Video connectors are electrical connectors used for carrying analog or digital data and video signals. They can be used on the end of a cable, as part of an electronics device, or with another device with a video input or output. Some video connectors carry video with a radio frequency (RF) signals and a coax, while others may use a multiconductor cable. Other types of video connectors may also carry audio in addition to video.
Common analog video connectors include composite video connectors, S-video connectors, component video connectors, and video graphics array (VGA) video connectors. Composite analog video connectors often consist of one wire that branch with RGA plugs. They are often color-coded red, white, and yellow – with yellow marking the video input. S-video connectors are an improvement over composite connectors, as they send luminance and chrominance as two separate signals. S-video connectors are limited to 480i resolution, also known as standard definition.
Other analog video connectors include component video and VGA array. Component video connectors also feature RGA plugs. However, component video connectors transmit images in three separate signals (Y, B-Y, R-Y). These video connectors also support progressive scanning, which displays lines of video in order as an interlaced signals provides the odd numbered lines before going back to display the even numbered lines. VGA video connectors are more widely used with computers than televisions and has been the standard since it was designed by IBM in 1988.
As technology continues to become more digital, a number of digital video connectors are also be used. Unlike the wave signal of analog, digital video is sent as a series of 1s and 0s to protect against quality loss. This binary signal makes digital video much easier to distribute to televisions and computers. Common digital video connectors include digital video interface (DVI), and high definition multimedia interface (HDMI).
Other digital video connectors include DVI and HDMI connectors. DVI connectors were created to replace VGA as the industry switched from analog to digital. These hybrid connectors are commonly used for PC graphics cards and liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors. HDMI connectors are similar to DVI connectors, but with the added benefit of transmitting audio also. HDMI connectors support any television or PC video format, including standard and high definition video and up to 8 channels of compressed or uncompressed digital audio. Other types of analog and digital video connectors may also be available.