One article explains what is an optical HDMI cable

For everyday consumers, what is the difference between copper wire and optical fiber HDMI, and in what scenarios are they used, the two have become important issues for understanding HDMI cables. Today, we will take these two questions to explore the material distinction of HDMI cables.

Copper to fiber, the only way to progress in transmission

Speaking of HDMI cables, we must first mention a wave of HDMI protocol.

The bandwidth of HDMI 2.1 has increased from 18Gbps of HDMI 2.0 to 48Gbps, which can fully support ultra-high resolution and refresh rate such as 4K@120Hz, 8K@100/120Hz, 10K@100/120Hz (achievable under compression), and support both Dynamic HDR, so the HDMI2.1 era needs a new ultra-high-speed HDMI cable to meet the transmission efficiency; since the advent of HDMI cables, HDMI cables are all made of copper core wires, which benefit from the physical properties of copper itself and have good conductivity. And it has strong durability, which can guarantee the high-quality transmission of the signal.

Compared with copper cores, there are silver cores and gold cores with better physical properties, but with the value of the latter two, it is doomed that it is impossible for HDMI cables to use gold and silver as the mainstream materials in the market.

The long-term copper HDMI cable has also proved the applicability of copper, but as mentioned above, with the upgrade of the HDMI protocol, the bandwidth will gradually increase. The 48Gbps bandwidth brought by the latest HDMI 2.1 is higher than the previous one HDMI 2.0 more than doubled.

Higher bandwidth has higher requirements for copper cables, and the copper core itself will not be able to play a role in higher fields due to its own physical characteristics. However, copper HDMI cables are still our best choice within a distance of 3m. Beyond 3m, it will be subject to physical characteristics and cause certain signal attenuation. The long-distance use has obvious disadvantages. At the same time, with the rise of copper prices in the past two years, HDMI cable manufacturers are bound to choose optical fiber HDMI cables with better transmission medium, better transmission effect and gradually lower prices.

AOC optical copper hybrid cable and pure optical fiber

Optical fiber HDMI cables, like copper HDMI cables, will also have different categories, that is, AOC optical copper hybrid cables and pure optical fibers. AOC optical-copper hybrid cable is different from copper cable, and adopts the structure of photoelectric composite cable.

At present, the optical fiber HDMI cables on the market basically adopt the structure of optical fiber and copper wire, which conducts electricity with copper wire and transmits signals with optical fiber. Two photoelectric conversions.

Simply put, AOC optical-copper hybrid cables use optical fibers to transmit high-speed signals, while low-speed signals still use copper wires. Doing so can solve both high bandwidth and long distance problems at the same time.

Not only that, the signal transmission is more stable in this way, the diameter is thinner, and the weight is less than about 50% to 60% of the copper core. At the same time, because the main material is composed of optical fibers, the use of copper is reduced, which can better save resources and improve the anti-interference and radiation protection capabilities. The advantages are very obvious.

Does it sound like this is the best solution for HDMI cables in the future? This underestimates the advancement of technology. Since this hybrid structure also includes copper material as a low-speed signal transmission, once in a strong magnetic field environment, it may also suffer from electromagnetic interference and cause signal weakening.

Of course, there is also the most headache for users. Because it has a display end and a receiving end, the wire is directional. If you connect it in the wrong direction during the process of installing the wire at home, the consequences will be worrying. So is there any way to reject the copper core material and solve the direction problem?

Literally, the difference between the optical copper hybrid and the pure optical cable is that the latter gets rid of the copper cable and completely uses the optical fiber as the transmission medium. Because the pure optical fiber HDMI cable does not have any metal conductors, it completely solves the problem of electromagnetic radiation interference.

At the same time, due to the use of pure optical signal transmission, it can achieve farther transmission up to 500 meters or even 1000 meters. What is even more surprising is that in terms of transmission bandwidth, the bandwidth transmission capacity of the pure optical HDMI cable can be achieved beyond the 48Gbps brought by HDMI 2.1, reaching 72Gbps or even higher, truly realizing the future!

As for the directional problem we are worried about, in the entire pure fiber HDMI cable joint design scheme, the MPO head is used for connection conversion design with precision, speed and easy installation, which can not only separate the main fiber from the module, but also easily pass the pipeline.You can also replace the modules at both ends to convert other pure fiber optic cable products.

From this point of view, the pure optical fiber HDMI cable is not only superior in terms of material, but also has the advantage that the copper cable HDMI cable cannot match in the later upgrade. Coupled with the convertible joint design, users do not have to worry about the direction connection and start over.

Of course, whether it is our current mainstream copper HDMI cable, or the more advanced AOC optical-copper hybrid cable and pure optical fiber HDMI cable, they are constantly meeting our increasingly upgraded needs and bringing a better audio-visual experience.

For these types of choices, big guys still have to choose according to their actual needs. For example, the game party can directly choose the current mainstream copper HDMI cable, and choose to support the HDMI 2.1 protocol. High-definition cable; home improvement buried cable, it must have requirements for the wire, AOC optical copper hybrid cable is the best choice, but you need to pay more attention to the installation, do not cause damage to the wire due to vertical wiring; as for the final pure fiber HDMI cable, Mind you all just wait and see.