Evaluation Foreword

On April 10, Cabol launched a 100 meter optical fiber HDMI cable, which made up for the problem of long-distance signal transmission in the high-definition industry and brought a "gorgeous" solution for home theater wiring and even engineering level high-definition signal transmission.

Cabol, which has always focused on the high-definition industry, launched the optical fiber HDMI line this time. With its "long, light and soft" characteristics, it has solved the industry pain points of the traditional copper core HDMI line, which has short transmission distance, large volume and weight, and is not easy to bend. The biggest highlight of optical fiber HDMI is that it is completely isolated from electromagnetic interference, and achieves strong anti-interference performance by means of photoelectric isolation, or even no interference, It can output authentic images over a long distance, so it is widely loved by enthusiasts.

What kind of experience will Keppel fiber HDMI cable bring to us? Next, we will conduct a detailed evaluation on the Kebold optical fiber HDMI cable (25m), from appearance to disassembly to actual experience.

1、 Unpacking appearance

I wonder if you can't make better use of the HDMI HD cable because of its distance and the limitation that it can't bend when installing and wiring at home?

Believe it or not, there is about 15 meters between the output and the input when Xiaobian is decorating the home theater, especially when he is solving the problem of connecting the remote focus projector and the signal source. There are many limitations in the selection of the traditional copper core HDMI HD line. Long distance transmission of copper core HDMI line will more or less lead to unstable phenomena such as screen flicker, color distortion, etc, Even if the signal can be transmitted "smoothly", the cable has to be made "thicker than the thigh" in order to obtain better anti-interference performance, which makes the wire sacrifice the flexibility of portability and softness.

Figure: Outer package of Cabol 25m optical fiber HDMI cable

Figure: Cable HDMI cable product label

As we all know, data transmission is greatly affected by transmission media. The transmission distance limit of traditional copper core media is 35 meters. In addition, in data transmission, the image response speed of copper core media decreases as the distance increases. The transmission principle used by the fiber core is the total reflection of light. The transmission speed of signals in the fiber core is close to the speed of light (300000 km/s), so there is almost no delay in its response speed. The "fiber HDMI line" and the "fiber 100M network" have similar advantages. You can understand the same principle by analogy.

Cabol optical fiber HDMI cable provides 10 meters/15 meters/25 meters/30 meters/40 meters/60 meters/70 meters/80 meters/100 meters for players with different needs. It is suitable for digital set-top boxes, computers, game consoles Long distance high-definition video and audio signal transmission between DVD and other devices with HDMI signal output interface and high-definition projector, high-definition digital television and display, in some engineering level applications, such as video entertainment system, high-definition video conference office system, multimedia education system, public security high-definition monitoring system, radio and television control system Large medical imaging systems are also widely used.

In addition, the core diameter of optical fiber is only 50 microns, and the diameter is only 1/2 of the hair, so it can be made very light and soft. Compared with copper wire, it can reduce the volume and weight by 60%. "Long, light and soft" is the best synonym of optical fiber HDMI, so it has more advantages when wiring and threading.

Figure: Kebor optical fiber HDMI cable is packed in the sealed bag of the inner box

The Cabol optical fiber HDMI cable for this test is a 25m version 2.0 cable, which is tightly bound with four loops of binding tape and is not easy to tie. The 19 core plug is equipped with a professional plastic protective sleeve to prevent abrasion and scratches. It is reported that products 40 meters and above will be rolled up with cables, making it easier to manage the cable, which shows Cabol's sincerity.

Figure: 25 meter version of Cabol optical fiber HDMI cable

Photo: Four coils of tie wrap tightly

Figure: The plug is equipped with a professional plastic protective sleeve

The allowable stretching force of Kebor optical fiber HDMI line is 100N/200N, and the allowable flattening force is 200N/400N, which means that the optical fiber HDMI line will not be damaged according to daily use. It is worth noting that a certain distance should be reserved at the connector (15cm according to the official recommendation) before bending to prevent the connection between the plug and the optical fiber core from breaking. The minimum bending radius (dynamic/static) is 80mm/40mm, Due to the particularity of optical fiber material, we must not fold it in half during use.

Fig.: The line body is equipped with a nameplate for safe use

Figure: Product model and barcode

Cabol optical fiber HDMI cable plug shell is made of zinc alloy, which is pressure resistant and not easy to crack. The coffee gold color matching and strong light sense will cause embrittlement compared with the plastic shell after a long time of use. The zinc alloy connector is not only beautiful but also durable. The 24K gold plating process at the connector makes the access equipment more stable. Kebor optical fiber HDMI cable reminds users to connect the signal source and display respectively through the laser carved small head logo Source and large head logo Display. The design is humanized. In addition, the laser carved Kebor logo is generous and decent.

Figure: Small head identification Source connected to signal source, large head identification Display connected to display

Figure: Detail of side A of joint

Figure: Detail of side B of joint

Since "long, light and soft" are the advantages of Kebor fiber HDMI cable, and "long" has been mentioned above, let's intuitively feel the two characteristics of "light" and "soft"!

Figure: Cable HDMI cable weighs 0.515KG at 25m

Figure: Keppel fiber HDMI cable diameter is 4.0mm

Compared with ordinary copper core HDMI, the advantages of wire thickness are very obvious, which is conducive to wiring through pipes. At the same time, thanks to the flexible characteristics of the optical fiber core, Kebor optical fiber HDMI cable can realize the bending action that copper core HDMI cable cannot, so it will bring a lot of convenience in wiring.

Figure: Comparison between Kebold optical fiber HDMI cable and copper core HDMI cable

Figure: Keppel fiber HDMI cable can realize bending

comment: In terms of appearance, Kepler optical fiber HDMI line is made of solid materials, and the zinc alloy high-end process at the joint is more compatible with the metal wind of HD equipment. In terms of practicality, thanks to the physical properties of the fiber core material, "long, light and flexible" is more conducive to wiring through pipes. Kepler optical fiber HDMI line changes the signal connection mode of HD line, and is more flexible.

2、 Disassembly

From the appearance, we have intuitively understood the Kebor optical fiber HDMI cable. We believe that you must have a good internal structure of the Qibo optical fiber cable. Is the inside of the Kebor optical fiber HDMI cable really material? How about the workmanship? Next, we can see clearly through disassembly.

After disassembling the zinc alloy shell, we first saw 10 small cables protruding from the outer sheath of the high-density TPU material. The connection between the two was sealed with glue for fixed use. The previously mentioned fixed distance of 15cm as far as possible was to protect the place from breaking.

Figure: The connection is fixed by glue, and the protection wire core is free from breaking

With the extensive application of 4K2K audio and video, especially the increasingly high requirements of UHDTV on the data transmission efficiency of the transmission interface, the existing copper core HDMI cable is bound to fail to work normally under the transmission connection requirements of more than 100 meters, and the copper core HDMI is accompanied by electromagnetic interference when transmitting signals at high speed, The transmission bandwidth standard of HDMI version 2.0 is 18Gbps, so there is a need to upgrade the HDMI cable significantly.

Kebor optical fiber HDMI line integrates transmission interface with AOC optical cable technology and is transmitted with optical fiber. With the transmission signal characteristics of optical fiber, it can easily meet the demand and break through the 100 meter limit. Thanks to the physical characteristics of optical fiber core, the interference problem of electrical specifications can be realized through "electro-optic conversion - optical fiber medium - photoelectric conversion" to achieve zero interference transmission. Cabol optical fiber HDMI cable adopts AOC (active) optical cable solution, a system composed of two optical transceivers and optical cable jumpers. This system has higher speed and better reliability than the system composed of independent devices. The following is the circuit design at the interface:

Figure: Source interface: electrical signal to optical signal module

Figure: Display interface: optical signal to electrical signal module

When the electrical signal is converted into an optical signal, it is transmitted at a high speed through optical fiber, so it can achieve no electromagnetic interference/electromagnetic radiation and other problems, and the transmission distance is far. From the disassembled cable, we can see that the Kebor optical fiber HDMI line is strictly in accordance with the engineering wire gauge standards, the outermost layer is the TPU outer sheath, and the second layer is filled with aramid fiber, The third layer is the filler rope and the outer sheath of stranded tinned copper wire (the inner layer is stranded tinned copper wire) arranged in a certain order, and the innermost layer is the sub cable sheath (tight sleeve optical fiber, with blue, orange, green and brown four cores inside), which is covered with multiple layers of protection within the diameter of only 4mm. It can be seen that Kebor has something to do with the manufacturing process of optical fiber HDMI.

Figure: Internal structure of optical fiber line medium

Figure: Stranded tinned copper wire

Figure: Blue, orange, green and brown 4-core optical fibers in the sub cable sheath

Finally, let's see what the optical fiber looks like:

Figure: Fiber core of Keppel optical fiber HDMI cable

comment: From the joint structure and cable structure, we can see that Cabol is professional in the research and development of optical fiber HDMI cable. The four layer stacking and optical fiber core can see that the material is solid. The strict engineering wire gauge also ensures that AOC optical fiber HDMI cable can provide us with lossless transmission of signals. What will be the actual experience?

3、 Play test

Regardless of the image quality experience, Cabol fiber HDMI cable has a good use experience. The size of the socket is designed properly, and it is not easy to fall off when plugged into the device. Thanks to the flexibility of fiber HDMI, the wiring in some corners and narrow spaces becomes more "easy".

Figure: Connected to player end

Figure: Connected to TV terminal

Now let's experience the audio-visual experience brought by this Cabol 25 meter optical fiber HDMI cable through intuitive experience. For 4K resolution video output, it perfectly presents the advantages of large resolution video. The image sharpness is controlled very well, without noise and moire, The details can withstand the test of amplification (due to digital photography and multiple transcoding, the following pictures cannot represent the real situation, and are only for reference).

Cabol optical fiber HDMI cable is version 2.0, and the data transmission bandwidth is 18Gbps. It can carry high-quality audio and video of long distance UHD blue light, especially 4K HDR 4K@60 FPS and other high contrast, high frame number video images, under the transmission of optical fiber cores, the images are free of interference, more pure, transparent, and more responsive.

In the following figure, the depth of field effect of the distant night sky and the nearby trees in the "Teenager School HDR Version" is obvious, forming a clear hierarchy with the nearby boat. The leaves and branches are clearly outlined under the night sky, and the overall picture shows more details in the dark field. When playing the video of football games, under the guidance of the 25 meter HDMI line, there is basically no drag in the process of running and passing, The outline of the figure is also clearly visible.

In order to more intuitively experience the audio and video experience brought by Cabol's 25 meter optical fiber HDMI line, we selected several sets of scenes and 3 meter copper core HDMI line with coil, and compared the effects of AB screen photography.

Personally, the two are not the same in terms of image output sharpness, detail expression, and color saturation. However, careful observation can show that when using copper core HDMI cable for connection, moire occasionally appears when displaying some colorful images. It is worth mentioning that when you watch two pictures that have almost the same effect, you should recognize that the Kebor optical fiber HDMI cable is 25 meters, while the traditional copper core HDMI cable is 3 meters.

comment: Cabol fiber HDMI cable version 2.0 supports the ultrahigh definition blue light standard, especially the popularity of 4K, HDR and 60FPS high frame rate videos that are becoming increasingly popular. Cabol fiber HDMI cable bears an important role in home audio and video entertainment. In terms of picture quality, Cabol fiber HDMI cable output picture quality is really excellent; In terms of technology, the effective transmission distance up to 100 meters plus the interference free feature can absolutely kill most HDMI lines at the same distance (it should be known that the traditional HDMI lines, even with signal amplifiers, can only be 35 meters long and can only transmit 1080P resolution).

For the emergence of new standards such as 8K in the future, the traditional HDMI cable may be even more unable to meet future needs, which may be the real "killer" of optical fiber HDMI cable based on the present and facing the future.

Overall evaluation

With the improvement of the people's disposable economy, home audio and video entertainment is becoming more and more extensive, and smart boutiques drive consumption upgrading. Cabol, which has always been working on 4K hard disk players, grandly launched a 100 meter optical fiber HDMI cable to the industry this time, perhaps because with the help of the ultra-high definition blue light standard, the space that traditional copper core HDMI can play is becoming smaller and smaller, It can be seen that manufacturers have seen the broad market prospect of optical fiber application in HDMI HD line.

Cabol's 100 meter optical fiber HDMI cable inherits the three characteristics of "long, light and soft" in appearance, and uses zinc alloy material with strong light sense at the plug, which is quite similar to Cabol's own design language. From the internal workmanship and strict engineering wire gauge, we can see that the product will have a longer service life, thanks to the zero interference of the optical fiber core, Cabol's 100 meter optical fiber HDMI cable has a picture quality output no less than that of high-end copper core HDMI cable, which is even better than that of other high-end copper core HDMI cables. As its outstanding highlight and feature, Cabol's 100 meter optical fiber HDMI cable can easily break through the bottleneck.

As a result, the application range of Keppel optical fiber HDMI cable is more extensive. Of course, the Cabol fiber HDMI line, which has very high standards in materials, processes, and sound and picture quality, also has a slightly higher price. In a word, if you are a person who has an attitude towards the picture quality, especially in the use of projectors and other long-distance transmission scenarios, Cabol's 100 meter fiber HDMI line is worth getting started.