Audio and video interfaces and connectors

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The existence of many different audio and video standards necessitates the definition of hardware interfaces, which define the physical characteristics of the connections between electrical equipment. This includes the types and numbers of wires required along with the strength and frequency of the signal. It also includes the physical design of the plugs and sockets.

An interface may define a connector that is used only by that interface (e.g., DVI) or may define a connector that is also used by another interface; for example, RCA connectors are defined both by the composite video and component video interfaces.

Interfaces and their connectors

Interfaces

PC System Design Guide Audio

The PC System Design Guide (also known as the PC 97, PC 98, PC 99, or PC 2001 specification) is a series of hardware design requirements and recommendations for IBM PC compatible personal computers, compiled by Microsoft and Intel Corporation during 1997–2001.

PC 99 introduced a color code for the various standard types of plugs and connectors used on PCs.

The color code for audio plugs follow^[1]:

S/PDIF

The electrical coaxial cable (with RCA jacks) or optical fibre (TOSLINK).

Note that there are no differences in the signals transmitted over optical or coaxial S/PDIF connectors—both carry exactly the same information. Selection of one over the other rests mainly on the availability of appropriate connectors on the chosen equipment and the preference and convenience of the user. Connections longer than 6 meters or so, or those requiring tight bends, should use coaxial cable, since the high light signal attenuation of TOSLINK cables limits its effective range.

Connectors

Audio connectors

TRS

2.5 mm (3/32") mono (TS), 3.5 mm (1/8") mono and stereo (TRS), and 6.3 mm (1/4") stereo (TRS) jack plugs

A TRS connector (tip, ring, sleeve) also called an audio jack, phone plug, jack plug, stereo plug, mini-jack, or mini-stereo.

Note: In the USA, the connectors illustrated are never called "jacks", but in other languages and countries they might well be, apparently using "jack" as a short form of "jack plug". The sockets that these plugs mate with are called "jacks" in the USA.

For special applications, plugs with two ring contacts have been made in both 3.5 mm and 6.3 mm sizes.

DIN

Five-pin male 180° DIN connector

A DIN connector is a connector that was originally standardized by the Deutsches Institut für Normung (DIN).

BNC

Male 50 ohm BNC connector

The BNC (Bayonet Neill Concelman) connector is a very common type of RF connector used for terminating coaxial cable.

TOSLINK

Clear TOSLINK cable with a round connector

TOSLINK or Optical Cable is a standardized optical fiber connection system.

XLR

XLR3 cable connectors, female on left and male on right

The XLR connector is an electrical connector design. XLR plugs and sockets are used mostly in professional audio and video electronics cabling applications.

Video connectors

Mini-DIN

mini-DIN 4 pin for S-Video

The Mini-DIN connectors are a family of multi-pin electrical connectors used in a variety of applications. Mini-DIN is similar to the larger, older DIN connector. Both are standards of the Deutsches Institut für Normung, the German standards body.

D-subminiature

DA, DB, DC, DD, and DE sized connectors

D-subminiature or D-sub is a common type of electrical connector used particularly in computers. Calling them "subminiature" was appropriate when they were first introduced, but today they are among the largest common connectors used in computers.

Video In Video Out

A graphics card with VGA, VIVO and DVI outputs

A 6-connector VIVO splitter cable. From left to right: S-Video In, Component P_b out, Component P_r out, Component Y out/Composite out, Composite in, S-Video Out

Video In Video Out, usually seen as the acronym VIVO (commonly pronounced vee-voh), is a graphics card port which enables some video cards to have bidirectional (input and output) video transfer through a Mini-DIN, usually of the 9-pin variety, and a specialised splitter cable (which can sometimes also transfer sound).

VIVO is found predominantly on high-end ATI video cards, although a few high-end NVIDIA video cards also have this port. VIVO on these graphics cards typically supports Composite, S-Video, and Component as outputs, and composite and S-Video as inputs. Many other video cards only support component and/or S-Video outputs to complement Video Graphics Array or DVI, typically using a component breakout cable and an S-Video cable.

DVI Connector

Male DVI connector pins (view of plug)

Male M1-DA connector pins (view of plug)

The Digital Visual Interface (DVI) is a video interface standard designed to maximize the visual quality of digital display devices such as flat panel LCD computer displays and digital projectors. It is designed for carrying uncompressed digital video data to a display.

There are four basic connectors:

• DVI-D (digital only)
• DVI-A (analog only)
• DVI-I (integrated, digital & analog)
• M1-DA (integrated, digital, analog & USB)

The connector also includes provision for a second data link for high resolution displays, though many devices do not implement this. In those that do, the connector is sometimes referred to as DVI-DL (dual link).

So we need to know two things about the connector:

1. Whether it carries analog, digital, or both; and
2. For connectors that carry digital links, if it is single or dual link, and if it carries USB

Audio and video connectors

RCA Jack

RCA Plugs for composite video (yellow) and stereo audio (white and red)

An RCA jack, also referred to as a phono connector or Cinch connector. These were first used inside pre-World-War-II radio-phonographs to connect the turntable pickup to the radio chassis. They were not intended to be disconnected and reconnected frequently, and their retaining friction was quite sufficient for their original purpose. Furthermore, the design of both cable and chassis connectors was for minimum cost.

HDMI

HDMI Type A socket

High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a compact audio/video standard for transmitting uncompressed digital data.

There are three HDMI connector types. Type A and Type B were defined by the HDMI 1.0 specification. Type C was defined by the HDMI 1.3 specification.

Type A is electrically compatible with single link DVI-D. Type B is electrically compatible with dual link DVI-D but has not yet been used in any products.

DisplayPort

DisplayPort is a digital display interface standard (approved May 2006, current version 1.1a approved on January 11, 2008). It defines a new license-free, royalty-free, digital audio/video interconnect, intended to be used primarily between a computer and its display monitor, or a computer and a home-theater system.

The video signal is not compatible with DVI or HDMI, but a DisplayPort connector can pass these signals through. DisplayPort is a competitor to the HDMI connector, the de facto digital connection for high-definition consumer electronics devices.

IEEE 1394 "FireWire"

The 6-circuit and 4-circuit alpha FireWire 400 connectors

IEEE 1394 FireWire is a digital data transfer protocol commonly used for digital cameras (common on MiniDV tape camcorders), but also used for computer data and audio data transfers. In the United States, cable TV converter set top boxes by law^[2] also have the connection for transferring content directly to a TV (if equipped with a port) or computer for viewing. 1394 can also use coaxial cable as a medium for longer runs.

Unlike Point-to-Point connections listed above, IEEE 1394 is able to host several signals on the same wire, with the data delivered and shown on the destination set. It is also fully bi-directional, with its full bandwidth used in one direction or the other, or split directions up to its maximum.^[3]

See also

• Audio and video connector
• Computer port (hardware)
• List of video connectors

References

1. ^ PC 99 System Design Guide, Intel Corporation and Microsoft Corporation, 14 July 1999. Chapter 3: PC 99 basic requirements (99 System Design Guide (Self extracting .exe). Requirement 3.18.3: Systems use a color-coding scheme for connectors and ports. Accessed 2009-02-05
2. ^ http://www.1394ta.org/consumers/FCC_complaint.html All Cable TV box have working 1394 ports, FCC rule CS Docket 97-80" and "section 47 C.F.R. 76.640(b)(4)
3. ^ http://www.1394ta.org/about/HANA/HANA_Presentation_041808.pdf Demonstrating the multi-device capabilities of IEEE A/V network.

External links

• Photos of male and female connector ends