How Tether Tools’ Customized USB Cable Solved a Large Tethered Images Drawback

Tether Tools has lengthy been a key participant within the tethered pictures group. This specialised however very important area of interest of the pictures market has very particular cable necessities, which, when confronted with rising points with USB-C PD, compelled Tether Tools again to the drafting board. The firm developed a brand-new USB-C cable, Optima, to take care of rising USB considerations on trendy cameras.

USB-C cables are typically nice, powering many precious options in trendy cameras. From in-camera charging to exterior recording to SSDs, USB-C has improved the lives of most photographers. However, not all photographers who depend on tethered taking pictures for his or her work have benefited from advancing cable expertise.

However, over the previous few years, increasingly cameras have struggled with tethered taking pictures over conventional USB-C cables, and even Tether Tools’ older purpose-built ones. While not each photographer has had points, and never even all photographers with the identical troublesome fashions, like Fujifilm GFX cameras and Canon EOS R fashions, Tether Tools has regularly obtained studies from photographers of dropped connections whereas taking pictures.

When this type of issues occurs, the very first thing Tether Tools does is speak to its prospects and digital camera producers to troubleshoot the problems. After intensive examine and dialog, the perpetrator was positioned: energy supply over USB-C.

Some producers really useful that photographers disable USB-C PD of their cameras when taking pictures tethered, whereas different fashions supplied no such possibility in any respect. It was changing into more and more evident that one thing extra wanted to be finished, and that meant creating a brand new USB-C cable particularly designed for photographers.

Removing the Power from USB-C

Ultimately, Tether Tools determined that the most suitable choice could be to take away the high-wattage energy supply from its USB-C cable for tethering. After all, the problem is that sure cameras require an excessive amount of energy whereas taking pictures tethered, which interferes with the essential information transmission.

High-resolution cameras lately can seize RAW picture recordsdata exceeding 100 MB, which is a major quantity of knowledge to ship shortly over USB-C from a digital camera to a related laptop. Photographers want high-resolution photos on their laptop immediately when taking pictures tethered.

These identical high-resolution cameras are additionally more and more power-hungry, which locations a secondary demand on USB-C cables. Lots of knowledge is one factor, however plenty of information and plenty of energy is a completely totally different beast.

For the fortunate photographers who don’t have any points with the older cables, that’s wonderful. However, for the rising variety of folks coping with dropped connections and troublesome file transfers, Optima is the answer. Tether Tools tells PetaPixel that it has obtained no studies of photographers experiencing points taking pictures tethered utilizing the brand new cables, together with many who had frequent issues with the older cable.

The key engineering achievement was to custom-build circuitry and software program inside a USB-C cable that fully blocks excessive ranges of energy transmission. Cameras can nonetheless trickle-charge over the Optima cable, much like the kind of charging sometimes present in older USB-A cables. What the Optima cable prevents is excessive ranges of energy transmission.

“USB-C cables have a different power protocol,” Tether Tools tells PetaPixel. “They can do up to 240 watts of power, which is sizable. You could even power a blender off that, laptops, all kinds of stuff.”

“The cable negotiates that power. When you plug in your camera or your computer, it says, ‘I need 90 watts of power to charge.’ And then the other end of that cable says, ‘Okay, give me 90 watts of power.’”

It’s a type of handshake between two related units that’s negotiated by the USB-C cable. When taking pictures tethered, which Tether Tools emphasizes is a specific, demanding utilization of a USB cable, this handshake can get in the best way.

The new circuitry prevents high-wattage energy supply by interfering with the ability negotiation between two related units, on this case, a digital camera and a pc. The {custom} chip contained in the cable primarily says, “No, I don’t need power. You may think I need it, but I don’t. So don’t send it.”

“It’s when you combine 90 watts of power in addition to 200 megabyte files, shooting off 20 frames at a time… that’s when there’s a problem,” Tether Tools says.

It’s not doable to inform a digital camera to not pull energy by way of the cable solely when it’s not actively taking pictures, though that might be a wonderful characteristic for future cameras to implement.

“The only solution that works for our particular needs is to eliminate the power entirely,” Tether Tools says.

A Simple Idea and a Complicated Engineering Challenge

Although Tether Tools says that determining the issue initially was the most important problem of all, truly making the Optima cable was no stroll within the park.

“It’s not as easy as you would think,” the corporate admits.

USB-C requirements are easy on the matter of energy supply. USB-C cables have energy supply, and that’s that. Existing chips exist inside that customary.

“So we worked with our engineers to redesign those chips,” Tether Tools says. “And while doing that, we prioritized the data transfer in the chips.”

On the Optima cable, one finish has a digital camera icon, and the opposite has a pc icon. These are vital. The host is the host, and the supply is the supply, and the cable is designed round this specific directional circulate.

The Optima cable at all times is aware of which manner the info is flowing and prioritizes pace. It takes simply milliseconds to maneuver the recordsdata, and Optima is the quickest and most dependable USB-C cable for tethered taking pictures available on the market, based on Tether Tools.

Then there are the retimer chips, which Tether Tools calls “TetherBoosts.” These are featured in Tether Tools’ prior USB cables. These chips are housed in little containers positioned alongside the Optima cables. These retimer chips are explicitly constructed for probably the most data-hungry digital camera setups, together with medium-format cameras. The chips improve the sign, guaranteeing it travels alongside the USB-C cable shortly.

Tether Tools notes that the USB customary truly solely covers cables as much as 10 toes lengthy. Anything longer than that, just like the greater than 30-foot cables utilized by Tether Tools, operates outdoors that customary. While it’s doable to push information by way of an extended USB cable with out {hardware} acceleration, it’s not ideally suited for demanding customers.

Who Needs the New Optima Cable?

The new Optima cable is a must have for photographers who’ve been having points with their digital camera in a tethered atmosphere. It solves their issues.


What about photographers who haven’t had points? The Optima cable remains to be the most effective cable that Tether Tools makes, and has larger efficiency and improved reliability than its older cables. It can be future-proof, as its information ceiling is way past what even the costliest, high-resolution cameras in the present day require.

There can be a trade-up program obtainable by way of approved retailers. Photographers can commerce of their current 15 or 31-foot tethering USB cables to get 20% off the brand new Optima cables. A full record of collaborating retailers is available on the Tether Tools website.

The Tether Tools TetherPro Optima 10G USB-C cables begin at $49.99 and are available in 6, 10, 15, and 31-foot (1.8, 3, 4.6, and 9.4-meter) lengths. The cables can be found in high-vis orange and black colorways.

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Image credit: Tether Tools