HDMI Vs Optical Cables: Which One To Consider?
Remember the days when you had to switch on the TV and the video separately? That defines the difference between HDMI and Optical. A special type of HDMI called HDMI ARC which is in wide use now is definitely more superior than Optical.
Coming down to the basics, both HDMI ARC and optical deliver good quality audio, both supporting the same audio formats and channels. HDMI ARC provides a useful feature called CEC (Consumer Electronics Control) and Lip Sync correction. It allows you to use your TV remote to control the volume of a connected audio device and cuts down on the cables required to connect a TV to an audio system. You also don’t need to use separate remotes, you can use one remote to control the volume on an external speaker.
Lip sync correction is a feature introduced with HDMI that automatically adjusts audio and video timings. At times television can take a longer time to process video than it does to process audio , but the issue can easily be overcome by HDMI cable. When using external speakers too, there can sometimes be a noticeable delay between the video and audio, and HDMI ARC fixes that.
What is more, the HDMI cable can be used to connect your TV to a soundbar for audio, and then later with a console or DVD-Player for games or movies, making it a multi-purpose cable.
Optical is affordable and gives us the money’s worth. It is reliable and gives a decent sound quality which is why it is still used in many homes. However it does not carry video signals, and it lacks any special features. Not only is it cheaper than HDMI, it is more interference proof than HDMI. The technology used is more resistant to electromagnetic fields and hence the audio stream will be much more stable and less prone to lag or interference.
Both HDMI and optical support the same multi-channel audio formats, such as stereo and dolby digital but HDMI supports a lot more audio formats that Optical does not. Smart TV users at times have observed that apps like Netflix sound better with HDMI as against optical but it may not be a significant difference.