does anyone know what this cable is for?

TheThreeDegrees

It came bundled with a graphic card i just bought.

It has spdif on one pin and gnd on the other.

Ta.

sorry about the picture blur my camera skills are woefull:o

nibble

Well S/PDIF is the digital audio standard that uses coax connectors so I guess it's for sound over HDMI. Unless you have a screen that can take sound from the HDMI connector you don't need it, ie if it's just for a monitor you don't want it.
BTW the other end would plug into wherever your digital sound would be coming from, for example the mobo headers for spdif.

TheThreeDegrees

Ok so ive plugged it in and am running a HDMI cable out from the VGA card into the back of an LCD TV.

Picture is great however the sound is not coming through to the telly.

I could be wrong on this one but I thought I read somewhere that HDMI can only stream Video and not sound.One or the other.Not too sure about that though.

RoyalMarine

what graphics card did you buy?

TheThreeDegrees

a ****e one no less:Dshould have bought an ATI card.I believe there better for this kinda stuff.

can someone take a look at this wikipedia page

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI

Under General Notes Paragraph 4 I think it confirms what I wrote about HDMI carrying only picture or sound and not both.

"HDMI is backward-compatible with the single-link Digital Visual Interface carrying digital video (DVI-D or DVI-I, but not DVI-A) used on modern computer monitors and graphics cards. This means that a DVI-D source can drive an HDMI monitor, or vice versa, by means of a suitable adapter or cable, but the audio and remote control features of HDMI will not be available. Additionally, without support for High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) on the display, the signal source may prevent the end user from viewing or recording certain restricted content."

mathias

Under General Notes Paragraph 4 I think it confirms what I wrote about HDMI carrying only picture or sound and not both.

"HDMI is backward-compatible with the single-link Digital Visual Interface carrying digital video (DVI-D or DVI-I, but not DVI-A) used on modern computer monitors and graphics cards. This means that a DVI-D source can drive an HDMI monitor, or vice versa, by means of a suitable adapter or cable, but the audio and remote control features of HDMI will not be available. Additionally, without support for High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) on the display, the signal source may prevent the end user from viewing or recording certain restricted content."

HDMI has always had the capability to carry sound , your reading that wrong.

What the quoted section is saying is that the earlier DVI connection type can be connected to a HDMI socket but there will be no sound.

DVI was the earlier interface , this does not carry sound , HDMI builds upon the DVI interface and is entirely backwards compatible in that it carries all the same signals as DVI but adds sound for cards or devices that are capable of it.

Some of the latest graphics cards , with a HDMI port , can carry sound , the cable you have is for connecting internally to the spdif output on your soundcard so that sound is supplied down the HDMI cable.

Check your cards settings , to get sound down the HDMI cable your computers soundcard must be set to " Spdif passthrough" , then the digital stream is sent down the HDMI link.

Your computers speakers will not work when Spdif passthrough is selected as its now bypassing the soundcard.

TheThreeDegrees

know your stuff dont ye:)

thanks.

TheThreeDegrees

Right then.

My realtek manager in vista did not have the option for passthrough.
So i reverted to XP overnight.
still there is no sound coming from the HDMI connection to the telly.

I even went a bought a new HDMI cable version 1.3.

so it seems to me that this zotac 8800Gt is not up to the task of HD through DVI/HDMI even though it clearly states this capability on the box using a dvi to hdmi convertor.

mathias

I even went a bought a new HDMI cable version 1.3.

so it seems to me that this zotac 8800Gt is not up to the task of HD through DVI/HDMI even though it clearly states this capability on the box using a dvi to hdmi convertor.

First off , HDMI 1.3 applies to the interface and what its capable off not to the cable , there is no such thing as a HDMI 1.3 cable , it may well have been labelled like this on the pack , ( a nasty con indeed ...and unfortunately common ) but its a complete rip off , there is no difference between HDMI cables in that respect.

Second , the 8800GT is up to the task , however its not a sound card , its not the 8800's fault that your soundcard does not have spdif passthrough.

And last , it was never the OS's fault either , Vista completely rewrote the audio interface , and some soundcards never updated their drivers , Creative audigy are one example , as such a lot of cards dont have spdif passthrough in Vista, but thats not down to the OS , its the card manufacturers fault.

It sounds to me like you have are using the MB onboard sound , is that right ? In which case a quick solution for you would be a cheap and cheerful PCI soundcard , which will definitely have spdif passthrough.

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=117638

I know that one works by the way , I set one up not so long ago. And only 12 euros , you may want to spend a little more , but that will do the job !

Edit : Just a thought , but do you have one of those motherboards with a set of audio terminals that controls both front panel audio and rear output ? If so it may be just a case of moving a little jumper , I recall some boards that needed this to switch between front panel audio or spdif passthrough at the rear.

TheThreeDegrees

I have the abit IX38 Quad Gt mobo.
There appears to be no jumpers as you say.

i will have a screen shot for you shortly.

you can view the manual from here whilst i get a screen shot ready for you.

http://www.abit.com.tw/page/uk/download/download_manual_detail.php?pFILE_TYPE=Manual&pMAIN_TYPE=Motherboard&pTITLE_ON_SCREEN=IX38+QuadGT&pSOCKET_TYPE=LGA775

TheThreeDegrees

Only option in REALTEK audio manager.




I still think its the GPU as when I go to the HDMI menu on the Sony Bravia and ask for it to detect HDMI devices it does not find any?

mathias

On page 2-17 of the manual , in the bios settings there is a toggle for setting the onboard audio , it defaults to HD -audio , try setting this to AC97 and see if it works then ,

My reasoning behind this is that most of the HDMI graphics cards cannot pass HD audio , just AC97 , this still gives surround and all , just not the HD -Audio associated with Blu ray , HD DVD.
Only a HDMI 1.3 interface can pass this and most HDMI graphics cards are not 1.3 enabled.

Other than that , see if you can get a specific answer from Abit ( long shot ) or start the RMA.

TheThreeDegrees

hi

problem is not with any of the PC components as such.

The problem is that the Sony Bravia and most High Def TV's nowadays cannot process the 7.1 channel sound coming over the HDMI because of the spdif pass-through.

They do work with stereo signals which is why the VGA socket works.

Only option I have is to use the HDMI for Video signal and buy a decent set of speakers for the PC or buy an AMP.

mathias

The problem is that the Sony Bravia and most High Def TV's nowadays cannot process the 7.1 channel sound coming over the HDMI because of the spdif pass-through.

Im sorry but your mistaken there.

I have put together many systems so far with HDMI from a graphics card ( most ati 2400/2600 and nvida 8600 ) to TV and they work fine.
TV's have no problem with that , the graphics card must output it in HDMI format if you like , it doesnt feed it ( the spdif ) directly to the TV ,
When you set the spdif passthrough that is to the graphics card , which then must take that signal and convert it to a TMDS signal for the HDMI line. That is how these cards work.

The TV doesnt care how many channels of audio are on the link , there can be up to 8 , the TV will just use the ones it can , which most likely will be just stereo.

The TV just sees the HDMI audio and video like it would see any other device connected on the line.

In short , it should work. But in all likelihood you seem to have a faulty card.

They do work with stereo signals which is why the VGA socket works.

VGA is entirely unrelated to HDMI , VGA is completely analog , whereas HDMI is completely Digital , different animals altogether , and HDMI is the top dog here.

TheThreeDegrees

Appreciate your imput but i'm still undecided as i'm not really understanding your last post:(

You should have a talk with Peats cause they have just advised me other.The guy in there said he had a 8600 and was unable to get the sound through the DVI/HDMI convertor and had to use a seperate sound card as you suggested earlier.

Maybe I should call Zotac just to confirm.

mathias

I an electronics engineer working in the field , I promise you Im right on this , I spent the best part of last year working on HDMI related projects.

I dont think peats can tell me anything ,

Seriously though , from what you posted it would seem your new graphics card is broken , you should get a replacement.

I have seen many of this type of card work fine with many different TVs. They all have the passthrough cable that you have , and in all cases its simply a matter of setting " spdif passthrough" to on and they all worked fine.

The guy in there said he had a 8600 and was unable to get the sound through the DVI/HDMI convertor and had to use a seperate sound card as you suggested earlier.

When I suggested using a separate soundcard , it was so that you could use the spdif passthrough point on that instead of the one on the motherboard. ( in case the motherboard connection was faulty or for some reason doesnt work in Vista)

Also ask yourself , If the card you bought cannot pass sound down the HDMI why did it come with an Spdif cable ?

TheThreeDegrees

No worries Mat.

I have emailed Zotac just to get confirmation but my hunch is that it SHOULD work.

Peats have been advised and if the card is faulty I will get it replaced.

thanks for your input.

Much appreciated.