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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.
Contents |
Interfaces and their connectors
| Interface | Connectors | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Audio or Video | Digital or Analog | Description | |
| Audio Only | Analog | PC System Design Guide. Audio Colour Coding | 3.5 mm TRS |
| Digital | S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interconnect Format). Via Coaxial or Optical cables. | RCA Jack (Coaxial), TOSLINK (Optical), BNC (Rare) |
|
| Video Only | Analog | Video Graphics Array (VGA) | D-subminiature 15 pin |
| Composite. Often designated by the CVBS acronym, meaning "Color, Video, Blank and Sync". | RCA jack, normally yellow (often accompanied with red and white for right and left audio channels respectively) | ||
| S-Video aka Separate Video. Carries standard definition video and does not carry audio on the same cable. | Mini-DIN 4 Pin | ||
| Component. In popular use, it refers to a type of analog video information that is transmitted or stored as three separate signals. Either RGB Interfaces or YPbPr | 3 RCA Jacks | ||
| Composite, S-Video, and Component | VIVO = Mini-DIN 9 Pin with breakout cable. | ||
| Digital And Analog | Digital Visual Interface (DVI) | DVI Connector | |
| Video and Audio | Digital | HDMI connector | |
| DisplayPort | DisplayPort connector | ||
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]:
| orange TRS 3.5 mm | output, subwoofer |
| blue TRS 3.5 mm | input, line level |
| pink TS 3.5 mm | microphone input |
| lime TRS 3.5 mm | output, front channels |
| brown TRS 3.5 mm | output, 'Right-to-left speaker' |
| gold TRS 3.5 mm | MIDI/game |
S/PDIF
Generally via 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
A TRS connector (tip, ring, sleeve) also called an audio jack, phone plug, jack plug, stereo plug, mini-jack, or mini-stereo.
DIN
A DIN connector is a connector that was originally standardized by the Deutsches Institut für Normung (DIN).
BNC
The BNC (Bayonet Neill Concelman) connector is a very common type of RF connector used for terminating coaxial cable.
TOSLINK
TOSLINK or Optical Cable is a standardized optical fiber connection system.
XLR
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
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
The 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
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
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:
- Whether it carries analog, digital, or both; and
- For connectors that carry digital links, if it is single or dual link, and if it carries USB
Audio and Video Connectors
RCA Jack
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An RCA jack, also referred to as a phono connector or Cinch connector.
HDMI
There are three HDMI connector types. Type A and Type B where defined since the HDMI 1.0 specification. Type C was defined since 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.
Display Port
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
See also
References
- ^ 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
External links
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