AV/IT Cabling

This is one area which gets over looked time and time again. I want a new 4K TV and expect the legacy centralized movie selection to display in 4K on the existing cabling.

"The aim being when a system is initially designed, it should be prepared for the new era of digital AV. The correct backbone of the system must be on point and have plenty in the tank for future upgrades. 8k (48Gbps) is here already let's not ignore that fact."

AV Cabling

(Yachtdoc had the pleasure to make these 50-micron multimode fiber optic cables with LC connectors ready and waiting for their patch panel).

Below is our guide for pre-wiring for any centralise AV system onboard your yacht. Your AV cables are the roads where signals and data flow for all audiovisual communications, whether it be an onboard cinema or security surveillance system.

Never under spec

We must never under specify any of these cables, including short HDMI runs. If you can afford it, then we would recommend running two multimode fibre cables to each AV location back to the central rack. This doesn't have to be expensive if you don't terminate the ends. Just leave them in place ready for when you need them. It will save you ripping your boat apart and breaking penetrations another time in the future. If you didn't want to use fiber cables, then we strongly recommend installing 4 x cat 6a or cat 7 cables to each AV location. It may seem a tad overkill, but, let's take the following into account. Network (1) for the equipment in the local AV rack, this may be combined with the control for, if not then you will need another cable IR or RS 232 control (2) however we recommend that you control your TV over the network. For video distribution currently, most yachts will use video baluns. A video balun converts an HDMI and transports the signal over a cat cable (3) then converts the signal back to HDMI again via another video balun in the. For a true 4K, HDR, 4:2:2 10 BIT @ 60 fps resolution takes up 18.2 Gbps of real estate on your cabling. The average HDMI cable and Cat 6/7 maximum throughput are 10.2 Gbps, so there is no way to transport this properly to the TV in the room. However, you can purchase video baluns with support 2 x cat cables (4) upping the throughput to 20.4 Gbps. This adds two lanes of traffic vs 1, doubling the amount of throughput. We can already upgrade to 4K HDR 4:4:4 12 BIT @ 120 fps resolution takes up 22.5 Gbps of real estate on your cabling there for no cable will be able to send this amount of throughput apart from fiber cabling or very short runs of HDMI 2.1. Plus 4k @120 fps resolution looks so much better but make sure all of your hardware can run @120fps. We haven't even mentioned 8k yet. We should plan for tomorrow and look further ahead to be prepared for when it comes and so on.

Tying up

All cat/ fiber cables should be velcro wrapped (not the commonly used cable ties) on all works throughout the yacht, preferably segregated from the rest of the power/ data cabling that is also running on the cable tray/basket. Cables should not be pulled on or over one another as you will witness cable burn where the outer sheath will be damaged meaning it’s time to put in a new cable.

Forward Thinking

The aim being when a system is initially designed, it should be prepared for the new era of digital AV. The correct backbone of the system must be on point and have plenty in the tank for future upgrades. 8k (48Gbps) is here already let's not ignore that fact.

Cat Cable Guideline below

Throughput measured and base T and length

Cat 5e 1GBps @ 30m 100MHz

Cat 6 10GBps @ 30m 250MHz

Cat 6a 10GBps @ 100m 500MHz

Cat 7a 10GBps @ 100m 600MHz

Cat 8 25/40 GBps @ 30m 1600-2000 MHz