CE Pro June 2023 - 24

Networking+Home Control
HDMI CORNER by DPL Labs
'Run Silent, Run Deep'
Practices Can Run into Trouble
MORE AND MORE integrators
are preparing for or
moving into the new 48G
digital video landscape.
With that comes a wide
assortment of 48G cable
products being tested with
DPL Labs' 48G Reference
Standard Platform. Two
years in the making and
a total instrumentation
upgrade, we've been in
full-force product testing
mode with these new and
incredible cable products.
The submissions we
receive that pass have
aggressively capitalized on
their successes with pride
and deserve it. The testing
is rigorous, which is why
not all products can achieve
these required test limits
(learn more at the newly
revamped dpllabs.com).
So what happens to all
the rest that did not make
the grade? Fortunately,
most DPL members go back
to their drawing boards and
with some guidance work
to get it right. The most
common failures discovered
are video output inconsistency
among all four FRL
channels along with Status
and Control communications.
In addition, with
active devices such as AOC
(Active Optical Cables), we
are finding input sensitivity
irregularities, power supply
inadequacies and, worst of
all, Multimedia Radiated
24 | CE Pro June 2023
Emissions CISPR 32.
I've explained the severity
of Radiated Emissions surrounding
digital electronics
both in egress and ingress.
The invisible pollutant it produces
can cause havoc over
just about any digital signal
environment. These are all
serious issues being watched
over globally and must be
addressed before products
are put into service.
specification for a product
is in production and not
monitored or enforced. A
Golden Reference Sample is
submitted into test and has
all the attributes required
to pass all required limits.
However, over time and multiple
productions runs these
additional Golden Reference
practices are passed over
and put into service without
the correct material and
What's worse is when a
product enters into DPL
Labs' staging process
and is accompanied by a precertification
document... but when
tested the cable sample fails
profusely. How can this happen?
What's worse is when a
product enters into DPL
Labs' staging process and is
accompanied by a pre-certification
document... but
when tested the cable sample
fails profusely beyond
what the test documents
report and claim. How can
this happen? All these tests
are pretty much standardized
and to be this far off
something has gone astray,
failing consumer satisfaction.
It is our opinion that
there can be only two reasons
for this to happen.
First is the rule of the
Golden Sample. This tactic
is used when a defined
workmanship the Golden
Sample was tested under.
Case in point: We've had
cable samples re-entered
into tests three, four, five
times with some eventually
passing and others not. On
some occasions, they come
in after their first go-around
and fail due to missing parts
discovered after dissecting
the device. Yet other active
products can arrive with
improper label assignments
(source and display markers
reversed, for instance).
The second way is much
easier. The cable manufacturer
sends a couple of
models in for testing and
verification; if one or two
pass, they then release the
rest of the product line
directly into service. To
alleviate this problem, certification
labels are affixed
to each product. These are
copy-protected, encrypted
labels that can only be used
with a registered product
that successfully passed
certification. They can be
thought of as a cable's birth
certificate - it will never
be with any other cable and
is there for life.
These maneuvers are
sometimes referred to as
Run Silent and tell nobody,
Run Deep and stay under
the radar. To the producer,
this could be all good as
long as they are not caught.
Just one incident can
bring this all down, be it a
complaint from a customer,
distributor, or integrator.
It was discovered that
reoccurring product production
would arbitrarily be
changed or modified after
the first delivery was depleted
- many times, changing
the performance with no
notification to the branded
company. DPL members can
have products re-tested after
each production to verify
performance.
JEFF BOCCACCIO,
president of DPL Labs, can
be reached at info@dpllabs.
com, or visit dpllabs.com.
cepro.com
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CE Pro June 2023

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