Connector Cheat Sheet

Connector Cheat Sheet #

This guide will show you all of the connectors you might encounter as you make work using digital systems.

USB - Mostly Data Connections #

USB Type A #

This is the most long lasting and most common of the USB plug types. It is used to connect to almost anything out there and is usually found on one end of a cable that goes to one of the many other USB plug shapes. If you just ask for ‘USB Cable’ this is most likely what you will get.

If the port is blue, it supports USB 3.0. This means it can transfer data faster than a normal port, this is important if you are transfering a large file or you are connecting something that sends a lot of data like an Xbox Kinect.

Ports this shape can also be relied upon to deliver 5v at up to 500mA so it can be used to power small projects.

USB Type B #

This is the USB plug that is square. These days this is found almost exclusively on Arduino Uno and Mega boards. More modern microcontrollers like the Pico and ESP32 now more commonly use the Micro connector, or even USB-C.

USB Micro #

This USB plug is found on most microcontrollers such as the Pico and ESP32 boards. It is also found on many older USB devices such as phones.

USB Mini #

This USB plug is largely obsolete, it is very rare to see it on new products. It is only found on some older products and some Arduino Nano microcontrollers.

Lightning #

This USB plug is used exclusively on apple products up to the 2022 Generation. It is the same connections as regular USB-2.0 only in a plug that can be reversed. Apple products using this connector mostly don’t support normal USB devices being plugged into this port so adapters are not common.

USB-C #

The most up to date plug in the USB standard is USB-C. This is the most powerful and can operate in many different modes. This doesn’t mean it will always support these modes. This makes it the most tricky port to use. If you have used USB-C you will most likely have used a dongle to connect up USB Type A or other devices to this port.

These dongles often include a Video plug such as HDMI or DisplayPort thanks to USB-C supporting video standards as well as traditional USB connections.

If you would like to use USB-C to connect a 4K display to your laptop, you should make sure your dongle supports HDMI 2.0 as this is required for 4k at 60fps.

USB-C also supports something called Power Delivery (PD) this means that a USB-C cable can supply power at voltages other than 5v. This is done by a chip on the device that is requesting the power such as the laptop. As with many things in the USB-C standard, most of these are optional and a USB-C plug will not necessarily support Power Delivery.

Video #

Digital video is usually measured in resolution (Pixels), Hz(Frames or Fields Per Second), and whether the stream is interlaced. When you see a standard written down it will usually be shortened in some way so here are a few common examples.

  • 1080/60i - 1920x1080, 60Hz, Interlaced
  • 1080/60p - 1920x1080, 60Hz, Progressive (Standard 1080p)
  • 2160/30p - 3840x2160, 30Hz, Progressive (4K Resolution)

USB-C #

USB-C Connectors are more and more common on Video Equipment such as monitors. It is effectively a DisplayPort or HDMI screen with a dongle built in. Be careful because if your monitor only supports USB-C you will not be able to plug it into a device that has anything other than USB-C.

HDMI #

HDMI is the most common HD Video cable in consumer products. You will find it on PCs, Laptops, TVs, Tuner Boxes and Blu-Ray Drives. There are adapters to convert most other formats on this list to HDMI. Be careful to check which HDMI version a device supports as only HDMI 2.0 and above support 4k at 60FPS.

HDMI Cables usually stop working after 10 meters

DisplayPort #

DisplayPort is a very common HD Video cable that is commonly found on PC Graphics Cards. It supports high resolutions such as 4K and 8K at 60FPS. It can usually be converted to HDMI using an Active Cable.

DisplayPort Cables usually stop working after 10 meters

SDI #

SDI is the standard HD Video cable used in TV Studios, Film Sets and other Professional Video environments. It is a very robust connection and SDI Cables can send video over 100m! This cable is used extensively in G05/SIML for both input of video from laptops and cameras, and output of video to the projectors.

There are different standards of video which can be sent over SDI Cable :

  • HD-SDI 1080/60i (Old Style Interlaced Video)
  • 3G-SDI 1080/60p (Most Common, Used in G05)
  • 6G-SDI 2160/30p (4K but at 30FPS)
  • 12G-SDI 2160/60p (4K at 60FPS, Equal to HDMI 2.0)

VGA #

VGA is an almost obsolete connection used in old computers and monitors. You might see it on some projectors and old monitors. It is an analog standard which effects picture quality and it doesn’t support 1080p resolution.

Do not use if you don’t have to!

DVI #

DVI is an almost obsolete connection used in old computers and monitors. You might see it on some old graphics cards and monitors. It supports 1080p Resolution but is not reccomended if other options are available.

Composite #

Composite was a video standard used in home video devices in analog era. It is not supported on most modern equipment but it is sometimes necessary to use if you would like to use a CRT TV for your work. This is an analog standard with an approximate resolution of 640x480/60i.

The 3 cables of a composite connection are 3 different signals

  • Yellow - Video
  • White - Left Audio
  • Red - Right Audio

3.5mm TRRS Jack #

On video equipment, you might see a TRRS 3.5mm Jack plug, normally in yellow. This will look like a headphone jack but is slightly different and is meant to be used with a TRRS cable in which has standard composite connections on the other end in order to save space.

Component #

Component Cables use 3 cables for video rather than 1 in composite, this means the quality can be greater and some digital standards support a component connection. These aren’t very popular but you may find this conenction on older high end video equipment. This is also a great way to get high quality video out of game consoles like the Wii and Original XBOX.

SCART #

SCART cables were developed to combine many of the different standards into one connector to make it easier to connect different devices together. It really only became popular in europe, these are somewhat unheard of in the US.

Audio #

Audio cables come in two distinct groups, Balanced and Unbalanced. Most connections are Unbalanced, with the exception of XLR and TRRS Balanced Jack. Balanced in this case means that the impedance at both ends of the cable is matched which makes it easier to manage the volume between different channels. Each cable only carries one signal in one direction.

XLR #

XLR cables are slightly different from most others as the source and destination ends are gendered. This means that XLR Outputs on devices always look the same and XLR Inputs always look the same.

Phono #

Phono Cables are so called because they were initially used on record players or Phonographs. They are the same as the red and white cables of a composite connection. Left is usually white and Right is usually Red but it doesn’t actually matter which colour cable is used for what they are all the same inside.

6.35mm 1/4in Jack #

1/4 inch Jack connectors are larger than your traditional Headphone Plug. They have different patterns on the shaft of the connector depending on what they are used for.

TS (Tip Sleeve) #

The TS variant of this Jack connector is predominantly found on electric guitars and guitar amplifiers.

TRS (Tip Ring Sleeve) #

The TRS variant of this connector can be used for sending a balanced audio signal like XLR but using less physical space on a device.

3.5mm Jack #

A 3.5mm Jack is a standard headphone plug size, but you will also encounter different shaft patterns here.

TS (Tip Sleeve) #

This is quite rare and is only used for mono headphones.

TRS (Tip Ring Sleeve) #

This is much more common and is the standard for stereo headphones

TRRS (Tip Ring Ring Sleeve) #

This is also fairly common but has two purposes. The first is stereo headphones with mic, think old apple headphones. The other use for this connector is for stereo audio and video as mentioned above.