Talk:Audio and video interfaces and connectors

In the process of buying a sound and video card I, John Bentley (talk) 00:47, 6 February 2009 (UTC), was hunting for a short Wikipedia article that would orientate me to all the kinds of connection standards that exist. I could find no satisfactory article.

I did discover the following article and template:

• Audio and video connector
• Template:AVconn

However, these seemed to increase my confusion. It became apparent that in this article template connectors where conflated with hardware interface standards. Understandably, perhaps, as they are intimately related. However, it is clearer, I'd offer, to make them distinct.

I did find a good article on video connection information that did make some attempts at distinguishing a hardware interface ("interface" for short) from connectors:

• List of video connectors

However, there where three problems with it:

• While it correctly differentiates an interface from a connector it mislabels interfaces as a "standard" or "signal standard". Connectors are standardized too. Standard Interfaces define more than the signal.
• The relationship between the interface and connector standards was not properly expressed. That is, whether it was digital, analog, or both.
• Audio and Video interfaces and connectors are intimately related. For example, the HDMI interface (and connector) which can handle both audio and video. A sound card may have an HDMI interface and audio only interfaces/connectors, such as the S/PDIF interface using RCA connectors.

I therefore offer this article, "Audio and video interfaces and connectors" to compliment, and potentially compete against, Audio and video connector and List of video connectors.

The template Template:AVconn similarly conflates interfaces with connectors. I therefore created another template to compliment, and potentially compete against, this:

Template:Audio_and_video_interfaces_and_connectors.

:{{replyto|John Bentley}} Wikipedia articles shouldn't have substantial overlap. The problematic articles should have been renamed and fixed rather than copied; as it was I spent a fair amount of time merging the duplicate copies back together. -- Beland (talk) 19:11, 15 July 2015 (UTC)

I'm not clear, in creating "Audio and video interfaces and connectors", whether there needs to exist an article that;

• only lists popular and emerging interfaces and connectors ("a limited list"); or
• includes all interfaces and connectors ("a comprehensive list").

To start off I have just listed the popular and emerging interfaces and connectors. I have done this, firstly, because it would be a big job to list all. Secondly, because it was useful to have only on the list those interfaces and connectors needed for choosing a sound and video card.

Of course, wikipedia, is not meant to be a how to manual. So I'm inclined to suggest that this article should include all interfaces and connectors. If that list becomes too large for the purposes of choosing a sound or video card (or other practical ends) then at that point a shorter article listing only a subset could be created.

• Include references. Note a great deal of the text in the body is simply copied from the concomitant Wikipedia articles (DVI, RCA Jack, etc).
• Add more audio and visual interfaces. As many as you can find (see discussion under "Limited list V Comprehensive List"). Suggested rule: If an connector is defined in only one interface (eg HDMI, or DVI) then list this only under the connector section. You can discuss the interface aspect under the connector section if need be. In other words I'm suggesting a connector centric approach to this article.

One improvement in language precision would be to replace many occurrences of "jack" with "plug" (including in the tables).

Webster Dictionary:

Jack: a female fitting in an electric circuit used with a plug

to make a connection with another circuit

Oxford Dictionary:

Jack: a socket with two or more pairs of terminals,

designed to receive a jack plug.

(despite the oddity that a "female" would be called "Jack".)

Layzeeboi (talk) 23:30, 24 March 2014 (UTC)

Some form of ranking or discussion of the signal quality of each form versus the others (within categories obviously) would be useful for the uninformed (such as myself). Anyone able to help?

Skabat169 20:03, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

:(Comment moved from Talk:Audio and video connector. -- Beland (talk) 19:12, 15 July 2015 (UTC))

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified {{plural:2|one external link|2 external links}} on Audio and video interfaces and connectors. Please take a moment to review [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?diff=prev&oldid=745459411 my edit]. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110606225931/http://www.1394ta.org/about/HANA/HANA_Presentation_041808.pdf to http://www.1394ta.org/about/HANA/HANA_Presentation_041808.pdf
• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20130926064343/http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10218&cs_id=1021807&p_id=4637&seq=1&format=2 to http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10218&cs_id=1021807&p_id=4637&seq=1&format=2

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at {{tlx|Sourcecheck}}).

{{sourcecheck|checked=false}}

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 07:57, 21 October 2016 (UTC)

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Audio and video interfaces and connectors. Please take a moment to review [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?diff=prev&oldid=790114236 my edit]. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20100731035005/http://www.1394ta.org/consumers/FCC_complaint.html to http://www.1394ta.org/consumers/FCC_complaint.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

{{sourcecheck|checked=false|needhelp=}}

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 18:10, 11 July 2017 (UTC)

many 1980s professional recording studios had MCI JH400 and JH500 series consoles with telco 66 punch blocks for audio interface or Solid State Logic SSL 4000 consoles with ITT Cannon ZIF DL2-96 connectors. thinner, flexible Mogami became a favorite for many studios over thicker cable competitors. Doug Grinbergs (talk) 09:54, 16 June 2025 (UTC)

:a few large professional studios also used ITT Cannon DL1-156 for connecting 24-track tape machines to console or tie lines to adjacent studio Doug Grinbergs (talk) 09:57, 16 June 2025 (UTC)

for the longest time, Switchcraft was de facto standard, dominated the XLR market until Neutrik came along and disrupted with various innovations Doug Grinbergs (talk) 13:39, 16 June 2025 (UTC)