CE Pro First Look: FIBBR HDMI Cables

August 31,2017  

CE Pro First Look: FIBBR HDMI Cables

 

CE Pro recently got a chance to check out a 10-meter FIBBR fiber-optic cable ahead of CEDIA 2017. We hooked it up to an Epson Pro Cinema 6040 projector, Stewart Filmscreen Phantom HALR screen and Onkyo TX-RZ810 A/V receiver.

Replacing an existing eight-meter HDMI 2.0 cable with the FIBBR product took a matter of minutes. The company's approach to packaging and instructions is vaguely reminiscent of Apple's. Using a nice package that neatly holds the contents in place, the sleeve of the package outlines the steps necessary to install the cable.

 

Once the old cable was removed and the bullet-point instructions read, the cable's send (transmit end), which is labeled, was inserted into the HDMI output of the Onkyo A/V receiver. Making sure the cable was straight with no kinks took a minute, but with the cable straight the receive end was inserted into HDMI input number one of the Epson Pro Cinema projector.

Per the instructions, the indicator light on the transmit end communicated a solid blue LED, which meant the connection was valid and ready for operation. Thus ended the installation process.

Watching an HBO broadcast of The Dark Knight was eye opening. It was surprising to see the amount of color detail, resolution and contrast the cable seemed to capture or maintain. It beckons the question, how much image quality would be lost with traditional copper HDMI cables?

Moving on to Blu-ray, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 highlighted the vast color palette of the Marvel sequel to the 2014 hit movie, as well as its color depth of solid co colors, including reds, blues and greens. Color reproduction through the combination of the Epson projector, Stewart Filmscreen Phantom HALR screen and FIBBR cable looked stunning, and provided an excellent home theater solution for a reasonable price.

Checking out the dense, dark detail of the season seven finale of Game of Thrones, "The Dragon and the Wolf," was just as spectular as The Dark Knight and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

Our initial impression? The products maintain the image quality people pay for with today's generation of HD and Ultra HD content, and (at least appear to) provide enough headroom from what's coming next.

Check out FIBBR's line of products, including its new 50-meter 56Gbps 8K-HDR HDMI cable, at CEDIA 2017 in booth #843 as well as Stark Sound's booth #18SR.