Once you have identified the type and length of cable that you require you will no doubt then have a range to choose from which will include different manufacturers and varying prices. We frequently get asked which is best and why are they different prices? These questions can be answered by considering that the cables will probably differ in the following ways;
Shielding. All signals are susceptible to electro-magnetic interference. This interference can be significantly reduced by surrounding the signal conductors with an interference blocking shield of metal. The best cables will have shielding around individual signal wires which is constructed to encase as much as possible of the conductors. Adding greater shielding to a cable adds to the cost of construction and materials. It will also make the cable less flexible, larger and heavier. The connectors of the cable should also be shielded. This is often achieved by using metal connector housings.
Conductors. The quality of the signal will be affected by the type and purity of the conductor material. Various versions of Oxygen Free Copper (OFC) are used, often displayed with a purity percentage. Some manufacturers also have developed hybrid conductor constructions or conductors coated with silver designed to optimise the signal path at certain frequencies.
Contacts. A good cable requires a good electrical contact with the piece of equipment with which it is interfacing. Gold plated contacts are often used to provide a solid contact with low resistance.
Flexibility. Flexibility of the cable is important as often the cables on equipment have to fit within a defined space. Inflexible cables can make positioning equipment difficult and will lead to increased forces on the connectors and equipment. Greater shielding often comes at the price of reduced flexibility, however, some manufacturers use hybrid construction techniques in order to deliver good shielding and flexible cables.
Durability. All cables will come under stresses and strains and abrasions therefore it is imperative that materials used and the construction be adequate for the purpose.
Most of the cables we sell do not have a choice of colour options. Please see the individual product pages for details of item.
DVI Single link supports resolutions up to 1920x1080 at 60 Hz and has a maximum bandwidth of 165 Mhz.
DVI Dual link supports resolutions up to 2048 x 1536 at 60 Hz and has a maximum bandwidth of 165 Mhz.
So even a single link DVI cable will support a 1080p signal at 60 frames per second (148.5 Mhz). Dual link is really only required for very high resolution graphics applications but in practice there are more dual link cables on the market than single link. There is no problem using dual link cable in an application where only single link is required.
Single Link DVI
Dual Link DVI
