Raritan Computer MasterConsole Z - Manual (Page 32)

26 M ASTER C ONSOLE Z U SER G UIDE
Q UESTION : A NSWER :
Cat 5e is standardized.
Why can’t I simply use
any Cat 5e cable with
Raritan products? Because the intended application of UTP cabling is the transmission
of digital data, cable specifications are optimized for that
application. However, because video data is by its very nature
analog, Raritan’s exclusive technology – which enables such high-
bandwidth video information to be transmitted over relatively
thinly-shielded Category 5 UTP and Category 6 UTP cables –
requires even stricter tolerances for certain cable properties.
One particular UTP cable characteristic has a large impact on how
well your Raritan system performs: delay skew. UTP cabling
consists of four “twisted pairs” of wire, each carrying one set of
data. In order to minimize cross-interference between the pairs,
each pair must be twisted at slightly different rates (twists/foot).
Over long lengths of cable, however, slight differences in twist rates
results in measurably different rates of data transmission among
each twisted pair. The arrival time delta is called “delay skew.”
How does this affect your Raritan solution? Raritan products send
red, green, and blue video information each over a different twisted
pair; if that information does not arrive at the same time, observed
video will be blurry. Raritan’s unique algorithms correct for this
behavior, but physical limitations create upper limits to the success
of any algorithm.
The TIA/EIA specification for delay skew tolerance is 45
nanoseconds for Category 5 UTP and Category 5e UTP cable.
However, in analog video applications, a delay skew longer than 15
nanoseconds usually results in inadequate video performance at
high resolutions (XGA and higher).Raritan-certified cable products
happen to surpass the acceptable tolerances of the TIA/EIA’s
specification for delay skew, and hence are best suited for
connecting Raritan components.
Are there special pin out
requirements that I must
use? Yes.