Technical Info On Toslink Cables



Posted: Saturday, September 12, 2009

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There are many kinds of audio cables one can use. A common cable used for consumer audio equipment is a Toslink cable. A more common name for a Toslink cable is an optical cable. Technically it is a standardized optical fiber connection system. They are commonly used for connecting devices such as DAT recorders and CD players. PCM, or pulse-code modulation, is standard in digital video and audio. Toslink was originally created by Toshiba in 1983 as a connector for their CD players to be connected to their receivers for PCM audio streams. Most manufacturers starting using this same connector for their CD players shortly after Toshiba came out with it. The standard name for Toslink is "EIAJ optical".

The Toslink cable has become a very popular choice and they come at different price points and have different manufacturers. What production material is used is based on the application and bandwidth, usually they're composed of 1mm plastic optical fiber or a higher quality multistrand plastic optical fiber. The length goes from 5 to 10 meters but longer than that will need a signal booster. But with the new modern technology there are now Toslink cables that go 100 feet or longer.

There's another type of jack that goes by the name of mini-toslink jacks. There are adapters on the market to connect the mini toslink to the regular Toslink cable. The most common users of the mini-toslink jacks are Apple computers and portable mini disc players.

The audio signal from a Toslink cable was originally limited to 48 kHz at 20 bits, but has now been extended to support all modern formats. The only exceptions to this are DTS HD audio streams, TrueHD, and Dolby Digital Plus.

After Toshiba's invention of the Toslink they're now the standard in audio cables, to connect CD players and other things to the main component. There are many manufacturers now so the name of Toslink describes the cable not related to Toshiba. They're highly available through retail brick stores and online, so if you need one it's a easy search.

There are lots of components in your home theater setup, click on uglycable.com today for all the parts you need. Uglycable.com is a premier home theater provider and has representatives who can help you find the special Toslink cables and the plasma bracket for your system.

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