Factory-made Cables — These are cables that are terminated at the factory. Most times, these cables aren’t meant to be reterminated. While it can be done, some cables should never be self-made, such as HDMI and USB cables.
Self-made Cables — These are cables that can be terminated to length. Cables that can be self-made are indicated with a below.
¶ Terminations
| Termination | Example | Details / Uses | Max Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| C5 |  |
Runs power from PD to motor distro. | - |
| Twist-lock |  |
Runs power from a generator to the PD or from a PD to a motor distro. | - |
| Cam-lock |  |
Runs power from a company switch or generator to the PD for venue power. | - |
| Socapex 7-pin |
 |
Runs power to truss motors from the motor distro. | - |
| Socapex 19-pin |
 |
Runs power from a PD over a long distance. This usually terminates in a breakout to edison. | - |
| Stage pin 3-pin |
 |
Power | - |
| BNC Coaxial |
Video | ~328ft1 | |
| HDMI | Video | ~50ft1 | |
| USB | Peripherals, charging | ~16ft | |
| RJ-45 Cat 5e - 1Gbps Cat 6 - 10Gbps |
Networking | ~328ft | |
| DisplayPort | Video | ~16ft | |
| DVI | Video | ~16ft | |
| VGA | Video (Analog) | 25ft2 | |
| RCA | Audio (Analog) | 100ft | |
| Edison Electrical |
Power general | Depends3 | |
| IEC (C13) Electrical |
Power Computers |
Depends3 | |
| PowerCON Electrical |
Power Lighting, audio |
Depends3 | |
| True1 Electrical |
Power Lighting, audio |
Depends3 | |
| XLR5 120Ω DMX |
Lighting | 100ft | |
| XLR3 Lighting - 120Ω DMX Audio - XLR |
Audio, Lighting | 100ft | |
| SC, LC, ST Fiber-optic |
Networking | 1Gbit: 1000m 10Gbit: 550m |
1 Can be extended using third party means, such as HDMI fiber cables or type-to-Ethernet.
2 This changes based on display resolution; it is recommended to stay less than this amount.
3 Depends on the guage of cable and load required.
¶ Common Data Formats
Cables can transport different data formats or standards over a line.
| Format | Media | Transports |
|---|---|---|
| 3G SDI | BNC/Coaxial | Video, audio |
| HDMI | HDMI | Video, audio |
| TCP/IPUDP | Fiber, RJ-45/Ethernet, WiFi, others | Network, Video, Audio |
| NDI | TCP, UDP | Video, audio |
| Dante | TCP, UDP | Audio |