A transmitter-receiver pair (extender) for carrying a DisplayPort signal over optical fibre, taking it far beyond the 100 metre limit of copper cabling.
Lightware Visual Engineering · optical (fibre) signal transmission endpoint pair, DisplayPort
Lightware DP-OPT-TX100 / RX100 LED wall infrastructure
Copper-based Cat5e/Cat6 signal transmission on LED walls is typically limited to around 100 metres — at larger venues (a stadium, an arena, a concert venue), where the distance between the control room and the wall exceeds this, optical (fibre) transmission is needed. The DP-OPT-TX100/RX100 is a transmitter-receiver pair that converts a DisplayPort signal onto optical fibre, allowing a substantially greater distance than copper cable and more stable transmission, free of reflection and electromagnetic interference.
On LED wall projects this typically comes into play when copper Cat6/HDMI cabling is no longer reliable because of the distance between the video wall controller and the control room or because of electrical noise at the venue — the signal is then converted with an optical converter, carried over the fibre, and converted back by the receiving unit next to the wall.
Where the Lightware DP-OPT-TX100 / RX100 sits in an LED wall system
On the signal path this sits on the section between the video source (media server, playback PC) and the video wall processor or sending controller — that is, on the picture signal's route, not on the Cat6 pixel data section after the sending card. The transmitter connects to the source's DisplayPort output, the fibre runs along the route, and the receiver converts it back to a DP signal at the input of the equipment next to the wall, from where the NovaStar/Colorlight/Brompton processor takes it. It is worth pulling a spare fibre along the route from the start: adding one later costs many times as much.
WHEN IT IS THE RIGHT CHOICE
At large venues (a stadium, an arena, an outdoor event), where the distance between the controller and the LED wall exceeds the roughly 100 metre practical limit of copper Cat5e/Cat6 cabling, or where there is a strong source of electromagnetic interference along the cable route.
WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR
Optical transmission is more sensitive than copper cabling to contamination of the fibre and to breakage (observing the bend radius) — it requires greater professional care during installation and when cleaning the connectors than a simple copper patch cable.
The Lightware DP-OPT-TX100 / RX100 in practice
The design threshold: the 100 metre copper limit is in practice already risky at 90 metres, because the connectors, the patch panels and the cable's real quality also eat into the margin — above 90 metres you have to switch to fibre, not at 100. In fibre installation, most faults are caused by a contaminated connector end: the LC end has to be cleaned before every connection, and the manufacturer's minimum bend radius must not be violated either in the cable tray or behind the cabinet. A kinked fibre gives intermittent, apparently 'self-healing' picture dropouts, which are easy to attribute wrongly to the controller.
Alternatives to the Lightware DP-OPT-TX100 / RX100
Below 90 metres and below 4K resolution, the HDBaseT HDMI-TPS-TX220/RX220AK pair is cheaper and simpler to install, because it runs on standard Cat cable. If it is not the picture signal but the pixel data after the sending card that has to be taken a long way, an extender is not what is needed but an optical receiving card or fibre converter from the controller manufacturer's own range. Deciding factors: the distance, the resolution, and whether a strong source of interference (high-voltage cable, frequency converter) runs along the route.
Lightware DP-OPT-TX100 / RX100 manual and datasheet
The documents live on the manufacturer's own site and open in a new window — so you always get the latest version. We do not copy or translate their contents.
Related signal transmission and mounting
LED wall infrastructure — but what does it go into?
On its own the Lightware DP-OPT-TX100 / RX100 is a component. With us it works inside these displays — design, manufacturing and installation included.
