Silicon Line Active Optical Cables support HDMI 2.1 at CES 2019

Posted by – January 29, 2019

At the 2019 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Silicon Line, a developer of optical link technology for consumer, commercial and industrial electronics, demonstrates the world’s first active optical cables with embedded technology supporting all features of the recently released HDMI 2.1 specification. The demonstration, involves the latest HDMI 2.1-enabled 4K and 8K TVs, at the Las Vegas Convention Centre South Hall in the dedicated HDMI Licensing Administrator booth. Copper cabling presents many limitations for very high bandwidth applications that make it impractical for use in many applications, Silicon Line CEO Ruud van der Linden says that their embedded technology supports all the advanced new features of the HDMI 2.1 specification and will allow the production of thin, long, flexible optical HDMI cables at prices affordable to consumers. Munich-based Silicon Line, a member of the HDMI Forum, produces the tiny, proprietary integrated circuits and ‘optical engines’ needed to convert electrical signals to optical signals and back again. It also makes cable modules – the electronics inside cable-end connectors – which contain the integrated circuits, optical engine and other components needed to make a complete active optical cable. The company’s opto-electronics and manufacturing technologies have dramatically reduced the production cost of active optical cables for applications including HDMI, DisplayPort and USB3. Silicon Line also produces ultra-low-power optical link technology enabling thin, lightweight and long high-speed cables for consumer electronics, commercial and industrial applications. The company develops and manufactures integrated circuits and modules, which allow a simple, high volume assembly of active optical cables also suitable for a lower-cost market.