4 ms·

Based on the comment of 15k spinning drives this must have been quite some time ago, but there's very definite reach length limits on DVI and displayport cables

Based on the comment of 15k spinning drives this must have been quite some time ago, but there's very definite reach length limits on DVI and displayport cables. Let's say this was in 2007 and the maximum state of the art was a dual link DVI 2560x1600 display, you can't extend that in any practical way beyond about 15 feet. Extending USB keyboard and mouse by comparison is trivial. Unless all of the desks and workstations were set up directly on one side of an acoustic barrier wall, a hard problem to solve.

diggan 2y ago
> you can't extend that in any practical way beyond about 15 feet For passive cables, that makes sense. But with repeaters, wouldn't you be able to go further? Maybe cable repeaters like that are newer than I imagine.
- magicalhippo 2y ago
  I bought an expensive 10m (30ft) active HDMI cable for connecting my PC to my TV. It said it was UltraHD rated, but could never get it to work reliably beyond 1080p.
  - ascagnel_ 2y ago
    You need fiber for that -- I have a pair of them (100' to my desk, 30' to my TV), and they've been rock-solid for 4 years.
    - KaiserPro 2y ago
      So the issue was more that dual-link DVI was very rare, and getting hardware to encode/transmute it reliably and at high bit-depth was almost impossible. By about 2014 hardware encoders were good enough to send decent quality video over gigabit.
    - magicalhippo 2y ago
      Somehow those didn't show up on my searches, though it was a few years ago. Thanks though, will keep it in mind. These days Steam Link is decent enough for what I wanted, but ya never know.
  - diggan 2y ago
    > I bought an expensive 10m (30ft) active HDMI cable I think what I was referring to are repeaters you put between cables, that amplifies the signal. You connect that device between two HDMI cables (say 5m) + connect it to power for it to actually extend the distance the signal can travel. I'm not sure what an active HDMI cable would be, maybe circuitry inside the cable that draws power from the HDMI port?
    - magicalhippo 2y ago
      > maybe circuitry inside the cable that draws power from the HDMI port Pretty much: https://www.cablematters.com/Blog/HDMI/how-do-active-hdmi-cables-work https://www.cablematters.com/Blog/HDMI/how-do-active-hdmi-ca... Perhaps they're better now but, yeah, for me it didn't work out as intended.
      - whatevertrevor 2y ago
        I've not had any issues getting full bandwidth (4k60hz) from my active HDMI cable. Also I believe there are displayport cables that do the data transfer over optical fiber for long runs as well.
      - diggan 2y ago
        Sounds like hocus pocus to me (like gold plated connectors), maybe you get like half a meter of extended distance or something with those? If I had to I'd go the repeater way (or as others mentioned: fiber, but sounds expensive and not maintenance free)
    - KaiserPro 2y ago
      I think "active" HDMI is similar to the expensive USB3 cables, which are basically fibre optic cables in disguise https://www.chargerlab.com/the-way-to-metaverse%EF%BC%9Fteardown-of-meta-oculus-quest-2-link-cable/ https://www.chargerlab.com/the-way-to-metaverse%EF%BC%9Ftear...

diggan 2y ago

> you can't extend that in any practical way beyond about 15 feet For passive cables, that makes sense. But with repeaters, wouldn't you be able to go further? Maybe cable repeaters like that are newer than I imagine.

magicalhippo 2y ago
I bought an expensive 10m (30ft) active HDMI cable for connecting my PC to my TV. It said it was UltraHD rated, but could never get it to work reliably beyond 1080p.
- ascagnel_ 2y ago
  You need fiber for that -- I have a pair of them (100' to my desk, 30' to my TV), and they've been rock-solid for 4 years.
  - KaiserPro 2y ago
    So the issue was more that dual-link DVI was very rare, and getting hardware to encode/transmute it reliably and at high bit-depth was almost impossible. By about 2014 hardware encoders were good enough to send decent quality video over gigabit.
  - magicalhippo 2y ago
    Somehow those didn't show up on my searches, though it was a few years ago. Thanks though, will keep it in mind. These days Steam Link is decent enough for what I wanted, but ya never know.
- diggan 2y ago
  > I bought an expensive 10m (30ft) active HDMI cable I think what I was referring to are repeaters you put between cables, that amplifies the signal. You connect that device between two HDMI cables (say 5m) + connect it to power for it to actually extend the distance the signal can travel. I'm not sure what an active HDMI cable would be, maybe circuitry inside the cable that draws power from the HDMI port?
  - magicalhippo 2y ago
    > maybe circuitry inside the cable that draws power from the HDMI port Pretty much: https://www.cablematters.com/Blog/HDMI/how-do-active-hdmi-cables-work https://www.cablematters.com/Blog/HDMI/how-do-active-hdmi-ca... Perhaps they're better now but, yeah, for me it didn't work out as intended.
    - whatevertrevor 2y ago
      I've not had any issues getting full bandwidth (4k60hz) from my active HDMI cable. Also I believe there are displayport cables that do the data transfer over optical fiber for long runs as well.
    - diggan 2y ago
      Sounds like hocus pocus to me (like gold plated connectors), maybe you get like half a meter of extended distance or something with those? If I had to I'd go the repeater way (or as others mentioned: fiber, but sounds expensive and not maintenance free)
  - KaiserPro 2y ago
    I think "active" HDMI is similar to the expensive USB3 cables, which are basically fibre optic cables in disguise https://www.chargerlab.com/the-way-to-metaverse%EF%BC%9Fteardown-of-meta-oculus-quest-2-link-cable/ https://www.chargerlab.com/the-way-to-metaverse%EF%BC%9Ftear...