CEDIA 2014

Just when we mastered sending 1080p HDMI signals around the house over Cat5 cabling, much larger and more bandwidth intensive 4K video looms darkly on the horizon. And according to some cable tests I’ve seen, the current cable distribution scheme might not work for your 3840x2160 video streams, especially as distances increase. Instead of black screens of “No Signal” or drop-outs and sparklies, Celerity offers a fiber solution that will support 4K runs up to 1000 feet!

Fiber optic cabling can carries boatloads of data over an ultra-thin cable, but it requires special tools and can be tricky to field-terminate. The Celerity Fiber Optic Gateway Control Box uses a send module at the source end and a receive model at the display side and various lengths of pre-terminated fiber optic cabling in between to carry not only 4K video at 60 Hertz but RS232, IR, 10/100Base-T Ethernet and USB HID up to 1000 feet.

Because the fiber is pre-terminated, it is easy and foolproof for installers to make a perfect working connection each time. It will also greatly speed up installation time. Traditional HDMI cabling is used on at both the source and display side to complete the connection chain.

The Gateway Control Boxes come in different form factors – the in-wall models are shown here – that can be mixed and matched for each application. They retail for $180 each or $360 for the set, with 100-feet of fiber selling for $500.