High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a proprietary audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed video data and compressed or uncompressed digital audio data from an HDMI-compliant source device, such as a display controller, to a compatible computer monitor, video projector, digital television, or digital audio device. HDMI is a digital replacement for analog video standards. HDMI implements the EIA/CEA-861 standards, which define video formats and waveforms, transport of compressed and uncompressed LPCM audio, auxiliary data, and implementations of the VESA EDID. CEA-861 signals carried by HDMI are electrically compatible with the CEA-861 signals used by the Digital Visual Interface (DVI). No signal conversion is necessary, nor is there a loss of video quality when a DVI-to-HDMI adapter is used. The Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) capability allows HDMI devices to control each other when necessary and allows the user to operate multiple devices with one handheld remote control device. An electrical cable is an assembly of one or more wires running side by side or bundled, which is used to carry electric current. One or more electrical cables and their corresponding connectors may be formed into a cable assembly, which is not necessarily suitable for connecting two devices but can be a partial product (e.g. to be soldered onto a printed circuit board with a connector mounted to the housing). Cable assemblies can also take the form of a cable tree or cable harness, used to connect many terminals together.
AOC refers to a communication cable that needs to use external energy to convert electrical signals into optical signals, or convert optical signals into electrical signals in the communication process. The optical transceivers of the two sections of the optical cable provide photoelectric conversion and optical transmission functions. It consists of optoelectronic devices (two optical transceivers and cable jumpers). Active optical cables are mainly used in data centers, high-performance computers, large-capacity storage devices and other equipment for high-speed and reliable interconnection and transmission equipment. AOC application is an electrical interface that meets the requirements of industrial standards. It uses the internal electrical-optical-electrical conversion of the optical cable to enable the optical cable to perform efficient and stable data transmission. The maximum signal transmission distance that an HDMI AOC cable can achieve depends on the entire system: the performance of the source device, the performance of the display device, the data transfer rate of the signal, the performance and length of the cable itself. It can also be divided into HDMI AOC cable 4K, HDMI AOC cable 8K and so on. In the digital age, we use data rate to describe the amount of data in bits per second. The length of the HDMI cable is closely related to the maximum data transfer rate. If the distance is too long, the signal received by the HDMI device will have no image, dropped frames, snow, or no sound. The shorter the HDMI cable, the higher the maximum data transfer rate that can be achieved. For example, the data transmission rate of an HDMI cable with a length of 2m is 19Gb/s, which can meet the video transmission of 1080p, 120Hz, and 48bit color depth. However, if the length reaches 6 meters, the data transmission rate will drop to 10Gb/s, which can only meet the video transmission of 1080p, 120Hz, and 24bit color depth. So, as the length of the cable increases, the data transfer rate also decreases.
The USB cable is used for the connection and communication between the computer and external devices, and can also be used for the charging of the mobile phone and the connection with the outside, that is, for data transmission and charging. USB is the most widely used external bus standard in the PC field. It is used to standardize the connection and communication between the computer and external devices. The USB interface supports the plug-and-play and hot-swap functions of the device. With the rapid development of computer hardware, the application of USB has increased the speed of data transmission between external devices. The greatest benefit to users of increased speed is that users can use more efficient external devices. For example, it only takes about 0.1 seconds to scan a 4M picture with a USB 2.0 scanner, and the work efficiency is greatly improved. According to different interfaces and data lines of USB, supported devices: mouse, keyboard, printer, scanner, camera, flash disk, MP3 player, mobile phone, digital camera, mobile hard disk, external optical floppy drive, USB network card, ADSL modem, cable modem and other electronic products.
USB Type-C is a USB interface shape standard, which has a smaller volume than Type-A and Type-B, and can be applied to both PC (host device) and external device (eg mobile phone) interface type. USB Type-C has 4 pairs of TX/RX split lines, 2 pairs of USBD+/D-, a pair of SBU, 2 CCs, and 4 VBUS and 4 ground wires. USB 3.1 Type C cables are considered full-featured USB-C cables. They are electronically marked cables that contain a chip with an ID function based on the configuration channel and vendor-defined messages (VDM) from the USB Power Delivery 2.0 specification. Cable length should be ≤2 m for Gen 1 or ≤1 m for Gen 2. The electronic ID chip provides information about product/vendor, cable connectors, USB signalling protocol (2.0, Gen 1, Gen 2), passive/active construction, use of VCONN power, available VBUS current, latency, RX/TX directionality, SOP controller mode, and hardware/firmware version. USB-C cables that do not have shielded SuperSpeed pairs, sideband use pins, or additional wires for power lines can have increased cable length, up to 4 m. These USB-C cables only support 2.0 speeds and do not support alternate modes. All USB-C cables must be able to carry a minimum of 3 A current (at 20 V, 60 W) but can also carry high-power 5 A current (at 20 V, 100 W). USB-C to USB-C cables supporting 5A current must contain e-marker chips (also marketed as E-Mark chips) programmed to identify the cable and its current capabilities. USB Charging ports should also be clearly marked with capable power wattage.
Thunderbolt is the brand name of a hardware interface for the connection of external peripherals to a computer. It has been developed by Intel, in collaboration with Apple. It was initially marketed under the name Light Peak, and first sold as part of an end-user product on 24 February 2011. Thunderbolt combines PCI Express (PCIe) and DisplayPort (DP) into two serial signals, and additionally provides DC power, all in one cable. Up to six peripherals may be supported by one connector through various topologies. Thunderbolt 1 and 2 use the same connector as Mini DisplayPort (MDP), whereas Thunderbolt 3 and 4 reuse the USB-C connector from USB. Several other brands have released copper Thunderbolt cables, with some going up to the maximum 3 metres (9.8 feet) allowable for copper Thunderbolt 1 2 cables. Initially, most devices did not come with an included Thunderbolt cable to keep selling cost lower, hence the mass usage of Apple's cables or third-party cables, especially if a user wanted 3 m (9.8 ft) length, but most devices eventually began including some length of copper Thunderbolt cable with the product. With the introduction of Thunderbolt 3, Intel announced that otherwise-standard passive USB-C cables would be able to connect Thunderbolt devices at lower speeds than full active Thunderbolt cables, but still faster than USB 3.1. This allows for cheaper connections to new Thunderbolt devices, with inexpensive USB-C cables costing significantly less than active Thunderbolt cables. Released from mid-2016, copper versions of Thunderbolt 3 cables were released at lengths up to 2 m (6.6 ft). However, shorter lengths up to 0.8 m (3 ft) (initially only available at up to 0.5 m (1.6 ft)) are passive cables offering the full 40 Gbit/s speed. 2 m (6.6 ft) cables are available in two types: passive ones offering only 20Gbit/s speed but cheaper in cost, and more expensive active 2 m (6.6 ft) ones offering the full 40 Gbit/s speed. Additionally, only the passive cables are able to offer compatibility with up to USB 3 (20 Gbit/s) ports, while active ones only support up to USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/s). Much later on, from April 2020, optical Thunderbolt 3 cables were finally released.
