Active copper vs fiber cables at 40 feet

sirius_basterd said:

I'm looking for a cable that can do [email protected] over about 40 feet. It seems that there are both "active copper" (~$60) and "fiber" (~$150) options and I can't find any info about which one would be preferable. Is there any reason to buy the fiber cable?

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The general recommendation here is that anything over 25' for 4k HDR, a hybrid fiber cable is the most reliable cable based on actual user reviews here on AVS. The physical construction of a hybrid fiber cable is better than just a copper cable alone for 4k HDR. Hybrid fiber cables are active. 40' is reaching the point of reliability so if your cable is installed in a conduit at least, or is easily accessible, you should have no problem upgrading your cable as needed. The ONLY way to future proof your cabling for long runs is to install it in a conduit.

sirius_basterd - as mentioned above you have three 'Active' options! Copper, Fibre and Hybrid Fibre.

Hybrid Fibre retains copper to carry the comms. signals between the Sink (Display) and connected device (Source, AVR, Soundbar...) and in our testing/experience have proven to be the most system friendly and reliable vs the Fibre solutions which we found to take a long time to handshake, had constant issues in some systems and we found many of the 'two piece'* solutions to have reliability issues.

Keep in mind all of these cables are directional and as Otto says being able to easily replace a failed, damaged or obsolete cable is a big help so plan out your cable routes (preferably using conduit).

Joe

*Many Fibre cables are terminated with a micro HDMI connector (to add pulling through small holes) and you then add a full size, externally powered HDMI dongle to the cable end.

I just upgraded to 4k, and my monoprice cabernet 45’ active hdmi copper transfers 60hz 12 bit just fine. Your results may vary.

SteveCallas said:

I just upgraded to 4k, and my monoprice cabernet 45’ active hdmi copper transfers 60hz 12 bit just fine. Your results may vary.

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Excellent!