Active SFP+ cables have active electronic components integrated into the cable assembly, which allows for longer cable lengths and better signal integrity. Passive SFP+ cables, on the other hand, do not have active components and are limited to shorter cable lengths. Passive cables are generally less expensive, while active cables are more costly due to their added electronics.

What is the difference between displayport active & passive converters?

DisplayPort is another exception and they break the naming conventions entirely. Both Passive and Active DisplayPort converters feature some sort of chipset inside them. Confusing we know… but let us explain.

DisplayPort Passive Converters have a chipset with only one job which is to tell the source device’s graphics card to do the conversion, this only works when converting DisplayPort to HDMI and DisplayPort to DVI with cables and adapters. Your source device/graphics card must support DP++ or DisplayPort Dual Mode for these converters to work.

DisplayPort Active Converters don’t rely on the graphics card, they do the conversion themselves. This means they can work with any DisplayPort source device and can convert between any standards, meaning DisplayPort to VGA or DisplayPort to HDMI, etc. If you are unsure if your graphics card supports DP++ or DisplayPort Dual Mode a DisplayPort Active Converter means it will work regardless, saving you any incompatibility headaches!