Help & Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better: Digital coax or Toslink (Optical)? |
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Digital coax cables deliver a digital audio signal via electricity travelling
down a copper wire over a shielded 75-Ohm coaxial cable with 75 Ohm
RCA connectors used on both ends. Toslink (Optical) delivers a digital
audio signal via a red light beam over a fibre optic cable comprised of
many small strands of polished plastic specifically designed to transfer light.
In our opinion the performance difference between Digital coax and Toslink connections is negligible. The major difference will come from the quality
of your electronics, not the cable. For instance, if your CD player uses
superior quality components for its Coax digital audioconnection and
inferior components for its Toslink connection, then it only stands to reason
that the Digital coax would have better sound quality than the Toslink. The
difference in the cables physical characteristics is also something to look at.
A Digital coax cable is much sturdier; however, since it carries the digital signal
via electricity running down a conductor, it can transfer grounding
problems from one component to another, if they already exist. The Toslink cable is more fragile, if stepped on a Toslink cable can be crushed
and possibly destroyed. However, an optical connection is immune from
possible ground earth loops. |
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What is HDMI? |
| HDMI enables delivery of both uncompressed, all-digital, high-definition video and uncompressed, multichannel, digital audio through just one cable. HDMI enables full digital surround sound and is ideal for connecting digital display devices and digital source devices. |
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What is the difference between HDMI & DVI ? |
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The main difference is that HDMI carries both digital video and digital audio. DVI cables only carry digital video. HDMI is backward-compatible with DVI. HDMI-to-DVI cables and adapters allow connection of HDMI-enabled components with DVI-enabled components, delivering all-digital, high-definition video. |
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What is the difference between DVI-D, DVI-A and DVI-I ? |
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DVI-D are digital only cables. DVI-A are cables used for interfacing with analogue equipment. DVI-I are integrated cables and can carry both analogue and digital video signals. |
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What sort of connectors are used for digital optical connections? |
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Optical digital (Toslink)
The most common type of digital audio connections are on DVD players, AV receivers and PC soundcards with surround sound capability. Sometimes labelled SPDIF these connectors utilize fibre optics to deliver the digital audio signal. Mini-optical/Mini-Toslink Used on portable audio devices, especially MiniDisc recorders, for digital audio, including surround sound in some cases. See Optical digital. This type of jack is commonly used for the digital audio input and output of portable audio devices. A mini-optical jack is the same shape and size as a standard analog audio mini-jack. This allows portable MiniDisc recorders to use a single input jack that accepts both mini-optical connectors and standard analog audio mini-jacks. The MD portable detects whether you're making a digital or an analog connection based on the type of cable you're using, and automatically selects the appropriate recording mode. |
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What is the difference between Single Link and Dual Link DVI ? |
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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 |
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What is the pin configuration on a VGA cable? |
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Why does my PS3 (Play Station 3™) game only run at 720p with a HDMI cable? |
| Not all PS3 games run at the higher 1080 resolutions, you should check the games box to find the highest resolution it will display at. |
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Why doesn't my PS3 (Play Station 3™) work with an HDMI cable? |
| You will first need to tell your PS3 to use the HDMI cable. Connecting the cable and restarting the system should do this. If this fails, connect both the Euro AV cable and the HDMI cable, find the display settings on the system, and select the output as HDMI, once this has been setup, you can disconnect the Euro AV cable. For further help, you should consult the manual supplied. |
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Why doesn't my PS3 (Play Station 3™) output sound through the Toslink (optical) cable? |
| You need to tell the system to use the Toslink audio connector first. Find the sound options on the system, and choose to use the Toslink, or digital optical cable as the sound output method |
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What is the longest single length of HDMI cable I can run in optimal conditions? |
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There is no set definition for the maximum length an HDMI cable should be, cables from 10 to 20 metres have passed compliance testing, however that said, the length achieved without loss of picture, is dependent on the quality of the cable and the resolution. |
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When was HDMI released? |
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HDMI 1.0 specification was released in December 2002. |
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Are all HDMI standards both now and in the future backwards compatible with older standards? |
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All HDMI standards are fully backward compatible with all previous standards. |
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Why don't you sell VGA to Scart cables? |
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Although the 15pin D-dub connector is normally associated with VGA signals they have a separate vertical and horizontal sync, it is sometimes used as general purpose connector for component RGB video. In these circumstances a Scart to 15pin d-sub cable can be used. Infocus projectors often have the RGB input on a d-sub connector. In these circumstances a Scart to 15pin d-sub cable can be used, for example to connect a Sky box with RGB output to the projector. It is important to understand that this cable is not creating a VGA signal from the Scart output and cannot be used to connect a video source to a computer monitor. |
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What is different about the HDMI 1.3 Standard? |
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An increase in bandwidth allows for deeper colour, up-to 48-Bit, over one billion colours. A broader colour space means that HDMI 1.3 is able to deliver any colour viewable by the human eye and reduce colour banding in images . Also, unique to the 1.3 standard is a mini format connector for use with HD camcorders and other portable devices. A specialised Lip Sync function has been included in HDMI 1.3, which allows for a device to sync audio and video flawlessly every time without fail. Finally HDMI 1.3 includes a new HD lossless audio format, in addition to the current high-bandwidth uncompressed audio space; HDMI 1.3 also includes space for TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio sound. |
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What is meant by the term “Deep Colour” in HDMI terms? |
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Deep colour allows an HDTV to display billions of colours instead of millions. |
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What is HDCP? |
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HDCP stands for High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection. HDCP is a technology created by a company called "Digital Content Projection LLC" (a subsidiary of Intel.) This technology helps protect digital content, using a combination of encoding and encryption. |
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How does HDCP work ? |
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HDCP was designed as a copy protection for High Definition content. The HD content is such good quality that a protection system is required to prevent bootleggers making and selling unauthorized copies. The system is complicated to explain and due to its very nature the exact details are not made public, however the basics are as follows.
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What is the difference between HDCP 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3 ? |
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As with any security system it isn’t long before someone manages to crack it. HDCP 1.2 was an improvement on the original 1.1 system. Some manufacturers who did not adhere to the license agreement and implement HDCP correctly had their licenses revoked. A list of revoked keys was included in the 1.2 firmware. The effect of this is that equipment that doesn’t meet the HDCP standard may not work with 1.2 compliant devices. This is a deliberate way of punishing manufacturers who do not abide by the rules and ensuring that consumers do not by their products. Unfortunately most consumers do not know enough about HDCP to understand what is going on. Although it is a generalisation, it should be pointed out that the types of companies that are having their licenses revoked are not the big manufacturers who have too much invested in the technology but are more likely to be the far eastern manufacturers who are out to make a quick buck by manufacturing cheap HD equipment. The situation with revoked keys becomes even more interesting with the 1.3 specification as the details of revoked keys can be included in the HD media content and effectively downloaded by the HDCP firmware. The net effect of this is that devices manufactured by non-compliant companies may simply stop working when the keys are revoked. |
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What is the difference between VGA, XVGA, SVGA and so on… ? |
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VGA has a native resolution of 640 x 480 
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