| A CGA card. The connector to the left is the CGA output. |
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The three earliest video technologies used the same nine-pin D-sub connector, often called a DB9-F or a DE-9-F connector.
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VGA was the standard through the 1990s and the early 2000s. VGA produces analog RGB signals and uses a three-row, 15-pin D-sub connector, often called a 3-row DB15-F.
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Digital Visual Interface (DVI) was an industry standard in the late 1990s and early 2000s, along with VGA. The interface (connector) supports digital and analog (VGA-compatible) signals in various configurations. A single DVI output connector could support two digital and one VGA monitor simultaneously. A breakout cable splitting the single output into multiple connections is required for multiple monitors. A passive adapter can be used with VGA monitors when the analog signal is present.
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The DVI output is voltage-compatible with HDMI. Therefore, a passive adapter can adapt DVI digital video to HDMI. However, DVI monitors are not compatible with all HDMI standards, so passive adaptation of HDMI to DVI is not guaranteed. DVI also does not handle audio signals, so separate audio connections must be used when sourcing video from DVI.
Display Port is a digital display technology that carries digital video and audio signals. It can also carry USB and other forms of data. It has been an industry standard with regular specification updates since 2006.
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Display Port is voltage-compatible with HDMI but uses differential signaling (each signal uses two wires with opposite voltages). However, some Display Port systems can use a compatible single-link mode that can be converted to HDMI or DVI with a passive adapter.
Display Port uses multiple "lanes" of information and can work with multiple monitors. Some Display Port monitors support daisy-chaining between monitors.
DDisplay Port allows intellectual property owners to embed digital content protection in their media to prevent copying their material.
High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a digital audio/video interface for computers and home theater.
HDMI is electrically compatible with digital DVI, so adapting from one to the other is done with a simple passive adapter. HDMI doesn't carry an analog signal, so a passive adapter cannot convert HDMI to VGA or vice versa. The HDMI standard has changed over time, but newer systems can adapt to older systems automatically.
HHDMI may use several different sizes of connectors to suit the hardware.
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Like Display Port, HDMI includes digital copy protection, which was essential before intellectual property owners would support the standard.
HDMI supports ethernet, allowing a single cable to carry video, audio, and networking signals. It also supports audio return (Audio Return Channel -- ARC and Enhanced Audio Return -- eARC). This allows digital audio to be sent back to a home theater audio system from a television, allowing the television to control the audio (particularly the volume).
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