For many people considering a multi-room video system or home cinema installation, the debate about whether to go for traditional copper cabling  (Cat 5, Cat 6 etc) or fibre optic cabling is an increasingly common one.

But for me, there’s no debate at all. At Tuff Systems, fibre optic is what we use. For high- and low-end systems alike.

And here’s why.

Today’s Home Entertainment systems have HD at their heart (tomorrow’s will doubtless be all about 3D TV, but more about that later). They also use longer lengths of cable  - even on the average, mid-range Home Entertainment installation, we’ll easily get through 200m.

And that combination of ever-increasing bandwidth and distance between components is key.

With a full motion, high-speed, high-bandwidth, uncompressed digital video signal, the natural impedance and inductance of copper cables can cause signal loss at about 15 feet - which can result in digital artifacts (sparkles), pixilation (tiling) and/or no picture (blue screen), particularly on signals from DVD payers and Satellite receivers.

So the longer the cable run, the more you need to step down the resolution of the picture. Which, to me at least, kind of defeats the whole object of HD.

With Fibre Optic technology, there’s zero  impedance and thus zero loss, as the digital electrical signal is converted into light-waves at the video source and the signal travels in light form till it reaches the display and is reconverted into digital electrical signals. In fact, Fibre Optic cable can be run for a kilometre before the signal needs boosting.

But that’s not the only reason I’ve switched to Fibre Optic.

“What’s the other one?” you ask.

The answer is, I don’t know yet.

That’s the thing about future proofing. You’re not sure what’s coming, but you know you need to be ready for it.

Digital video, entertainment and automation technology is changing rapidly. If you’re planning a home cinema or multi-room audio or video system, any reliable professional installer will advise you that sooner or later, you’ll want to replace or upgrade some of your components. Which is fine, because they live in racks or on mounts, so they’re comparatively easy to change.

Cables, on the other hand, live in walls, above ceilings, and under floors, and the last thing you want to do is replace them. And with the significantly greater capacity of Fibre Optics, you won’t have to. Not for a long while at least. (For maximum flexibility, reliability, and to make sure that you’re as fully future-proofed as possible, make sure that the cables are unterminated when you or your installer pulls them. You can add your own connectors later.)

OK, Fibre Optic costs more per metre – several times more  – than copper cabling.  But it’ll still be the cheapest element of your system. And the longest lasting.