Difference between an RCA, DVI and HDMI cable

Ever hooked a CD player or DVD player to your TV? If yes, then you might have used an RCA cable.What works best with HDTV and in fact have been designed for that very purpose is the Digital Video Interface cables or the DVI cable.An updated version of the DVI cable is the HDMI cable.The High Definition Media Input, also known as HDMI is the most popular digital video connection.

RCA

Ever hooked a CD player or DVD player to your TV? If yes, then you might have used an RCA cable. The RCA lead is one of the most visually identifiable video cables. A simple RCA cable has three color-coded plugs extending from one end that connects to three corresponding colored jacks on the back of a TV, projector, or another output device. It carries audio and video signals from the component device to the output device (i.e. a television or speakers).

The red, white, and yellow plugs were part of the audio/visual equipment produced in the 1990s and early 2000s. It was also the main connection for several games consoles, including the Nintendo Wii. Most televisions no longer support RCA inputs, but there are still plenty of ways to connect your Nintendo Wii to your TV.

The name RCA doesn't refer to the technology, but to the company that popularized it, the Radio Corporation of America. It entered popular home use in the '50s and is still in use today. The two most common types are composite video and component. The red and white connectors provide audio, while the yellow offers a single channel composite video.

When used together, the three cables transmit stereo audio with video up to 480i or 576i resolution. The RCA cable with just one jack for video combines 3 signals (analog signals are made up of 3 signals) and combines them into one. This reduces the quality of the video. Since, RCA cables transmit non- digital signals you can't plug them directly to computers or LED. Besides, if you have an HDTV, your regular RCA cable would do you no good.

Just as with VGA, the once-popular RCA cable has been superseded by the digital DVI and HDMI connections.

DVI

What works best with HDTV and in fact have been designed for that very purpose is the Digital Video Interface cables or the DVI cable. A DVI cable is just like a component cable except that it comes with High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection. A DVI cable is also compatible with the VGA format and can be analog, digital or both. All these qualities make it a preferred choice among consumers for computers and for other high tech equipment.

The Digital Visual Interface, or DVI, was launched in 1999 by the Digital Display Working Group as the successor to the VGA cable. DVI connections can transmit uncompressed digital video in one of three different modes:

• DVI-I (Integrated) combines digital and analog in the same connector.
• DVI-D (Digital) supports digital signals only. 
• DVI-A (Analog) supports analog only.

DVI-I and DVI-D can come in single or dual-link varieties. Single-link can support 1920x1200 at 60Hz while adding a second digital transmitter for dual-link means the resolution can be increased to 2560x1600 at 60Hz. Although, unlike HDMI, DVI does not support audio.

To prevent VGA devices from becoming obsolete, DVI was developed to support analog connections using the DVI-A mode. This meant that DVI connections and devices could be compatible with VGA connections too.

HDMI

An updated version of the DVI cable is the HDMI cable.The High Definition Media Input, also known as HDMI is the most popular digital video connection. This proprietary interface was created by a group of electronics firms, including Sony, Sanyo, and Toshiba. HDMI connections transfer uncompressed video and audio to computer monitors, TVs, and DVD or Blu-ray players.

There have been many iterations of the HDMI standard to accommodate advances in technology. The most recent is HDMI 2.1, which was launched in 2017. Among other technical changes, this update improved support for 4K and 8K resolutions and increased the bandwidth of HDMI up to 48 Gbit/s.

Importantly, HDMI cables are backward compatible, so that you can use a cable with the latest features on older devices. The reverse is also true, meaning you can use an older cable on devices made to the HDMI 2.1 standard. This is useful, as the HDMI Forum previously ruled that no HDMI cables or devices can display which standard they were manufactured to, making it impossible to determine the configuration of your setup.

HDMI uses the same video format standards as DVI, so the two are compatible through the use of an adaptor. As no signal conversion is necessary, there is no loss of quality either.

There are three commonly used HDMI connectors. Type A is the full-sized HDMI connection for use on TVs and home theater equipment. Mini-HDMI (Type C) is frequently used on laptops and tablets, while Micro-HDMI (Type D) is mostly used on mobile devices.