Coaxial and optical cables are used in home entertainment systems to connect an audio source such as a set top box blu ray player or video game console to a component such as an amplifier audio receiver or speaker system.
Optical cable vs hdmi audio.
Another limitation that you may come across on an optical digital cable would be that the quality is limited to up to 5 1 channel.
Most tvs do support optical cables but it s not nearly as popular as hdmi.
When comparing hdmi vs.
These types of cables work through using a pulsing wave of light to relay audio signals from a source to a receiving device.
Both are better than analog the red and white cables.
Now although both cables deliver about the same result the way they achieve that result is very different.
Both can pass multi channel audio like dolby digital.
Launched in 2002 the biggest benefit of hdmi is it s a one size fits all connection for video and audio.
Optical audio cables for sound quality hdmi is better than optical.
Both types transfer a digital audio signal from one device to the other.
To clarify the official term for optical cables that are used solely for audio is toslink.
An optical connection also can t support more than two channels of uncompressed pcm audio.
If you can t optical is decent enough for your audio or sound needs.
Moreover with optical cables the usage is limited to speakers up to 5 1 while hdmi takes advantage of dolby truehd and dts hd master audio.
The digital optical audio cable is one dimensional and only puts out the sound.
Both hdmi and optical pass digital audio from one device to another.
The basics of hdmi vs.
Coaxial vs optical vs hdmi which is the best audio connection to use.
An optical digital connection uses the medium of light to transmit data through a cable s optical fibres which can be.
If the sound system is solely set up for audio and music either cable will perform the same function.
Although consistent and high quality it lacks the edge provided by the hdmi for video.
The end connections are a little oddly shaped and the link may not be secure as in the case of hdmi or coaxial cables.
Then there s the threat of damage if an optical cable is bent too tightly.
A digital optical cable also referred to as an optical cable will produce a reliable and consistent sound.
In fact some have claimed that digital optical cables relay slightly better sound than an hdmi cable.
Optical cables use optical fiber to transfer data.
This is why between hdmi and optical the simplest advice is to go hdmi as much as possible.