WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:06.000 this is a high quality cable right you know if i was doing a simple unboxing 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:10.320 i'd be fooled too it's got a nice flexible sheath sturdy strain relief 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:15.200 boots fair right rings for signal filtering i mean it says high speed 00:00:12.639 --> 00:00:20.160 right on it they wouldn't lie would they they won it's a piece of crap it's dead 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:25.519 it's gone and how do we know thanks to total face who sent over their 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:28.560 advanced cable tester v2 this thing is 00:00:25.519 --> 00:00:30.240 sick now it's industrial equipment so 00:00:28.560 --> 00:00:37.120 it's not the kind of thing we typically cover but it costs a fraction as much as 00:00:34.160 --> 00:00:42.079 competing solutions and we learned so much from using it that it absolutely 00:00:39.440 --> 00:00:45.520 deserves some time in the spotlight just like our sponsor glasswire keep track of 00:00:44.239 --> 00:00:49.360 the weird stuff that's connecting to your pc even when you aren't using it 00:00:47.360 --> 00:00:54.719 with glasswire if a strange device joins your Wi-Fi you'll be notified instantly 00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:58.600 so don't wait save 25 by using codelinus 00:00:54.719 --> 00:00:58.600 at the link down below 00:01:05.360 --> 00:01:11.600 so what you might say you can test a cable big want to fight about it yeah i 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:16.080 do want to fight about it it's a very big one we first explored the idea of 00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:20.080 doing LTT Store cables a couple of years ago but we ran into a major roadblock 00:01:17.840 --> 00:01:24.000 while it's easy to find an overseas supplier who can produce every kind of 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:28.799 cable under the sun it can be very difficult not to mention costly to 00:01:26.720 --> 00:01:34.400 validate their work you need an expensive oscilloscope custom fixtures 00:01:31.360 --> 00:01:37.520 and perhaps most importantly a skilled 00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:38.640 operator or you can treat yourself to 00:01:37.520 --> 00:01:44.000 one of these but what exactly do you get for your 00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:46.000 money well a 3 amp 12 volt power supply 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:49.920 all the associated cablery that's needed to operate the machine a tiny little 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:54.320 sheet outlining all of the reasons that total phase can invalidate your warranty 00:01:52.079 --> 00:01:57.840 and the tester of course there's not really much to show on the outside you 00:01:55.920 --> 00:02:02.880 got your power switch you got a lan and micro usb port on the back there's 00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:06.640 no interface whatsoever so there's a little led here this is a non-touch 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:10.239 screen you don't actually interact with the unit at all other than this slot 00:02:09.119 --> 00:02:15.360 right here so on the inside you've got these two 00:02:12.800 --> 00:02:19.840 female slots and then the test boards for whatever type of interface you want 00:02:17.200 --> 00:02:24.080 so this is an HDMI one just pop in like this and then they've got these little 00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:29.200 like what are they quarter of a turn third of a turn lugs so it looks like a 00:02:27.040 --> 00:02:33.360 big normal captive thumb screw but actually it's just super super fast to 00:02:31.760 --> 00:02:36.959 install let's poke around inside shall we now that we've got this baby opened 00:02:34.959 --> 00:02:41.920 up you can see the chassis is bigger than necessary but not by much 00:02:40.080 --> 00:02:46.400 all the main board traces and components are nicely laid out and labeled so we've 00:02:43.680 --> 00:02:51.920 got 12 volt dc power coming in right about there and it gets stepped 00:02:48.720 --> 00:02:54.239 down into 3.3 and 5 volt on these lines 00:02:51.920 --> 00:02:58.239 where they go uh there's 3.3 and there's five right about there and they've 00:02:56.640 --> 00:03:03.519 worked some clever modularity into the design our test interface sockets each 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:07.120 with similar circuitry come out right over 00:03:04.480 --> 00:03:11.760 yeah and then they feed out into what appears to be the processor stack on a 00:03:09.920 --> 00:03:15.680 separate mezzanine board we did by the way note a couple of manually soldered 00:03:13.760 --> 00:03:19.840 wires here but kyle from engineering says they're i2c lines and won't affect 00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:23.680 anything so presumably it's the kind of thing that wasn't worth spinning up 00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:27.599 another revision of the board for what i suspect does the actual processing is 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:32.799 this one right here and this one right here because those are the ones they've scratched out so yeah this is doing some 00:03:30.959 --> 00:03:37.360 processing but this is probably more of a general purpose processor hosting the 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:41.120 web server and maybe taking whatever the outputs of these are this is actually 00:03:39.519 --> 00:03:46.560 quite normal it's not like they scratched those out because they were sending them to the media it's really 00:03:44.480 --> 00:03:50.959 common in the same kinds of places where cables get made cable factories for 00:03:49.360 --> 00:03:55.280 people to try to reverse engineer the tools that they need to make and 00:03:52.959 --> 00:03:59.599 validate cables so obviously anything they can do to protect their ip from 00:03:57.120 --> 00:04:04.959 their customers even is probably a worthwhile step 00:04:01.439 --> 00:04:07.920 in theory this thing is so simple to use 00:04:04.959 --> 00:04:12.319 that literally anyone could validate pretty much any cable that they would 00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:17.120 find on a shelf usb Thunderbolt lightning very very frightening display 00:04:14.799 --> 00:04:22.800 port and even HDMI all the way up to version 2.1 which is a blazing 48 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:25.919 gigabit per second across four twisted pairs 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:31.280 let's give it a whirl on some of our many cables we're at the size now where 00:04:28.320 --> 00:04:35.440 LMG owns a disturbing number of cables like literally 00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:40.320 hundreds of them in every freaking 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:42.960 style and every freaking size 00:04:40.320 --> 00:04:48.479 now we could test power cables but in our experience those have been mostly 00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:54.479 problem free video cables on the other hand especially long ones or specimens 00:04:51.440 --> 00:04:56.400 with odd terminations can and have given 00:04:54.479 --> 00:05:01.680 us issues over the years like these monoprice DisplayPort cables 00:04:59.280 --> 00:05:05.600 i don't know that this is going to fail but i have a strong suspicion that it 00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:08.720 will i remember our first standing desk configs in the editing dent we used 00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:13.199 these for the monitors and i remember them having a ton of problems with them 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:17.120 i'm starting with this displayport cable because i am 00:05:14.479 --> 00:05:21.440 i am sure that there is something less suck about it these horrible cables 00:05:19.199 --> 00:05:25.759 these cost so many headaches or maybe maybe it was something else 00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:31.600 now we're going to know for sure just starts going love it 00:05:28.960 --> 00:05:35.120 i knew it signal integrity it sucks let's have a look at the full report 00:05:32.960 --> 00:05:40.240 though so we want to go into details here and things get real freaking 00:05:37.840 --> 00:05:43.919 interesting on top of just pass fail which is all most people would need to 00:05:41.840 --> 00:05:48.880 know here we can dig into this interactive diagram pin by pin we can 00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:53.199 make our way down through all the different ways that it could fail so you 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:57.280 can see our dc resistance is actually within spec and 00:05:55.039 --> 00:06:01.840 right there no freaking wonder in all the prep colin 00:06:00.479 --> 00:06:06.800 did for this video i don't think you saw this did you it's time to make an e-waste bin the 00:06:05.280 --> 00:06:11.199 next big re-org i want us to take every bin in every 00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:14.319 cable and run them through the cable tester 00:06:12.400 --> 00:06:17.680 we take all the ones that don't pass and we throw them away 00:06:15.840 --> 00:06:22.000 never to be seen again you guys might be thinking that sounds like a lot of work 00:06:20.080 --> 00:06:26.160 but compared to the amount of time that we waste trying to diagnose problems 00:06:24.319 --> 00:06:29.440 that are ultimately caused by a crappy cable 00:06:27.440 --> 00:06:33.199 oh let's have a look at how it's supposed to look with some cables that 00:06:31.199 --> 00:06:36.240 stand a better chance of passing is this our e-waste bin by the way 00:06:35.039 --> 00:06:42.479 see you later premium high-speed atc let's find out 00:06:39.919 --> 00:06:42.479 shall we 00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:47.280 oh my god all of these pins 00:06:46.400 --> 00:06:53.759 here are supposed to have ground connections for 00:06:51.280 --> 00:06:59.440 signal integrity and they just don't so while our signal integrity 00:06:56.880 --> 00:07:04.319 passes here what could happen to this cable is that it could stop working if 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:09.039 there's something nearby that causes any kind of interference pretty crazy now i 00:07:07.199 --> 00:07:13.440 said that the signal integrity passed but clearly you can see looking at these 00:07:11.520 --> 00:07:17.120 charts that this is where the rubber hits the road from a science-y 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:21.520 perspective so we're going to throw over to professor riley to explain what the 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:26.960 heck we're looking at here thanks Linus eye diagrams are a visual representation 00:07:24.080 --> 00:07:31.120 of the voltage on a pair of wires these lines here are your signal when 00:07:28.960 --> 00:07:37.039 the signal is up here above the eye it's a one when it's below it's a zero and 00:07:34.479 --> 00:07:42.560 that's binary data baby this gray hexagon outline shape in the 00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:44.800 center is the eye and inside that is an 00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:49.280 eye mask in blue that's a no gozo if any of our signal 00:07:47.039 --> 00:07:53.520 lines enter the eye mask the receiving device won't be able to get a clean read 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:57.160 of the signal which means the cable cannot be trusted 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:05.599 now let's look at a perfect eye diagram every sample of our signal ends up 00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:10.479 stacked right over top of the last with no imperfections this would allow us to 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:17.520 dramatically increase the clock speed of the signal faster signal more data 00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:21.520 unfortunately in the real world no two samples will end up exactly alike and 00:08:19.520 --> 00:08:29.120 there are two main ways signal noise affects a cable signal loss and jitter 00:08:26.479 --> 00:08:33.519 really big cards signal loss is pretty easy to understand as the length of the 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:37.680 wire increases the voltage measured at the other end will fall due to the 00:08:35.680 --> 00:08:42.560 resistance of the wire if it drops to within the eye well that's game over 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:49.200 baby that's why higher quality cables tend to use copper rather than aluminium 00:08:45.360 --> 00:08:49.200 due to its superior conductivity 00:08:49.920 --> 00:08:57.040 as for jitter well it's a little more complex but in a nutshell due to factors 00:08:54.959 --> 00:09:02.480 such as electromagnetic interference and processing delays it's normal for signal 00:08:59.680 --> 00:09:07.120 timing to vary this is mostly caused by the signal source and as you can imagine 00:09:04.959 --> 00:09:13.760 too much variance puts us closer to the eye and closer to signal lost city 00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:16.240 where data goes to die 00:09:16.800 --> 00:09:23.760 that's all for this lesson don't forget to hand in your homework 00:09:20.720 --> 00:09:26.160 bye bye now this one is poo poo 00:09:23.760 --> 00:09:32.880 here's one of our longer HDMI cables this is supposedly a 4k uhd cable so 00:09:29.760 --> 00:09:34.320 HDMI 2.0 00:09:32.880 --> 00:09:41.680 oh wow that's a pass oh wow 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:44.320 you can see it's a a lot messier but oh 00:09:41.680 --> 00:09:48.880 that's really close that's what happens when you have a super thin cable that's 00:09:46.560 --> 00:09:52.959 longer though you got a worse conductor you get a worse freaking signal 00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:57.920 integrity either way it's a keeper i want to see how close it can get for 00:09:54.240 --> 00:09:57.920 HDMI 2.1 spec though 00:09:58.240 --> 00:10:04.959 zero percent measured do we have any of our HDMI 2.1 cables 00:10:03.120 --> 00:10:13.120 let's see if these cables we paid extra for for their HDMI 00:10:08.079 --> 00:10:15.200 2.1 capabilities are even any better 00:10:13.120 --> 00:10:18.800 that's fine just fine we got a keeper here this is your cable 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:23.200 let's find out if you wasted your money andy there's no way it's going to do HDMI 2.1 00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:31.200 oh it's borderline look at that it's got 8 decibels 9 00:10:27.360 --> 00:10:33.360 decibels lost 13 on the final pair yeah 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:38.880 that's pretty cool okay i'm in like cable testing mode here now 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:44.000 okay who's who's buyer's point okay buyer's point made this HDMI supposedly 00:10:41.839 --> 00:10:49.120 2.1 cable you want to get called out buyer's point 00:10:46.959 --> 00:10:52.079 called out in a positive way so now that we know how all of that 00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:55.200 works does that mean we're gonna start reviewing cables 00:10:54.160 --> 00:11:01.440 well yes but actually no we're not just gonna 00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:07.040 take one cable and do a review of it that seems kind of ridiculous 00:11:03.680 --> 00:11:09.680 but because cables are one area of 00:11:07.040 --> 00:11:15.200 technology where snake oil and bs are still extremely prevalent i think 00:11:12.560 --> 00:11:20.480 there's a lot of good that we can do by casting light on brands or product lines 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:24.720 that are not properly adhering to the standards and we want your guidance for 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:31.519 how to use our newfound cable testing powers for good HDMI 2.1 absolutely on 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:32.800 our hit list and usbc although 00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:38.320 boy is that ever going to be a count of worms and a half and if you guys have got other ideas go ahead and leave them 00:11:36.160 --> 00:11:42.079 down in the comments or hop over to our forum down below because we want to know 00:11:40.240 --> 00:11:45.519 what you want to see and since i'm telling you guys what to do go check out 00:11:43.920 --> 00:11:50.079 our sponsor do you think you don't need a website well that's a lie and 00:11:47.839 --> 00:11:54.320 squarespace has got you covered you can make any website you want and it's easy 00:11:52.560 --> 00:11:57.519 to do with squarespace they have award-winning templates that will help 00:11:55.680 --> 00:12:00.560 make your website stand out instead of looking like it's from the 90s and if 00:11:59.040 --> 00:12:04.160 you're looking to open up a business online selling products they've got you 00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:07.120 covered there too squarespace can help you showcase what you're selling in a 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:10.639 modern style they've got inventory management built right into the platform 00:12:08.800 --> 00:12:14.639 and there's no limit on how many items you can sell we even use squarespace 00:12:12.399 --> 00:12:18.240 both our Linus media group and ltx expo websites were built quickly using 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:22.320 squarespace and if you ever get stuck they've got a 247 support team that is 00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:28.000 ready to help you out so head to squarespace.com forward slash LTT and 00:12:24.959 --> 00:12:29.760 get 10 off at the link below if you guys 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:35.680 enjoyed this check out our video on how to make your own cables it's an 00:12:31.959 --> 00:12:35.680 underappreciated gem