Amazon Basics 100' HDMI Fiber Optic Cable

Amazon Basics 100' HDMI Fiber Optic Cable

Seems like a deal. If I only had storage for 99 ft behind my tv. I will need more time to think if I’d have a use.

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How is this fiber optic? HDMI isn’t an optical interface so it would require an electrical to optical to electrical conversion in order to be an optical signal.

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Buy things you need, don’t create needs for things you buy. That said - :slight_smile:

Get you an HDMI splitter, and run this to another TV in another area of your house. Do this enough times, and you’ll no longer need to remember to hit “pause” as you do chores around he house.

Apparently the fiber optic aspect means “less signal degradation over long distances.” I always thought, being digital, HDMI either “worked or it didn’t,” but I do know the existing 100’ run to my basement looks like absolute garbage since I put my old 4K TV down there, so maybe there’s some truth there?

If I remember correctly, that’s pretty much how these work. You need them for really long lengths since a regular copper cable would have too much signal degradation over that length.

Fibre HDMI cables have a converter in each termination of the cable, this also lends to the one directional nature of the fibre optic cable, one end is designated for the source with the other end designated for the input device or display. This makes the HDMI cable an “active” connection requiring a little voltage to power the embedded electricity to light converters and the reverse. This is usually provided by the HDMI input of the display end of the cable but if this device is not outputting the correct voltage as per the HDMI spec this can be solved with a 5 volt HDMI to USB connector when the devices connected cannot supply the required voltage.

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I have a 30 foot HDMI run between two floors for the same reason. That one is high quality copper. I have never tested an optical HDMI cable, but it would be interesting to do so.

While I don’t need one right now, there’s been several instances where one would be super useful. Tempted to grab one for a rainy day at this price. Comparable cables are about $40-50, and this one is currently $32 on the mothership.

Will these work with eARC/Dolby Atmos/etc

Bullet point 3

  • Meets HDMI 2.0 standards (4K UHD Video at 60 Hz, 2160p, 48 bit/px color depth), supports 18Gbps bandwidth, Ethernet, 3D, and Audio Return Channel (ARC), backwards compatible with earlier versions

For those who wonder “what, fiber?” here’s a link to information on what, why, and when you’d use hybrid fiber or pure fiber cables.