S/PDif is a digital communication standard. It stands for
Sony/Phillips Digital InterFace.
S/PDIF is a way of digitally sending sound in up to dolby 7.1
digitally, so there's no analogue noise or signal loss. S/PDIF has
two interfaces; optical and coaxial. Both are equal in quality, but
the optical interface uses a laser and fiber optic cable to
transmit the data, whereas the coaxial uses electrical signals.
With S/PDIF, the communication is one direction; in other words,
input or output. Many computers today have a S/PDIF out, which can
go to a receiver that has a S/PDIF in.