An optical cord—also called a TOSLINK cable or optical audio cable—uses pulses of light in a glass or plastic fibre core to transmit digital audio free from electromagnetic interference.
Optical cords support PCM stereo, Dolby Digital 2.0–5.1, DTS Digital Surround, DTS-ES Matrix/Discrete 6.1, and DTS 96/24, but not lossless codecs like Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD MA, or immersive formats like Dolby Atmos.