For connecting various peripherals most often wires are needed for electronic equipment. Depending on what you are connecting to - a TV to a VCR or a monitor to a computer - it is important to consider the type of wires. Digital technologies are beginning to dominate more and more analog, but, in any case, you need to be able to understand the main cable formats used. We'll walk you through the 13 different cables (video, audio, and computer-specific) in sufficient detail so that you don't get confused later on.

In addition, we recommend that you read the article " Encyclopedia of Computer Interfaces: THG Manual ".

Composite cable

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Let's start with video cables. Let's take a look at the Composite Video cable, sometimes referred to as an RCA cable, or just a "tulip" cable. This cable has a yellow connector and works with analog composite video. Honestly, this is the worst option in its category. All low-resolution signals pass through the composite cable in mixed form, combining the luminance and chrominance signals. As a rule, such a composite video cable is accompanied by two other connectors: red and white. They are used to transmit stereo sound. Instead of a composite cable, if possible, use a cable with separate channels, such as S-Video, RGB, or even YUV.

S-Video

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The S-Video cable is also known as Y/C. These two letters indicate that the video signal in such a cable is split into two individual components transmitted along its own wire: brightness and chrominance. Unlike composite video cable, S-Video allows you to get a much clearer picture. In addition, all image elements are transmitted simultaneously. The S-Video cable is used by video cards, video cards, camcorders and even S-VHS VCRs. Like composite video, S-Video only transmits the image. A separate cable is required for audio transmission.

YUV, YPrPb and YCrCb component cables

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In the case of YUV, YPrPb and YCrCb formats, you get completely separate signals. Component cables are made up of three wires, one for brightness (Y) and two for color. Component cables more or less match the high-end version of S-Video, but their quality approaches DVI or HDMI. Colors are extraordinarily accurate and the overall picture is more like what you should see on a TV screen than other analog cables. YUV cable is capable of transmitting video high resolution, albeit in analog form.

VGA

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The analog VGA interface was created in the late 1980s through the efforts of IBM and to this day remains the standard connector for connecting a monitor to a computer. However, it is now being replaced digital interface DVI. VGA has 15 pins arranged in three rows, each responsible for three separate channels: red, blue, and green. There are many versions of VGA based on resolutions: QVGA is 320 x 240, XGA is 1024 x 768, and QXGA is 2048 x 1536. For wide screens this standard simply referred to as WVGA ("W" stands for "wide"). Mini-VGA is used for some laptops. Although almost all video cards on the market are equipped with DVI, you will find many displays that connect to VGA via VGA/DVI adapters.

DVI-A/D/I

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This cable is a replacement for VGA. It allows you to transfer digital signal between the video card and the display. Pay attention to the subtleties of this standard: in fact, there are three types of DVI. DVI-A only carries an analog signal (for VGA compatibility), while DVI-D can only carry a digital signal. DVI-I can work with both types of signals, but not at the same time. Therefore, it cannot be used with CRT monitors. But it's okay, because there is DVI-A / DVI-I. Most video cards are equipped with DVI-I outputs, which are suitable for connecting a CRT monitor to a computer using an adapter. As for laptops, mini-DVI is gradually replacing mini-VGA. At the same time, if your monitor has a large "native" resolution (more than 3 million pixels), then you need to use dual-link Dual-Link DVI.

CONTENT

I am glad to have new communication with my readers and today we will talk about the good old RCA connector. For some, it will be nostalgia for the first experience of using audio-video equipment. Well, I will tell the younger generation what kind of unprecedented curiosity it is, which is still found on some devices.

To begin with, according to tradition, a small digression into the history of radio electronics.

Back in 1940, it became necessary to connect phonographs to amplifiers, and the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), still known today, proposed using a connector in the form of a shielded axial contact. Which later inherited the same name and gained immense popularity.

By the way, the principle itself, when one of the contacts acts as an external protection, has been further developed and is successfully used in more modern connectors.

subject of conversation

Now let's take a closer look at the RCA connector and figure out what it is. To begin with, let's pay attention to the element that is inserted (therefore called "dad") and placed on the cable itself. Since a two-wire wire is used, the connector, respectively, consists of 2 contacts. The first (main) is a pin 15 mm long and 3.2 mm in diameter with a rounded head (for easy entry into the socket).

It is located inside a cylindrical screen contact with a diameter of 8 mm, and protrudes from it by 9 mm. The nest, called, respectively, "mother", is made in the form of a sleeve. Its outer part is a screen contact, and inside there is a hole for the pin to enter.

In both halves of the connector, the space between the central and outer contact is filled with a dielectric material. In inexpensive models, ordinary plastic (polyethylene) is used for this purpose, and in more expensive variations, textolite washers are used. Well, in the most trump performance - Teflon or ceramics.

We found out the physics of the process. Let's move on to the lyrical-floral part of our review. This is not just a literary turn, but a hint at the second name of the RCA connector, which is commonly called a tulip. A very accurate figurative hit since three connectors are usually used: one for the video signal, the other two for stereo sound. To distinguish them, the plastic shell of each connector has its own strictly defined color:

• Yellow - video;
• Red - right audio channel;
• White - left sound channel;

Take a cable in your hand, at the end of which there are 3 RCA plugs. Isn't it very reminiscent of a bouquet of tulips?

So far, no one has argued with this.

For sound 2 and for video 1 plug

You can ask a logical question. How is it that there are already 2 connectors for sound, and only one for technologically more complex video?

The fact is that in the “yellow tulip” there is a composite signal that combines all the information:

• Brightness;
• Chromaticity;
• Extinguishing;
• Line, frame and color synchronization;

But there are also blue and green "tulips". These are already component plugs for transmitting individual color video streams.

Popularity Contributing to Excellence

Since we have moved on to such complex technical details, it's time to talk about the technical aspects of using the RCA connector.

Its main purpose is the transmission of an analog audio-video signal. And with this task, he brilliantly coped before the advent of digital standards. At one time, tulips were the only way to connect TVs to VCRs or DVD players.

Convenient connection was actively used in audio equipment and amplifiers. Computer hardware manufacturers even made such outputs on the sound card.

And the craftsmen performed a special RCA wiring for connecting TVs as a monitor to a PC.

Over time, a lot of industrial cables and adapters have appeared that allow you to connect TV to more modern gadgets. For example, using an RCA-mini jack cable, it was possible to output content from some smartphones.

Now the RCA connector can still be found on modern TVs or projectors designed to connect to some video playback devices. However, on screens with a maximum resolution of 4K and above, transmitting an analog signal through RCA looks pointless. Why?

Yes, because the usual composite (rca) can output a maximum of Full HD.

And therefore, manufacturers are abandoning it in favor of more modern standards for information transfer.

As you understand, my dear readers, the era of RCA connectors is coming to an end. But it is still necessary to pay tribute to them. I hope you have more modern technology. And the one with tulips will simply remind you of the fleeting progress of technology.

On this I say goodbye and promise that we will continue the conversation about different connectors.

See you soon.

Seal

On old TVs there was only one input - analog, antenna, high-frequency. Now, modern TVs have more than one TV input , but a few seem to be too much, especially for LCD TVs. However, all this is for the convenience of users.

Optimal for kinescope (CRT) TVs, in my opinion, is 3 TV inputs. Behind, for example, for satellite or digital (which appeared relatively recently) receivers and a DVD player, and in front or on the side for a camcorder.

LCD TVs have even more inputs, in addition to analog, they have a digital input.

TV analog input.

These include:

• RF input;
• A/V, composite;
• S-video;
• SCART;

RF input - antenna. This type is used to connect antennas, VCRs, sometimes cable and satellite "boxes" and DVDs to the TV. The quality of prim through this connector is the lowest.

A/V input. A familiar type of connection, familiar to us under the name "tulip". Usually yellow-white + red trio. To improve image quality. Audio and video information is not transmitted over single channel as a whole, but separately for audio (white - red) and separately for video (yellow).

S-video input. Not available on all TVs. Here, information about color and contrast is transmitted separately. S-Video is an analog contact that is quite used to this day, very often these connectors can be found on DVD panels, game consoles etc. It is also quite often used as an alternative output by manufacturers of computer video cards.

scart. This 21-pin input is common today almost everywhere in Europe. Today, depending on specific specifications, both audio and video, analog and digital signals can be transmitted through SCART.

VGA input. It is found mainly on new TVs, since the main function of this 15-hole input is to serve as a contact for connecting a personal computer. Therefore, the VGA input option on a TV is usually identical to the input on an analog computer monitor (D-sub 15-pin).

Digital

These include DVI and HDMI inputs. These outputs are for transmission digital video HDTV-quality without the slightest compression. HDMI differs from DVI primarily in that, in addition to digital video, it can transmit multi-channel digital audio. And, although there are currently quite a lot of varieties of both interfaces, most of them are perfectly mutually compatible and are used together using the simplest adapters. In addition, both interfaces are great for connecting a computer to a PC. DVI and HDMI are notorious for supporting the HDCP protocol, which protects licensed content from unauthorized rewriting.

Composite video

Composite video signal of "color bars" on the oscilloscope screen. Luminance signal, subcarrier and sync signal visible

Composite video, composite video- full analog television color video signal, transmitted over one communication line separately from sound. Unlike component video, in which the individual components of the video signal - luma and chrominance - are transmitted on separate lines, composite video requires a single link and, together with audio, constitutes a complete television signal, ready for broadcast.

Composition of the composite signal

A full color video signal contains three main components: a luminance signal, a subcarrier modulated by the chrominance signal, and a sync signal consisting of horizontal and vertical sync pulses, quenching and equalizing pulses. The subcarrier also contains color burst pulses. Therefore, in foreign sources, a composite video signal is often abbreviated as CVBS, which means "Color, Video, Blank and Sync".

Video recording

The term is also used in reference to analog video recording formats. Most consumer video recording formats are considered composite because they use one group of video heads and signal processing path to record/play back all components of the video signal. However, in most composite formats, the luminance signal and the subcarrier are separated to carry the spectrum of the latter so that its frequencies fall within the recorded range. At playback, the signal is split again for separate luminance and subcarrier processing, and recombined at the output. This leads to significant quality losses during multiple rewriting, therefore, in broadcast practice, component formats are used, such as Betacam or S-VHS, which use separate video heads and processing paths to record / play individual video signal components. Component formats provide higher image quality and allow for more rewrites due to the lack of crosstalk inherent in composite formats.

Flaws

The use of a composite video signal for TV transmission makes it possible to get by with a single communication channel and narrow the frequency band occupied by each TV channel. However, the joint transmission of luminance and chrominance signals requires their separation in the receiving device, in which the appearance of mutual interference is inevitable, which reduces the image quality. Therefore, most professional studio equipment uses separate luminance and chrominance through component interfaces such as S-Video. The development of consumer video equipment and increasing requirements for video quality has led to the spread of component transmission lines between consumer devices. The European SCART interface allows the transmission of a component video signal, in the same way as S-Video, which has become widespread in consumer video equipment and computers.

Connection types

Composite BNC Connector

RCA connectors for video and stereo audio. Yellow for video, white for mono or left channel of stereo 2-channel audio, red for right channel of stereo 2-channel audio

The main type of connection for transmitting a composite video signal between professional image processing and recording devices is a coaxial cable with connectors of the type BNC. AT home appliances to transmit a composite video signal CVBS, as a rule, a cable with standard connectors of the RCA type, commonly called "tulip" (bells), is used. Domestic composite video cords are rarely coaxial in construction. The sound in this case is transmitted via a separate wire with similar connectors.

In consumer video technology, the transmission of composite video and audio over two separate wires was often referred to as a "low frequency connection" and was an alternative to a "high frequency" connection, in which a full television signal was transmitted over an antenna coaxial cable using one of the standard television broadcast channels. Such a connection was often used in consumer VCRs to transmit picture and sound to a television.

see also

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .

See what "Composite video" is in other dictionaries:

This is a list of video connectors and their respective video signal standards. Contents 1 According to the signal standard 2 Physical connectors 3 P ... Wikipedia

- (from English Video capture video capture) the process of converting a video signal from an external source into a digital video stream using a personal computer and recording it into a video file for the purpose of its subsequent processing, storage or ... ... Wikipedia

There is currently great amount variety of video standards and interfaces. Some have been used for more than a decade, others are just entering our daily lives and it is quite easy to get confused in this variety. This is as difficult as a non-specialist to understand. In this article we have made small selection various interfaces for video transmission, as well as common video connectors.

Composite video output

The composite video output is designed to transmit all the components of the video signal in a mixed form over a single wire.

Typically, a composite connector is a yellow RCA jack, or a universal universal SCART connector. To transmit a composite video signal, a coaxial cable with RCA ("tulip") connectors is used at the ends.

Composite video signal ( composite video) has been in use since the days of video cassettes, but is not capable of transmitting a high quality signal. For this reason, it is currently used only in low-cost video equipment, such as TVs with a small screen size (14"-21").

Component video output

Component video is also called color difference. It contains a luminance signal (Y) and two color difference signals (U and V), which are determined by the formula:

Y = 0.299R + 0.587G + 0.114B

Interlacing is used to display the image ( interlaced) or progressive ( progressive) sweep. Interlacing is used in all existing systems television broadcasting. Progressive scanning is used in the modern HDTV television standard and in modern ones, as it allows you to get a higher image quality.

To transmit such a video signal, three separate coaxial cables are used, at the ends of which there are RCA ("tulip") or BNC connectors.

S-Video output

The S-Video connector is typically used to output video from camcorders, PCs, and game consoles to consumer TVs and other consumer video equipment. The S-Video interface uses two signal lines - a chrominance signal (C) and a luminance signal (Y). When used as a signal source or a satellite receiver and a TV with a diagonal of 25" this interface allows you to get more quality image than composite video.

The cable for this video signal contains connectors various types: 2 BNC, 2 RCA (Cinch), 4-pin Mini DIN or Universal SCART.

RGB video output

To transfer a color image to a CRT monitor, the intensity signals of each of the RGB colors, as well as horizontal (H) and vertical (V) scan signals. In total, five signals are obtained - RGBHV.

The RGB signal is transmitted using 5 coaxial cables equipped with BNC connectors.

VGA video output

In the VGA connector, in addition to RGB signals and synchronization, the so-called DDC signals have also been added to transfer information between the video card and the monitor. The VGA cable is connected using a 15-pin D-Sub connector (also called D-Sub 15 pin).

DVI video output

DVI digital video output is mainly used in video adapters personal computers. It transmits a signal in digital form directly from the video adapter of a computer or laptop to the projector. This does not use an intermediate digital-analog image (as in the S-Video standard or in composite video), which allows you to get a picture of higher quality.

There are currently two types of DVI connector:

• universal combo connector DVI-I. It allows you to connect both digital and analog monitors (with an adapter from DVI-I to 15-pin VGA D-Sub);
• fully digital connector DVI-D, which can only be connected digital monitors. This connector differs from the DVD-I connector in that there are no four holes (pins) around the horizontal slot. As a rule, such an interface is used only in cheap video cards.

In addition, DVI connectors (DVI-I and DVI-D) have two types of connector: single link and Dual Link, which differ in the number of contacts. At the same time, Dual Link uses all 24 digital pins, while Single Link uses only 18. Single Link is used in devices with resolutions up to 1920x1080 (so-called HDTV). For higher resolutions, Dual Link is already used, which allows doubling the number of displayed pixels.

HDMI video output

HDMI interface ( High Definition Multimedia Interface) is intended for connection to DVD players, satellite receivers and video adapters of personal computers modern TVs and home cinemas. Today it is the standard for the transmission of digital audio and video in uncompressed form.

HDMI is an all-digital digital format that allows you to transfer not only high-definition video, but also many digital audio channels using only one cable. An HDMI cable with a signal bandwidth of up to 10 Gbps allows not only to output high-definition video, but also simultaneously transmit up to eight channels of high-quality audio.

The HDMI interface is a further development of the DVI-D interface and is fully compatible with it, but has more advanced parameters.

The following types of HDMI connectors are currently available:

• Type A, which has 19 contacts and is the most widely used.
• Type B having 29 pins. It has an extended video channel, which allows you to transmit video information with a resolution higher than 1080p. Currently, this connector is not yet in high demand.
• mini HDMI is designed for use with camcorders and portable devices. It is a variation of the HDMI Type A connector, but has a reduced size.

It must be noted that HDMI cable cannot be longer than 15 m.

If we arrange all the video standards described above in ascending order of video signal quality, then we get:

• composite (composite video)
• S-Video
• component (component video)