden make or break in connection.
Note that even in standby the HDMI 5v line is always active. Its primary purpose is to power the EDID in the sink or display , so even if the display is completely removed from power its still getting 5v from the source via HDMI.
So all HDMI devices in the chain must be completely removed from power while making breaking connections to avoid damage. You may find too that your device(s) are trying to 'earth' via the shield on the HDMI cable (do your devices have an earth pin on the respective Mains Plugs?) so even where you 'get away with ' Hot Plug Detect' on the HDMI line you can still fry gear.
Joe Safely remove is primarily to prevent files being corrupted on mass storage devices disconnecting in the middle of a write. It's not offered on most other USB devices so I don't think it's got anything to do with hot plugging.
But back on topic, this does sound like an fault with your TV. I would take it back and get it replaced. Safely remove is there to ensure the port is inactive before hotplugging , simple as that.
It protects both hardware and software.
Sparks whilst hotplugging are very common with HDMI and do not indicate a fault.
As pretty much every manual out there will say, dont hotplug HDMI. This is interesting. I often swap 2 hdmi cables in my Blu ray player, to switch between a projector and a TV. I always make sure they are on standby but I never unplug them from the mains. I didn't realize this was a risk. The best thing to do there is to get a good HDMI switch.
Connect both up to the switch outputs and select whichever is needed.
Good switches are cheap enough and will protect your player and Displays. I would do that but it is just a temporary set up while I decorate the living room, so I am reluctant to spend any cash. I will make a mental note to switch off at the plug before swapping from now on though! This is good advice but watch out though because the vast majority of HDMI switches are unidirectional and are almost always 'n' in to one out. Make sure you look for one that explicitly states that it is bidirectional or is a one in to 'n' out.
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