cabling

 

The HDMI interface is the uncompressed, all-digital, global connectivity standard that delivers true HD quality for consumer electronics and PC products via a single cable.

HDMI technology was specifically designed to meet the needs of today's - and tomorrow's - HD entertainment systems. It transmits digital video, multi-channel surround sound, and advanced control data through a single cable, replacing up to eleven older cables with a single connection. Its simplicity is matched only by its extraordinary performance. High-bandwidth, all-digital, and never compressed, HDMI provides the highest possible signal quality.

More than 800 manufacturers have adopted the HDMI standard since 2003. With 229 million HDMI-enabled devices shipping in 2008, and 300 million more projected in 2009, analysts expect to see over a billion HDMI devices in the market by 2010, when every new digital TV will feature at least one HDMI port. HDMI connectivity is already standard on a wide range of products, from HDTVs and Blu-ray Disc players to multimedia PCs, gaming systems, digital camcorders, and more.

With HDMI connectivity, you get it all. The convenience of a one-cable solution, plus the power and performance of a high-speed digital link. Now and in the future, it's the best way to connect HD.

Component video is a video signal that has been split into two or more components. In popular use, it refers to a type of analog video information that is transmitted or stored as three separate signals. Component video can be contrasted with composite video (NTSC, PAL or SECAM) in which all the video information is combined into a single line-level signal. Like composite, component video cables do not carry audio and are often paired with audio cables.

When used without any other qualifications the term component video generally refers to analog YPbPr component video with sync on luma.

TOSLINK or Optical Cable is a standardised optical fiber connection system. Its most common use is in consumer audio equipment (via a "digital optical" socket) where it carries a digital audio stream between components such as MiniDisc and CD players and DAT recorders. Although TOSLINK supports several different media formats and physical standards, digital audio connections using the rectangular EIAJ/JEITA RC-5720 (also CP-1201 and JIS C5974-1993 F05) connector are by far the most common.

Toshiba originally created TOSLINK to connect their CD players to their receivers for PCM audio streams. It was soon adopted by manufacturers of most CD players. Early TOSLINK systems used the raw PCM data from the CD player; the S/PDIF standard has now become fairly universal for audio streams. It can often be found on DVD players and some game consoles to connect the digital audio stream to Dolby Digital/DTS decoders.

TOSLINK may use inexpensive 1 mm plastic optical fiber or it can use higher quality multi-strand plastic optical fibers or even quartz glass optical fibers depending on the desired bandwidth and application. TOSLINK cables are usually limited to 5 meters in length, with a maximum length of 10 meters, for reliable transmission unless using a signal booster.

High-end audio cables improve the sound quality of high-fidelity audio systems. Since the audio signal passes through cables on its way from the source to the amplifier, or from the amplifier to the speakers, the cables will affect that signal. Basic system frequency response can be calculated from the electrical properties of the cables, and components on either side of the cables. These electrical properties include resistance, capacitance, and inductance. For small-signal applications the degree of shielding are also important. All of these qualities are taken into account in the design of commercial and broadcast cables. High-end cables for the audiophile market often involve intricate construction geometries and exotic materials such as silver and oxygen-free, long-crystal, high-purity copper. See our extensive range of good quality speaker cables and interconnects for all budgets.

WHY STRUCTURED WIRING?
Wire is cheap. Opening walls is expensive. It is best to put in ten times the amount of wire that you will use at any one time. This provides the capacity and flexibility for the future needs of your home. If you buy into that concept, then structured wiring makes sense for you.

WHAT IS STRUCTURED WIRING?
Structured wiring is a method of providing the communications infrastructure of your home in a well organised, easy to understand, and thorough way to provide a general solution to your present and future needs. Rather than run a coax here, and a Cat 5 there, and another coax somewhere else as you guess at the future needs, the structured approach is to consistently run a full bundle of wire to every significant room. The full structured bundle consists of two 4-pair Cat 5 cables and two coax cables (usually quad shield RG-6), and optionally two multi-mode optical fibers. There are other structures, but this is the configuration that has overwhelmingly become the standard.