Talk:S/PDIF
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[edit] too technical
This article starts out by describing too many technical details, as indicated by this question on the March 20, 2006 science reference desk. Adding more text to the lead section in simpler language may improve this. -- Bovineone 00:04, 21 March 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Still don't get it
This really needs a plain-english summary to the beginning. I'm an engineering student and this still seems too technical. So I agree with Bovineone.
[edit] needs a picture
This article needs a picture to help out the reader who wants to identify the mystery port on the back of their computer. --Markhu 22:03, 14 April 2006 (UTC)
I agree completely. I am trying to figure out the myster ports as well. Since there are both mono RCA and Optical on my computer and stereo RCA and optical on my stereo. I am trying to figure out what I have to do to get it working.--John 03:55, 29 May 2006 (UTC)
Maybe - But it would be better to have picutre go into the TOSLINK Article rather than here.. 219.90.130.111 05:27, 30 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Small error
In Section "Protocol specifications" there's presumably an error: 16 bit data is 0-padded and 24 bit achieved by dropping other info, not the other way round. In reference to the above comments, I think it would be great if someone could provide more insight on the standard (maybe copy a little from the AES/EBU page?). Unfortunately, the IEC is one of those standardization committees that do not provide their standards for free (like the ETSI). -- Onitake 2006-05-01 22:14 CET
[edit] Primarily used in Professional Audio Equipment
Not consumer audio equipment, although it has become much more common as many surround sound systems use it to transmit multichannel audio. If there is one thing that is a universal standard in the pro audio field it is S/PDIF. Almost every digital mixer, from the most inexpensive to the most expensive features an S/PDIF connector or two.
Feel free to delete this comment.
[edit] Coaxial vs. optical (TOSLINK)
There should be such a section, in order to explain the difference (which is more recommended to use).
[edit] Dates and Names
It needs a few dates, such as when it was developed, or names, as who suggested it (if availiable), and so on. I personally like to see dates as to know just how old a specification is.
[edit] Digital audio interface?
Why does digital audio interface redirect here? There are many kinds of digital audio link layers, and the phrase can also refer to a external analog-to-digital or digital-to-analog converter (i.e. MOTU 896, echo layla). Sheer panic 00:37, 24 June 2007 (UTC)
[edit] TRS connector physical format
My computer, an HP pavilion dv2000z, has two standard 3.5mm TRS headphone jacks. They both function as a normal headphone jack - I assume they are there so two people can watch a movie with headphones at once. The connector on the right is labeled "SPDIF," and, upon inspection with a flashlight, has a little dot at the end that the other one lacks. The article should list this physical format, but I don't know what it is. -kslays (talk) 20:37, 13 December 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Obsolete?
No current device capable of processing or decoding the new generation of HD audio tracks on Blu-Ray and HD-DVD's will send these tracks over Optical out, they all require HDMI. Whether this is a physical bandwidth constraint or has roots in DRM I'm not sure, either way the TOSLINK cable is clearly well on the way to the grave considering it was only ever the marketed to home theater enthusiasts and audiophiles to begin with. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Hayaku (talk • contribs) 02:45, 12 February 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Concerning "Obsolete?" above
My new video board says that to implement HDMI output you must connect a cable between the syspem board SPDIF out jack and the video board SPDIF in jack. Obsolete? Think again. Yes my new system board has an SPDIF jack for this and other purposes. It appears that using HDMI cables makes the use of a separate SPDIF cable redundent, but there still needs to be a way to route the digital signal to the HDMI interface. Besides the above, it seams that there will be many situations in which SPDIF may be used in conjunction with HDMI in a audio video set up to take advantage of audio equipment that is separate from the television. Also, I see no reason for the expense of implementing a functioning HDMI interface on audio equipment which do not produce video.
[edit] Concerning "Concerning "Obsolete?" above"
I am sorry I am not certain what you were trying to say in the above response. "take advantage of audio equipment that is separate from the television" ?? I was never referring to using the in built TV speakers. Ideally one would have a HDMI cable running from his/her disk drive to a HDMI capable AVR, which would then split the signal into video, running it to the display device via another HDMI cable, and audio, which would be converted to an analogue signal and sent to the surrounding speakers. TOSLINK is only capable of audio codecs with a bandwidth of 1.5Mbps, as opposed to HDMI which is capable of bitsreaming codecs as large as 24.5Mbps.
With the introduction of Blu-Ray, TOSLINK will find itself eventually phased out as it is not compatible with the HD Audio codecs of this format, and will only be of use to connect devices to pre-HDMI AVR's, which in the coming years will slowly vanish from existence anyway. TOSLINK will survive for a while yet, in the same way that most PC motherboards still have old-school printer ports when virtually all modern printers are USB 2.0, but I am more saying that since TOSLINK was always a boutique and niche technology, it will be made obsolete as it has already been overtaken and made redundant in the HD era of audio visual, and is strictly speaking unsuitable for lower end / common use too.
I just invested considerably in a home theater setup consisting of a 40" LCD panel, Blu-Ray player, and 7.1 speaker system, spending several thousand dollars in the process. Since my AVR however is a carry-over from my old system, it has no HDMI support and as such is only capable of decoding 1.5Mbps DTS, which is quite disappointing given the pedigree of the rest of my setup. When I eventually have the money to get a good HDMI AVR, it will use HDMI and HDMI alone... TOSLINK will have no place. The point I am trying to make is that since TOSLINK is inadequate to do what HDMI does, it has no place in (HD eta) home theater. Simply put, anybody setting up their own system today would be foolish to use TOSLINK instead of HDMI.
- Hayaku (talk) 02:35, 19 March 2008 (UTC)
I'd agree that it is on the decline but I still feel that it will be quite useful for some time. I'm still seeing it in pro audio equipment and a lot of consumer a/v. Part of the reason is that these expensive HDMI toys are unaffordable to many folks. A lot of people will have something laying around that uses TOSLINK and they will be sure to buy something that supports it (as well as HDMI for the day they can afford it ;) ). I'd also add that a lot of people there still want to keep their a/v simple and have no desire for anything beyond 2 speakers. When it comes to personal electronic music recording and making the best use of a PC-based a/v system, TOSLINK is nice to have.
There is a reason that parallel ports seem obsolete but just won't go away. A lot of people need to maintain compatibility with their existing commercial equipment. Dox-matrix printers are still being used and need to be supported. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.107.225.216 (talk) 19:25, 22 May 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Response to Hayaku's "Obsolete" argument
TOSLINK specifically is indeed going out, and rightfully so, considering that the usual TOTX/TORX transmitter/receiver parts result in significantly more jitter in the signal than just using a coaxial cable connection (measurements with time domain reflectometer were posted on a diyhifi.org a while ago). This is an issue since most DACs are timed by a clock signal recovered from the input line by a phase locked loop, and jitter in that clock directly results in amplitude errors during conversion. The only advantage TOSLINK has is that it breaks ground loops since it provides electrical isolation (but a properly designed system shouldn't have ground loops in the first place). But that's for TOSLINK specifically. S/PDIF, on the other hand, which is the format transmitted over both TOSLINK and the usual coax connection, is not going away for a good deal of time, despite various problems (check Hawksford's 1993 Audio Engineering Society paper "Is The AESEBU / SPDIF Digital Audio Interface Flawed ?"). Nonetheless, HDMI doesn't solve these problems and it introduces others (and in terms of jitter, it's worse than S/PDIF over coaxial and probably comparable to TOSLINK). This issue specifically is discussed at http://diyhifi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1213&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a If anyone has questions about my comment, feel free to contact me. ThVa (talk) 11:13, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Apparent contradiction
First paragraph "...providing small differences in the protocol... "; third paragraph "S/PDIF remained identical at the protocol level,..."
