Screened cable and unscreened cable are important connecting components of electrical equipment, they play a big role in the transmission of electric power and signal. In the electric industries, these two kinds of cables are popularly using if comparing with other electric wires. In today’s article, Henan Shenbei Cable will introduce the differences between them in detail.

There are four different parts to this article:

• What is screened cable?
• What is unscreened cable?
• What is the difference between screened cable and unscreened cable?
• What are the types of screened cable and unscreened cable?

First of all, we will introduce their concepts separately.

What is screened cable?

Another name for the braided screened wire is shielded wire. As its name, the biggest feature of this electric wire is the shielding layer. The shielded power cable is covering the conductor in the shielding layer, to protect the cable from external environmental factors and electromagnetic interference. The shielding layer can be made of different materials, such as copper, aluminum, and other metal material, etc. As a factory, we suggest using two shielding layers of screened wire. That is one cable using two shielding layers, tin foil shielding, and metal mesh shielding to achieve a more perfect shielding effect.

Mesh braiding shielding layers include copper mesh and alloy braiding mesh with different densities and different prices. Copper shielded cable cost will be higher than alloy mesh shielding cable, and high-density mesh shielding cost will be higher than low-density mesh shielding. But the shielding effect is also directly proportional to the price. Users can choose suitable shielding material and braid shielding density according to their purpose and budget. Below is a picture of a double-shielded cable.

Secondly will introduce what is unshielded cable.

What is unscreened cable?

Different from shielded cable, unshielded cable hasn’t the shielding layer. It is twisting the conductors together to prevent malfunctions caused by electromagnetic interference. The unshielded power cable hasn’t so many protecting layers compared with shielded electrical wire, but they're more flexible, lighter, thinner, easier to install, cheaper, and easier to maintain. The transmit information speed is faster if electromagnetic interference is not involving.
The structure of unshielded cable is simple, it just includes PVC outer sheath, PVC insulation, and conductor. The conductor also has different materials, such as copper, aluminum, tinned copper, CCA, and other metal materials. But for better electric cable performance, we recommend ofc copper as the first choice for you, to achieve cost and effectiveness. Below is a picture of an unshielded electric wire.

In the next part, we will enter into the main topic of this article, and list the differences between these two kinds of PVC cables.

Differences between screened cable and unscreened cable?

• The structure is different. The screened power cable has a shielding layer compared with the unscreened electric wire. This shielding layer can protect the signal and information from leaking. 
• The cost is different. Since adding the shielding layer, the cost of the shielded copper wire is higher than the unshielded copper wire.
• Installation is different. The shielded control cable is difficult to install, it also needs to have a special connector. And it has relatively high technical requirements for installers. But the installation for the unshielded copper cable is easy, it just needs to plug the copper wire into the corresponding interface.
• Performance is different. Double-shielded cable has two shielding layers, so it can perfectly protect the safety of signal and information during transmission. But unshielded electric copper cable hasn’t this function.
• Application is different. The shielded cable wire is suitable for occasions that need strict signal and information protection. It has high requirements for the security of information transmission. But unscreened electric wire can be used for occasions that haven’t strict requirements about safety data transmission.
• Information data transfer quality is different. The shielded instrument cable has high quality when transmitting the signal and information since it has a shielding layer. When it is grounded, it can ensure that the transmitted data will not be leaked, it will not be disturbed by external electromagnetic interference, and it can be transmitted to ensure the correctness of the data. But the unshielded cable is susceptible to strong electromagnetic radiation interference from the outside world, and the quality of data transmission is not as good as that of shielded wires.

After understanding the differences between shielded and unshielded cables, you may have a better knowledge of how to choose them. At the end of this article, we will introduce the types of these cables for your choice.

What are the types of screened cable and unscreened cable?

RVV cable and RVVP cable

RVV cable belongs to the kind of unshielded multicore flexible cable, and RVVP cable belongs to the kind of shielded control cable. These two kinds of cables are the most commonly using electric copper cable in the industrial market.

UTP network cable and SFTP shielded network cable

For more information about UTP and SFTP network cable, you can enter Henan Shenbei Industrial Co. Ltd. to know more information.

Henan Shenbei Industrial Co, Ltd. is a professional factory of manufacturing and selling all kinds of electric cables for 20+ years, with the strength of high quality, competitive price, and good service. The professional engineer has enough ability to design and customize PVC copper cables according to customers’ requirements. If you have any needs, you can enter www.shenbeicable.com

Have you well understood the differences between screened cable and unscreened cable? Welcome to Henan Shenbei to buy them, special discount and 24-hour customer service are waiting for your inquiry.