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What are Toslink connectors?

Toslink audio cables is a widely used method for transmitting digital audio data by means of light pulses. The name is composed of the company name "Toshiba" and "Link". The Japanese electronics company developed the optical transmission method at the beginning of the 1980s. Since then, it has become established across all manufacturers. An optical fibre installed in the cable sends pulses that are processed as a binary code in the receiving device. A light pulse corresponds to a 1, no light pulse to a 0. One disadvantage: The transmission rate is not sufficient for high-resolution or uncompressed audio formats such as Dolby True HD.

Toslink connectors are found on receivers, amplifiers, televisions, CD players and computers, among other things. A TOSLINK cable is used in optical transmission processes, hence the name "optical cable".

How to use a Toslink connector

In practice, Toslink cables work simply and reliably. The rectangular end of the cable is simply plugged into the corresponding socket. The great advantage of the standard is its low susceptibility to interference. Faulty grounding and the resulting hum loops as with jack cables, for example, cannot occur. In addition to the standard version of the plugs, there are also so-called Toslink miniplugs. At first glance, these look like 3.5 mm jack plugs. However, a prerequisite is a jack socket that can process the optical digital signal.