Coaxial Cable

RF coaxial cable
Name: RF Coaxial cable and Digital Coaxial cable

 

Digital coaxial cable
Color: RF Coaxial cable – usually black, can also come in white Digital Coaxial cable – usually black, can also come in white

 

Uses: RF Coaxial cable – transfers audio AND video Digital Coaxial cable – transfers audio ONLY

 

Connector: RF Coaxial cable – thin “needle” surrounded by a threaded ring (“F” jack) Digital Coaxial cable – RCA type

 

Max Length (standard cable: RF): approx 1600ft (standard cable: Digital): approx 33ft

Ahhhh… our old friend coaxial… I think everyone has had experience with this guy. The basic coaxial cables are used to transfer television signals (audio and video) from an antennae, cable box, satellite dish or VCR.

Coaxial is just a thick wire… it’s basically a thin wire covered by multiple layers of rubber, insulation and covered by a tough plastic. Since the inner wire is insulated by all these layers, there is little interference from outside signals.

Now, you may not know this, but there is a “new and improved” type of coaxial cable out there… it is called “Digital Coaxial Cable”

Digital Coaxial cable has only one purpose… to transfer digital audio. This, of course, is different than the regular coaxial cable that transfers both audio and video. What we’re doing here with digital coaxial is dedicating the entire wire’s bandwidth to the transfer of audio. This increases the quality of your home theater audio to a higher level.

You’ll notice one more difference between the digital and regular coaxial cables… the connectors. The regular coaxial has a connector that looks like a needle, whereas the digital is an RCA connector (a thicker rounder end).