DVI and HDMI® Connector Overview

By: CableOrganizer®

DVI cable connection provides a pure digital video signal from devices like HDTVs, and other high-end video displays. DVI transfers uncompressed, real-time digital video and supports resolutions of 1600x1200 and above on a PC, as well as HDTV resolutions of 720p, 1080i, and 1080p.

HDMI® is the high-definition digital standard for both video and audio. It is also backward compatible with the DVI standard. HDMI® was one of the first interfaces created to carry high-definition video (720p, 1080i or standard video formats), along with multi-channel surround sound audio.


dual dvi i single dvi i pin overview
Dual Link DVI-I Single Link DVI-I Pins 1 thru 24 = Digital Pins
C1, C2, C3, C4, and center ground = Analog
connector pins dual dvi d single dvi d
Dual Link DVI-D Single Link DVI-D

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DVI-D™ — Digital only connector

DVI-D™ — Digital only, Single Link connector does not use six center pins.

DVI-D™ — Digital only, Dual Link connector uses all 24 digital pins and provides extra bandwidth.

DVI-D™ is suitable for most flat panels, CRTs, projectors, and HDTV. Choose M/F for an extension cable, and M/M for a direct connection. HDMI® has mainly replaced DVI in some electronics like HDTVs because of its audio capabilities.

DVI-A — Analog only (only available as a male connector or plug which only mates with the analog contacts of a DVI-I connection. DVI-A is used to convert between DVI and the traditional (VGA connector) analog display technology. DVI-A and DVI-D connections will not match.) Use a DVI-A Male to VGA HD15 Male to connect a computer's VGA port to a monitor with a DVI-A or DVI-I connector. Use DVI-A Male to VGA HD15 Female to connect a computer's DVI-I port to a monitor with a VGA connector.

DVI-I — Digital and Analog (DVI-I has the original 24 digital contacts, as well as the five additional contacts to support analog video. DVI-I also supports dual link.)


HDMI® cables are available in the following versions:

Standard HDMI® — For 1080i or 720p video with eight channels of uncompressed audio. These cables have backwards compatibility with older resolutions and bandwidth but may not support updated resolutions and bandwidth.

High Speed HDMI® — For greater than 1080p and up to 10.2Gbps bandwidth, supporting 4K@30Hz. It is used frequently but not exclusively with Blu-Ray™ but may be used for other high-resolution video sources.

Premium High Speed HDMI® — Supports 4K/UltraHD up to 18Gbps, for high-quality audio and video.

Ultra High Speed HDMI® — Supports 8k@60 and 4k@120Hz, up to 48Gbps, which is intended for high-resolution content.

A "Type A" HDMI® connector is pictured below. With a 19-pin configuration, it is the standard connector type used for consumer electronics, such as televisions and DVD players.

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hdmi connection end

HDMI Connector (Type A) Plug


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