INTRODUCTION AND

IDENTIFICATION OF
VARIOUS CABLE, PORTS
AND CONNECTORS
• There are various type of
connectors and interfaces
which are used to connect
the outer peripheral as well
as internal hardware
components of a computer.
 USB Ports
 


• Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a serial

bus standard to interface devices
to a host computer.
•
• USB allows many peripherals to be
connected using a single
standardized interface socket and
to improve plug 'n' play capabilities
by allowing hot swapping, that is,
by allowing devices to be
connected and disconnected
 USB Ports
• Other convenient features include
providing power to low-
consumption devices without the
need for an external power supply
and allowing many devices to be
used without requiring
manufacturer specific, individual
device drivers to be installed.
•
• USB interface allows 127 devices to
be connected per host controller
Different types of USB connectors from left to
right
• 8-pin AGOX connector
• Mini-B plug
• B-type plug
• A-type receptacle
• A-type plug
 IEEE 1394
• The IEEE 1394 interface is a
serial bus interface standard
for high-speed communications
•
• Isochronous real-time data
transfer, frequently used by
personal computers, as well as
in digital audio, digital video
applications.
•
• The interface is also known by
the brand name of FireWire
circuit and 6-circuit FireWire 400
alpha connectors and a pair of 6-
circuit alpha connectors on the
edge of an expansion card
• IEEE 1394 has been adopted as the
High Definition Audio-Video
Network Alliance (HANA) standard
connection interface for A/V
(audio/visual) component
communication and control.
•
• It is the primary transfer
mechanism for almost all high end
professional audio and video
equipment.
•
• It allows 63 devices to be connected
with transfer speed 400-3200
 RS-232
• RS-232 (Recommended Standard
232) is a standard for serial
binary data signals connecting
between a DTE (Data Terminal
Equipment) and a DCE (Data
Circuit-terminating Equipment).


• It is commonly used in computer

serial ports.
•
Interface cable used between
DTE and DCE
• RS 232 interface permits maximum
cable length of 15 mtrs.
• Most standard serial ports have a
maximum transfer rate of 115 Kbps
, high speed serial ports, such as
Enhanced Serial Port (ESP) and
Super Enhanced Serial Port (Super
ESP)
• Can reach data transfer rates of 460
Kbps.
• The standard recommended but did
not make mandatory the D-
subminiature 25 pin connector.
the pin specification for DBD 25 and DB
9 connector
 S/PDIF
• The name stands for
Sony/Philips Digital
Interconnect Format (more
commonly known as Sony
Philips Digital Interface).
• S/PDIF is a standard audio
transfer file format.
• It allows the transfer of audio
from one file to another
without the conversion to and
• The most common connector used
with an S/PDIF interface is the RCA
connector or TOSLINK with 75Ω
coaxial cable.
•
• An optical connector is also
sometimes used.
•
• A common use for the S/PDIF
interface is to carry compressed
digital audio from the output of a
DVD player to a home theater
receiver that supports Dolby Digital
or DTS surround sound.

TOSLINK connector
RCA connectors
 Digital Visual Interface
(DVI)
• 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 a 29 pin interface for video

which supports the resolution
WUXGA 1920×1200, WQXGA
DVI connector
Assignment of 29 pins of
DVI
 S-Video
• Separate Video,
• More commonly known as S-Video,
• Also known as Y/C,
• Analog video signal(NTSC, PAL or
SECAM)
• Carries the video data as two separate
signals, lumen (luminance) and
chroma (colour).
• This differs from composite video which
carries picture information as a single
lower-quality signal, and component
video which carries picture
• The 4-pin mini-DIN connector
is the most common of
several S-Video connector
types.


• Other S-Video connector

variants include 7-pin
locking (shown on left)
connectors used on many
professional S-VHS
machines, and dual "Y" and
 7 pin S-video 4 p in S - v id e o
female socket m a le - fe m a le
co n n e cto rs
 BNC
• The BNC (Bayonet Neill Concelman)
connector is a very common type of
RF connector used for terminating
coaxial cable. 
• The BNC connector is used for RF signal
connections, for analog and Serial
Digital Interface video signals,
amateur radio antenna connections,
aviation electronics (avionics) and
many other types of electronic test
equipment.
• It is an alternative to the RCA
connector when used for composite
video on commercial video devices.
• BNC connectors were commonly used
on 10base2 thin Ethernet networks,
BNC plug
 RJ 11 & 45
v  RJ-11 is a physical interface of 2
pair (4 wire) ,often used for
terminating telephone wires.
v It is probably the most familiar
of the registered jacks, being used
for single line POTS telephone
jacks in most homes across the
world..
v
v RJ-45 is the standard connector
utilized on 4-pair (8-wire) UTP
(Unshielded Twisted Pair) cable.
 RJ-45
connectors
R J- 1 1
co n n e cto rs
 COMPOSITE VIDEO
• Composite video is the most common
type of video interface for sending or
receiving an analog video signal to or
from a television set.
• A Composite video interface might
connect a VHS tape player, DVD
player or game console to a
television.
• Composite video is a yellow, female
RCA jack, normally found next to two
audio jacks, one red, the other white.
• The three jacks together provide an
interface for audiovisual connections.
• The red RCA jack connects the right
channel of a stereo system, while the
white RCA jack connects the left.
RCA connector
 MIDI
• MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital
Interface)
• An industry-standard protocol
defined in 1982
• Enables
electronic musical instruments
such as keyboard controllers,
computers, and other electronic
equipment to communicate,
control, and synchronize with each
other.
• MIDI allows computers, synthesizers,
MIDI controllers, sound cards,
 VGA
• A VGA connector is a three-row 15
pin DE-15.
• The common 15-pin VGA connector
found on most video cards,
computer monitors,
high definition televisions which
support VGA connections, and
other devices, is almost universally
called "HD-15".
• HD stands for "high-density", which
distinguishes it from connectors
having the same form factor but
only 2 rows of pins.
VGA Connector
 LINE IN
•
• Line in is the jack
provided at rear panel of
the motherboard for
audio in from auxiliary
device to be recorded in
the computer.
•
Line in and MIDI
port
 3.5 mm JACK AND
• It is
CONNECTOR
the most common jack used for
connection of audio devices
headphone or the speakers to a
computer.
• It may either be mono or stereo
having two and three pins
respectively.
• It is the miniaturized version of
original 6.3 mm TRS (tip, ring,
sleeve) connector.
• Widely used for audio and known as
audio jack, phone plug, jack plug,
 ATX POWER CONNECTOR
• A special type of connector that
allows the motherboard to be
connected to the power supply
to receive power is known as
power connectors.
• Typically, there are either one or
two plugs that connect into this
motherboard connector.
• If there are two 6-pins
connectors, they are usually
labeled P8 and P9 (AT) and the
ATX power connectors on
the motherboard
 IDE CONNECTORS
• IDE connectors are 40 pin connector found
on motherboard for connection of IDE
drives such as CD-ROM and Hard disk
drive.
• Generally there are 2 IDE connectors
marked as IDE 1 and IDE 2
• Each one of them can connect two devices
one as master asand another as slave.
• A standard IDE cable is a flat ribbon cable,
normally gray in color, with a (usually red)
stripe running down the edge.
• The cable has 40 wire connectors in it, and
usually has three identical female
connectors: one is intended for the IDE
controller (or motherboard header for
PCs) and the other two are for the master
the 40 pin IDE cable with
three connectors
IDE 1 and IDE 2 sockets on the
motherboard.
 
 ADH Connector

• ADH stands for Azalia

Digital Header, those
connectors are used in
the motherboard for
high definition audio
output.
•
ADH Connector
 FDD Connector
•
• It is a 34 pin socket provided on
the motherboard for interfacing
Floppy Disk Drive
•
• The ribbon cable running from
motherboard to the FDD has a
twist in it towards the FDD side
to distinguish it easily from an
IDE connector.
•
FDD ribbon cable
 COM PORT
• It is the serial port
• They are easily identified because
they have either a DB-9 male or
DB-25 male port.
• Standard serial ports have a
maximum data transmission speed
of 115 Kbps
• Maximum cable length of 50 feet.
• Some PC may also have two COM
ports marked as COM 1 and COM 2.
• This port is used to connect any
serial devices such as MODEM,
DB9 connector of a
COM port.
 Keyboard and Mouse
Connectors
• The most important input device for
a PC is the keyboard.
• All the PC motherboards contain a
connector that allows a keyboard
to be connected directly to the
motherboard through the case.
• There are two main types of
keyboard connector: AT and PS/2.
• The AT connector is round, about
½” in diameter, and has a 5
sockets in the DIN-5 configuration.
• AT connectors were found in older
 Keyboard and Mouse
Connectors
• The second style, the PS/2 connector,
is smaller and is more ubiquitous
than the AT connector.
• Most new PCs today contain a PS/2
keyboard connector on the
motherboard.
• Another input device mouse is also
connected in PS/2 interface.
• The difference between the PS/2
connectors of KB and Mouse is in
their colour, the KB connector
comes in purple colour whereas
PS/2 sockets for Keyboard
and mouse
Various Types
of Cables
 H D D A N D FD D CA B
• TheLmost
E common form of HDD cable
is 40 Pin ID E cable having 40
wires.
• A standard IDE cable is a flat ribbon
cable, normally gray in color, with a
(usually red) stripe running down
the edge.
• The cable has 40 wire connectors in
it, and usually has three identical
female connectors: one is intended
for the IDE controller (or
motherboard header for PCs) and
34 wire FDD cable, 80 wire 40 pin
cable and 40 wire cable for HDD
respectively from the top
• Another standard is 80 wire 40 pin ID
E cable
•
• Compatible with 40 wire ID E cables
•
• The extra 40 wires are used to
reduce the interference
•
• F or connection of FDD 34 wires FDD
cable is used
•
• The FDD cable has a twist towards
 SCSI cable
• This cable is used to connect the
SCSI device to the SCSI controller.
• This cable is commonly a wide flat
cable however may also be a
rounded cable.
• SCSI cables often have multiple
connections on a single cable
allowing multiple devices to
connect to a single controller. 
• SCSI has dozens of different types of
cables.
• Internal SCSI cables are usually
 SCSI cable
• External cables are shielded and only
have connectors on the ends.  
• SCSI is different from most PC
interfaces in that it supports both
internal and external devices.
• These use drastically different types
of cabling, because the
environment inside the PC is very
different from that outside it.
• Both internal and external cables
come in a variety of styles
themselves. Some examples are:
external SCSI cable.
 
 Smart cable
• Also known as an intelligent
cable
•
• Contains built-in circuitry to
detect the type of transmission


• Able to convert it to another

type of transmission.


• Smart cables may also be a type

of cable that converts from one
Smart cable
 USB CABLE
• These USB cables may be used for USB
mouse or keyboard cables, USB printers
or any other standard USB devices.
• The maximum speed of USB 2.0 standard is
480 Mbps.
 


RCA cable
• The RCA jack uses 75 Ω coaxial cable which
are used to transfer Composite video
along with stereo audio in three RCA
cables.
• It is also used in S/PDIF interface,
component video etc.
• The name "RCA" derives from the Radio
Corporation of America, which introduced
 SATA
•
• SATA hard-drive technology is based on
serial data processing
• Which means that information traveling
from the drive to the data bus is clocked
and sent in an orderly fashion.
• The SATA cables have 6 pin connectors at
both ends
• There may be 2, 4 or even more SATA
connectors provided on the motherboard
and each cable connects to a HDD.
• Connecting more than one HDD by SATA
does not require any jumper setting for
master and slave configuration.
• SATA hard drives use thin ribbon cables
which are a pleasure to work with.
Position of SATA cable and
power cable in SATA HDD
 SATA cable (red)
connected to a HDD
 PATA
•
• AT Attachment (ATA) and AT
Attachment Packet Interface
(ATAPI) are interface standards
for the connection of storage
devices such as hard disks,
solid-state drives, and CD- R O
M drives in computers.


• The current ATA/ATAPI standard

 PATA
• ATA/ATAPI is an evolution of the AT
Attachment Interface, which was
itself evolved in several stages
from Western Digital's original
Integrated Drive Electronics
interface.
• As a result, many near-synonyms for
ATA/ATAPI and its previous
incarnations e x ist, including
abbreviations such as IDE which
are still in common informal use.
• With the market introduction of
 HD M I
• High-Definition
Multimedia Interface
• Compact audio/video interface for
transmitting uncompressed digital data. It
represents a digital alternative to
consumer analog standards such as Radio
Frequency (RF) coaxial cable, composite
video, S-Video, component video, and VGA.
• HDMI connects digital audio/video sources
such as set-top boxes, Blu-ray Disc
players, personal computers (PCs), video
game consoles, and AV receivers to
 HD M I
• HDMI supports, on a single cable, any T V
or PC video format, including standard,
enhanced, and high-definition video, up
to 8 channels of digital audio, and the
Consumer Electronics Control signal.
•
• A Digital Visual Interface (D V I ) signal is
electrically compatible with an HDMI
video signal; no signal conversion needs
to take place when an adapter is used,
and consequently no loss in video
quality occurs.
HDMI Female socket
 HDMI Female socket
• HDMI devices are manufactured to
adhere to various versions of the
specification, where each version is
given a number such as 1.0, 1.2, or
1.3a.
• Each subsequent version of the
specification uses the same kind of
cable but increases the bandwidth
and/or capabilities of what can be
transmitted over the cable.
• For example the previous maximum
pixel clock rate of HDMI interface was
165 MHz which was sufficient for
supporting WUXGA (1920x1200) at
?