Optical audio cables for sound quality hdmi is better than optical.
Optical cable vs hdmi.
The biggest difference between hdmi and optical is that hdmi can pass higher resolution audio which includes formats found on blu ray players and discs.
When comparing hdmi vs.
Most tvs do support optical cables but it s not nearly as popular as hdmi.
Both hdmi and optical cables pass the digital audio from one device to another.
Both hdmi and optical pass digital audio from one device to another.
The digital optical audio cable and hdmi cable types are both prevalent in home and commercial sound systems.
The vast majority of consoles and displays support hdmi.
They perform equally well for sound but the hdmi has higher capabilities for sound and video in conjunction.
There is no difference when it comes to passing multi channel audio like dolby digital.
You have your dts hd master audio and dolby truehd that can t get transmitted across an optical cable or even its similar brother in arms digital coaxial.
Optical on the other hand can only transfer the audio from one device to another with no video support.
A digital optical cable also referred to as an optical cable will produce a reliable and consistent sound.
Moreover with optical cables the usage is limited to speakers up to 5 1 while hdmi takes advantage of dolby truehd and dts hd master audio.
Both are better than analog the red and white cables.
Unlike optical and coaxial there isn t really a similar rival out there.
Either cable choice is adequate for the average sound system.
Both can pass multi channel audio like dolby digital.
Launched in 2002 the biggest benefit of hdmi is it s a one size fits all connection for video and audio.
It boasts much higher bandwidth than optical allowing for playback of lossless audio formats such as dolby truehd and dts hd master audio.
In fact some have claimed that digital optical cables relay slightly better sound than an hdmi cable.
The major difference is that hdmi cables can pass higher resolution audio which includes formats found on blu ray like dolby truehd and dts hd master audio.
Hdmi is the standard all in one technology that can not only transfer video but also high quality audio.
Then there s the threat of damage if an optical cable is bent too tightly.