A question to the technically enlightened


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Pablo

Senior Member
Sep 1, 2004
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Blue/Green Planet
Hello there,

You may be technophobes or some guys/girls that keep upto what is going on, but you might assit my thinking.

It goes like this....

With all the standards arround and increasing ..... example......

Analog (RCA) ...Composite (RCA)

Analog (RCA) ...Component (RCA)

Digital ...Component

Optical ...Component

HDMI........

And so on.

My question is..... with the possible bandwidth etc, would it not be better and (one cable only)
if both video and audio was fed by optical fibre.

I can guess I will be shot down here, but my ideal would be a setup like this.....

DVD fed to Tuner/amp/switcher via Optical, tuner/amp/switcher to Monitor via optical, tuner/amp/switcher to speakers via cable.


What lack of technological understanding do I have to think this would be good to have ?

Thank you for any reply :)
 

thank god...i'm technically inclined
so i don't have to worry abt all these :D
 

My question is..... with the possible bandwidth etc, would it not be better and (one cable only)
if both video and audio was fed by optical fibre.

Something similar like SATA2 cannot carry your video signals to your monitors. Nor your LAN cables carry broadcast video signals. ;)

*edit* on second thought.. I think it's more similar to the question why cams have different types of storage formats...CF/SD/XD...etc.
 

It would require all signals to be modulated onto a common medium of transmission.

Would be great to clear up all the cable clutter though!
 

It would require all signals to be modulated onto a common medium of transmission.

Would be great to clear up all the cable clutter though!

I tot there was something like converting everything to RF/wireless (propriety) signals so that the entire setup only requires a daisy chain of power cables... the rest are already RF. :think:
 

I tot there was something like converting everything to RF/wireless (propriety) signals so that the entire setup only requires a daisy chain of power cables... the rest are already RF. :think:

Yup, it's something like a multiplexer (digital signals) or a multicoupler (analogue signals) fitted in at the front end.

But I need the money for lenses... :sweat:
 

Hi all,

Thank you for replying to my question so far :)

What my thoughts are goes along these lines ....

So far (for what I know) we don't have a way of passing signals faster than light.

Optics = light

I am aware that the original signal be it analoge or digital has to end up exciting a laser diode or what ever

And a recieving optical diode at the other end of the optical cable has to translate it back (in basic terms).

I guess there is also mention of the multiplexing/de-multiplexing circuits.

But my main question is ... can both audio and video signals be sent and recieved via optical fibre and sent to their respective outputs ?

Just to add another technology that is underway ...... "Ultra wideband" ... this has similar capabilities ?

But "Ultra Wide Band" has limitations that do not need be there in a home system.


To give a simple example of what I would like in a home system .......

DVD linked to Tuner/Amp/Switcher via 1 fibre optic cable.

Monitor/TV linked to Tuner/Amo/Switcher via 1 fibre optic cable.

Self powered speakers linked to Tuner/Amp/Switcher via 1 fibre optic cable.

Actually, the Tuner/Amp/Switcher need only be a Tuner/Preamp.

Cheers :)

Thanks again for your replies.
 

The thing is that every line of communications needs it's protocols and error checks and addressing systems.

If you want to squeeze everything into a common line (most likely it would have to be digital), then the above 3 systems would be very complex and huge "processing" is required at both the transmitting and receiving end. In audio, you might lose quality and it might lag or distort. Would you pay a heavy price for such systems and still not have the "quality" of a simple CD player?

Anyway, I tot all audio components are sorta backwards compatiable such that they have the analog RCA. Juz use and forget about the rest loh.

:dunno:

I know DA can answer this better as he's got "hands-on"... hahaha
 

Hi all,

Thank you for replying to my question so far :)

...

To give a simple example of what I would like in a home system .......

DVD linked to Tuner/Amp/Switcher via 1 fibre optic cable.

Monitor/TV linked to Tuner/Amo/Switcher via 1 fibre optic cable.

Self powered speakers linked to Tuner/Amp/Switcher via 1 fibre optic cable.

Actually, the Tuner/Amp/Switcher need only be a Tuner/Preamp.

Cheers :)

Thanks again for your replies.

i thought HDMI cable can achieve what you want.

DVD to amp -> HDMI
amp to TV -> HDMI
amp to self powered speakers, can even be wireless...
 

Hello there,

You may be technophobes or some guys/girls that keep upto what is going on, but you might assit my thinking.

It goes like this....

With all the standards arround and increasing ..... example......

Analog (RCA) ...Composite (RCA)

Analog (RCA) ...Component (RCA)

Digital ...Component

Optical ...Component

HDMI........

And so on.

My question is..... with the possible bandwidth etc, would it not be better and (one cable only)
if both video and audio was fed by optical fibre.

I can guess I will be shot down here, but my ideal would be a setup like this.....

DVD fed to Tuner/amp/switcher via Optical, tuner/amp/switcher to Monitor via optical, tuner/amp/switcher to speakers via cable.


What lack of technological understanding do I have to think this would be good to have ?

Thank you for any reply :)
It reads 'expensive'. Why use optical when the digital signal is fine with copper? For audio it makes sense because it eliminates hum due to ground loop but then again, the use of balanced audio cables eliminates the problem too.

Anyway, SCV is already something like that, isn't it.. fibre optics to carry quite a number of channels, then distributed with coax cables and only one line to the SCV box. :) Now there's even the HD version... ;p
 

The optical fiber link currently used to connect, say, your DVD player to your AV amp uses (cheap) plastic optical fiber and LEDs for light sources that limits the bandwidth to around 100mbps. This transmission rate would not be able to support 5.1 audio + video, I believe. A new standard will be needed to increase the bandwidth to carry audio + video.

The 100mbps is about the lowest of the deployed transmission rates for what is collective known as fiber optics communications. In the industry, we are talking about 10Gbps or even 40Gbps transmission rates, but these makes use of specialized high quality glass fibers and expensive lasers to send the data. I can see that something in between these 2 extremes would be just at the right price point and perfomance for the home theater use.
 

The optical fiber link currently used to connect, say, your DVD player to your AV amp uses (cheap) plastic optical fiber and LEDs for light sources that limits the bandwidth to around 100mbps. This transmission rate would not be able to support 5.1 audio + video, I believe. A new standard will be needed to increase the bandwidth to carry audio + video.

The 100mbps is about the lowest of the deployed transmission rates for what is collective known as fiber optics communications. In the industry, we are talking about 10Gbps or even 40Gbps transmission rates, but these makes use of specialized high quality glass fibers and expensive lasers to send the data. I can see that something in between these 2 extremes would be just at the right price point and perfomance for the home theater use.

the thing is that technology marches on... what's adequate for today might not even be enough for tomorrow.

btw IIRC some company have already successfully trailed a consumer based wireless digital HD transmission, they say it's DVD quality, so I assumed it's at least 5.1 sound too.
 

The optical fiber link currently used to connect, say, your DVD player to your AV amp uses (cheap) plastic optical fiber and LEDs for light sources that limits the bandwidth to around 100mbps. This transmission rate would not be able to support 5.1 audio + video, I believe. A new standard will be needed to increase the bandwidth to carry audio + video.

The 100mbps is about the lowest of the deployed transmission rates for what is collective known as fiber optics communications. In the industry, we are talking about 10Gbps or even 40Gbps transmission rates, but these makes use of specialized high quality glass fibers and expensive lasers to send the data. I can see that something in between these 2 extremes would be just at the right price point and perfomance for the home theater use.

Thank you denmad for the explanation regarding what we consumers have, relating to standards optical fiber usage.

I was not aware of the limitations there.

Thank you :thumbsup:
 

the thing is that technology marches on... what's adequate for today might not even be enough for tomorrow.

btw IIRC some company have already successfully trailed a consumer based wireless digital HD transmission, they say it's DVD quality, so I assumed it's at least 5.1 sound too.

Hi CYRN,

Yes, I think one of the names for it is "Ultra wideband" :dunno:

Cheers :)
 

Thank you everyone that has replied and offered views and information on my question.


Cheers :thumbsup:
 

I have a question for you: how much (more) would you pay for the system you have in mind? $100? (I presume for your system you will need 1 x transmitter at the DVD player side and 1 transceiver at the amp and 1 receiver at the TV)
 

I have a question for you: how much (more) would you pay for the system you have in mind? $100? (I presume for your system you will need 1 x transmitter at the DVD player side and 1 transceiver at the amp and 1 receiver at the TV)

I am not shure I would like to have to pay more other than for a good set of optical fiber cable's.

DVD's and Amp's already come with the circuits (well a lot of them these days)......

TV's or monitors don't as far as I am aware and I would guess the converting circuitry would be more demanding (extra $100 ... OK ;p ).

I do see the point about standards and it's current limits other than for industrial.

There lies a cause for paying for it.

The "Ultra Wideband" idea sounds good (no cables at all other than for power), but, I have too many wireless signal's floating around my place already.

This will seem a lame thought and not one of my concerns, but wireless information is always prone to some idiot hacker to disrupt.

I kind of like the idea of one good flexable fiber optic cable linking everything up.

I dream often :bsmilie:

Cheers :)
 

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