PS/2 connector

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search "PS/2 keyboard" redirects here. For the physical keyboards normally supplied with IBM PS/2 computers (among other hardware), see Model M keyboard.

PS/2 connector

The color-coded PS/2 connection ports (purple for keyboards and green for mice) Type Keyboard and computer mouse data connector Production history Designer Designed Superseded IBM 1987 DIN connector and DE-9 connector

Superseded by Universal Serial Bus General specifications Pins Connector 6 Mini-DIN Data Data signal Serial data at 10 to 16 kHz with 1 stop bit, 1 start bit, 1 parity bit (odd) Pin out

Female connector from the front Pin 1 Pin 2 Pin 3 Pin 4 Pin 5 Pin 6 +DATA Not connected GND Vcc +CLK Not connected Data Not connected* Ground +5 V DC at 275 mA Clock Not connected**

* On some computers mouse data for splitter cable. ** On some computers mouse clock for splitter cable.

The PS/2 connector is a 6-pin Mini-DIN connector used for connecting some keyboards and mice to a PC compatible computer system. Its name comes from the IBM Personal System/2 series of personal computers, with which it was introduced in 1987. The PS/2 mouse connector generally replaced the older DE-9 RS-232 "serial mouse" connector, while the PS/2 keyboard connector replaced the larger 5-pin/180 DIN connector used in the IBM PC/AT design. The PS/2 designs on keyboard and mouse interfaces are electrically similar and employ the same communication protocol. However, a given system's keyboard and mouse port may not be interchangeable since the two devices use a different set of commands.

Contents

1 Port availability o 1.1 Legacy port status and USB o 1.2 Conversion between PS/2 and USB 2 Color code 3 Hardware issues o 3.1 Hotplugging o 3.2 Durability o 3.3 Fault isolation 4 See also 5 References

6 External links

Port availability
Older laptops and most contemporary motherboards have a single port that supports either a keyboard or a mouse. Sometimes the port also allows one of the devices to be connected to the two normally unused pins in the connector to allow both to be connected at once through a special splitter cable.[1] This configuration is common on IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad notebooks among many others. The PS/2 keyboard interface was electrically the same as for the 5-pin DIN connector on former AT keyboards, and keyboards designed for one can be connected to the other with a simple wiring adapter. In contrast to this, the PS/2 mouse interface is substantially different from RS232 (which was generally used for mice on PCs without PS/2 ports), but nonetheless many mice were made that could operate on both with a simple passive wiring adapter, where the mice would detect the presence of the adapter due to its wiring and then switch protocols accordingly. PS/2 mouse and keyboard connectors have also been used in non-IBM PC-compatible computer systems, such as the DEC AlphaStation line, early IBM RS/6000 CHRP machines and SGI Indy, Indigo 2, and newer (Octane etc.) computers.[2] Various Macintosh clone computers from the late 90s featured PS/2 mouse and keyboard ports, including the Motorola StarMax and the Power Computing PowerBase[3]

Legacy port status and USB

PS/2 was considered a legacy port by the Intel/Microsoft PC 2001 specification of 2000; USB ports were preferred for connecting keyboards and mice. Despite this, PS/2 ports are included on most new motherboards. These PS/2 ports cause fewer problems when KVM switching with non-Wintel systems.[citation needed] PS/2 ports may also be favored for security reasons in a corporate environment.[citation needed] Use of PS/2 ports for keyboard and mouse connectivity would allow USB ports to be totally disabled, preventing the connection of any USB removable disks. High-end keyboards that provide full n-key rollover typically do so via a PS/2 interface as the USB mode most often used by BIOSes has a cap of only six keys plus modifiers to be pressed at the same time,[4] thereby hindering fast typists as well as users who depend on unusual hotkeys to be recognized by special software (for example, for system development purposes) or seek to use alternative input methods like Braille or chorded input. Compared to USB, the PS/2 interface also has much lower latencies, which can be important in some real-time applications or gaming.

Conversion between PS/2 and USB

Many keyboards and mice were specifically designed to support both the USB and the PS/2 interfaces and protocols, selecting the appropriate connection type at power-on. Such devices are generally equipped with a USB connector and ship with a passive wiring adapter to allow connection to a PS/2 port. Such passive adapters are not standardized and may therefore be specific to the device they came with. They cannot be used to adapt other devices to PS/2

ports.[citation needed] While combi-devices supporting USB and PS/2 are still available, most USB keyboards and mice in the 2010s no longer come or even support the PS/2 protocol. [citation needed] Connecting them to a PS/2 port would require an adapter, actively translating between the protocols. Such adapters only support certain classes of USB devices such as keyboards and mice, but are not model- or vendor-specific. Older PS/2-only peripherals can be connected to a USB port via an active adapter, which generally provides a pair of PS/2 ports at the cost of one USB port.[citation needed]

Color code
Original PS/2 connectors were black or had the same color as the connecting cable (mainly white). Later the PC 97 standard introduced a color code: the keyboard port, and the plugs on compliant keyboards, were purple; mouse ports and plugs were green. Some vendors initially used a different color code: Logitech used the color orange for the keyboard connector for a short period, but soon switched to purple.[citation needed] Today this code is still used on most PCs. The pinouts of the connectors are the same, but most computers will not recognize devices connected to the wrong port. Color Description Purple Keyboard Green Mouse Wiring inside the PS/2 cables varies widely. The only reliable method of determining color assignment is to confirm by measuring continuity to the connector.

RS-232
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This article is about the RS-232 standard. For RS-232 variants, see serial port. "V.24" redirects here. For other uses, see V24 (disambiguation).

A DB-25 connector as described in the RS-232 standard In telecommunications, RS-232 is the traditional name for a series of standards for serial binary single-ended data and control signals connecting between DTE (data terminal equipment) and DCE (data circuit-terminating equipment, originally defined as data communication equipment[1]). It is commonly used in computer serial ports. The standard defines the electrical characteristics and timing of signals, the meaning of signals, and the physical size and pinout of connectors. The current version of the standard is TIA-232-F Interface Between Data Terminal Equipment and Data Circuit-Terminating Equipment Employing Serial Binary Data Interchange, issued in 1997. An RS-232 serial port was once a standard feature of a personal computer, used for connections to modems, printers, mice, data storage, uninterruptible power supplies, and other peripheral devices. However, the low transmission speed, large voltage swing, and large standard connectors motivated development of the Universal Serial Bus, which has displaced RS-232 from most of its peripheral interface roles. Many modern personal computers have no RS-232 ports and must use either an external USB-to-RS-232 converter or an internal expansion card with one or more serial ports to connect to RS-232 peripherals. RS-232 devices are still found, especially in industrial machines, networking equipment, and scientific instruments.

Contents

1 Scope of the standard 2 History 3 Limitations of the standard 4 Role in modern personal computers 5 Standard details o 5.1 Voltage levels o 5.2 Connectors o 5.3 Signals o 5.4 Cables 6 Conventions o 6.1 RTS/CTS handshaking o 6.2 3-wire and 5-wire RS-232 7 Seldom used features

7.1 Signal rate selection 7.2 Loopback testing 7.3 Timing signals 7.4 Secondary channel 8 Related standards 9 Development tools 10 References
o o o o

Scope of the standard

The Electronic Industries Association (EIA) standard RS-232-C[1] as of 1969 defines:

Electrical signal characteristics such as voltage levels, signaling rate, timing and slewrate of signals, voltage withstand level, short-circuit behavior, and maximum load capacitance. Interface mechanical characteristics, pluggable connectors and pin identification. Functions of each circuit in the interface connector. Standard subsets of interface circuits for selected telecom applications.

The standard does not define such elements as the character encoding or the framing of characters, or error detection protocols. Details of character format and transmission bit rate are controlled by the serial port hardware, often a single integrated circuit called a UART that converts data from parallel to asynchronous start-stop serial form. Details of voltage levels, slew rate, and short-circuit behavior are typically controlled by a line driver that converts from the UART's logic levels to RS-232 compatible signal levels, and a receiver that converts RS-232 compatible signal levels to the UART's logic levels. The standard does not define bit rates for transmission, except that it says it is intended for bit rates lower than 20,000 bits per second. Many modern devices support speeds of 115,200 bit/s and above.

History
RS-232 was first introduced in 1962 by the Radio Sector of the EIA.[2][3] The original DTEs were electromechanical teletypewriters, and the original DCEs were (usually) modems. When electronic terminals (smart and dumb) began to be used, they were often designed to be interchangeable with teletypewriters, and so supported RS-232. The C revision of the standard was issued in 1969 in part to accommodate the electrical characteristics of these devices.[citation
needed]

Since the requirements of devices such as computers, printers, test instruments, POS terminals and so on were not considered by the standard, designers implementing an RS-232 compatible interface on their equipment often interpreted the requirements idiosyncratically. Common problems were non-standard pin assignment of circuits on connectors, and incorrect or missing control signals. The lack of adherence to the standards produced a thriving industry of breakout boxes, patch boxes, test equipment, books, and other aids for the connection of disparate equipment. A common deviation from the standard was to drive the signals at a reduced voltage.

Some manufacturers therefore built transmitters that supplied +5 V and -5 V and labeled them as "RS-232 compatible".[citation needed] Later personal computers (and other devices) started to make use of the standard so that they could connect to existing equipment. For many years, an RS-232-compatible port was a standard feature for serial communications, such as modem connections, on many computers. It remained in widespread use into the late 1990s. In personal computer peripherals, it has largely been supplanted by other interface standards, such as USB. RS-232 is still used to connect older designs of peripherals, industrial equipment (such as PLCs), console ports and special purpose equipment. The standard has been renamed several times during its history as the sponsoring organization changed its name, and has been variously known as EIA RS-232, EIA 232, and most recently as TIA 232. The standard continued to be revised and updated by the Electronic Industries Alliance and since 1988 by the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA).[4] Revision C was issued in a document dated August 1969. Revision D was issued in 1986. The current revision is TIA232-F Interface Between Data Terminal Equipment and Data Circuit-Terminating Equipment Employing Serial Binary Data Interchange, issued in 1997. Changes since Revision C have been in timing and details intended to improve harmonization with the CCITT standard V.24, but equipment built to the current standard will interoperate with older versions.[citation needed] Related ITU-T standards include V.24 (circuit identification) and V.28 (signal voltage and timing characteristics).[citation needed] In revison D of EIA-232, the D-subminiature connector was formally included as part of the standard (it was only referenced in the appendix of RS 232 C). The voltage range was extended to +/- 25 volts, and the circuit capacitance limit was expressly stated as 2500 pF. Revision E of EIA 232 introduced a new, smaller, standard D-shell 26-pin "Alt A" connector, and made other changes to improve compatibility with CCITT standards V.24, V.28 and ISO 2110. [5]

Limitations of the standard

Because the application of RS-232 has extended far beyond the original purpose of interconnecting a terminal with a modem, successor standards have been developed to address the limitations. Issues with the RS-232 standard include:[6]

The large voltage swings and requirement for positive and negative supplies increases power consumption of the interface and complicates power supply design. The voltage swing requirement also limits the upper speed of a compatible interface. Single-ended signaling referred to a common signal ground limits the noise immunity and transmission distance. Multi-drop connection among more than two devices is not defined. While multi-drop "work-arounds" have been devised, they have limitations in speed and compatibility. Asymmetrical definitions of the two ends of the link make the assignment of the role of a newly developed device problematic; the designer must decide on either a DTE-like or DCE-like interface and which connector pin assignments to use.

The handshaking and control lines of the interface are intended for the setup and takedown of a dial-up communication circuit; in particular, the use of handshake lines for flow control is not reliably implemented in many devices. No method is specified for sending power to a device. While a small amount of current can be extracted from the DTR and RTS lines, this is only suitable for low power devices such as mice. The 25-way connector recommended in the standard is large compared to current practice.

Role in modern personal computers

PCI Express x1 card with one RS-232 port Main article: Serial port In the book PC 97 Hardware Design Guide,[7] Microsoft deprecated support for the RS-232 compatible serial port of the original IBM PC design. Today, RS-232 has mostly been replaced in personal computers by USB for local communications. Compared with RS-232, USB is faster, uses lower voltages, and has connectors that are simpler to connect and use. However, USB is limited by standard to no more than 5 meters of cable, thus favoring RS-232 when longer distances are needed. Both standards have software support in popular operating systems. USB is designed to make it easy for device drivers to communicate with hardware. However, there is no direct analog to the terminal programs used to let users communicate directly with serial ports. USB is more complex than the RS-232 standard because it includes a protocol for transferring data to devices. This requires more software to support the protocol used. RS-232 only standardizes the voltage of signals and the functions of the physical interface pins. Serial ports of personal computers are also sometimes used to directly control various hardware devices, such as relays or lamps, since the control lines of the interface can be easily manipulated by software. This is not feasible with USB, which requires some form of receiver to decode the serial data. As an alternative, USB docking ports are available which can provide connectors for a keyboard, mouse, one or more serial ports, and one or more parallel ports. Corresponding device drivers are required for each USB-connected device to allow programs to access these USB-connected devices as if they were the original directly connected peripherals. Devices that convert USB to RS-232 may not work with all software on all personal computers and may cause a reduction in bandwidth along with higher latency.

Personal computers may use a serial port to interface to devices such as uninterruptible power supplies. In some cases, serial data is not exchanged, but the control lines are used to signal conditions such as loss of power or low battery alarms. Many fields (for example, laboratory automation, surveying) provide a continued demand for RS-232 I/O due to sustained use of very expensive but aging equipment. It is often far cheaper to continue to use RS-232 than it is to replace the equipment. Additionally, modern industrial automation equipment, such as PLCs, VFDs, servo drives, and CNC equipment are programmable via RS-232. Some manufacturers have responded to this demand: Toshiba reintroduced the DE-9M connector on the Tecra laptop. Serial ports with RS-232 are also commonly used to communicate to headless systems such as servers, where no monitor or keyboard is installed, during boot when operating system is not running yet and therefore no network connection is possible. An RS-232 serial port can communicate to some embedded systems such as routers as an alternative to network mode of monitoring.

Standard details
In RS-232, user data is sent as a time-series of bits. Both synchronous and asynchronous transmissions are supported by the standard. In addition to the data circuits, the standard defines a number of control circuits used to manage the connection between the DTE and DCE. Each data or control circuit only operates in one direction, that is, signaling from a DTE to the attached DCE or the reverse. Since transmit data and receive data are separate circuits, the interface can operate in a full duplex manner, supporting concurrent data flow in both directions. The standard does not define character framing within the data stream, or character encoding.

Voltage levels

Diagrammatic oscilloscope trace of voltage levels for an ASCII "K" character (0x4B) with 1 start bit, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit. This is typical for start-stop communications, but the standard does not dictate a character format or bit order.

Upper picture: RS-232 data line on the terminals of the receiver side (RxD) probed by an oscilloscope (for an ASCII "K" character (0x4B) with 1 start bit, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit and no parity bits). Lower picture: Same signal after going through a RS-232 level shifter; note the reversed signal logic and the TTL- or CMOS-compatible voltage levels ready to be fed into an UART (RIN). The RS-232 standard defines the voltage levels that correspond to logical one and logical zero levels for the data transmission and the control signal lines. Valid signals are either in the range of +3 to +15 volts or the range 3 to 15 volts with respect to the ground/common pin; consequently, the range between 3 to +3 volts is not a valid RS-232 level. For data transmission lines (TxD, RxD and their secondary channel equivalents) logic one is defined as a negative voltage, the signal condition is called "mark". Logic zero is positive and the signal condition is termed "space". Control signals have the opposite polarity: the asserted or active state is positive voltage and the deasserted or inactive state is negative voltage. Examples of control lines include request to send (RTS), clear to send (CTS), data terminal ready (DTR), and data set ready (DSR). The standard specifies a maximum open-circuit voltage of 25 volts: signal levels of 5 V, 10 V, 12 V, and 15 V are all commonly seen depending on the voltages available to the line driver circuit. Some RS-232 driver chips have inbuilt circuitry to produce the required voltages from a 3 or 5 volt supply. RS-232 drivers and receivers must be able to withstand indefinite short circuit to ground or to any voltage level up to 25 volts. The slew rate, or how fast the signal changes between levels, is also controlled. Because the voltage levels are higher than logic levels typically used by integrated circuits, special intervening driver circuits are required to translate logic levels. These also protect the device's internal circuitry from short circuits or transients that may appear on the RS-232

interface, and provide sufficient current to comply with the slew rate requirements for data transmission. Because both ends of the RS-232 circuit depend on the ground pin being zero volts, problems will occur when connecting machinery and computers where the voltage between the ground pin on one end, and the ground pin on the other is not zero. This may also cause a hazardous ground loop. Use of a common ground limits RS-232 to applications with relatively short cables. If the two devices are far enough apart or on separate power systems, the local ground connections at either end of the cable will have differing voltages; this difference will reduce the noise margin of the signals. Balanced, differential, serial connections such as USB, RS-422 and RS-485 can tolerate larger ground voltage differences because of the differential signaling. [8] Unused interface signals terminated to ground will have an undefined logic state. Where it is necessary to permanently set a control signal to a defined state, it must be connected to a voltage source that asserts the logic 1 or logic 0 level, for example with a pullup resistor. Some devices provide test voltages on their interface connectors for this purpose.

Connectors
RS-232 devices may be classified as Data Terminal Equipment (DTE) or Data Communication Equipment (DCE); this defines at each device which wires will be sending and receiving each signal. The standard recommended but did not make mandatory the D-subminiature 25-pin connector. In general and according to the standard, terminals and computers have male connectors with DTE pin functions, and modems have female connectors with DCE pin functions. Other devices may have any combination of connector gender and pin definitions. Many terminals were manufactured with female connectors but were sold with a cable with male connectors at each end; the terminal with its cable satisfied the recommendations in the standard. The standard specifies 20 different signal connections. Since most devices use only a few signals, smaller connectors can often be used. For PC technology leading manufacturers started early to replace the once common DB-25M connector by the more compact and thus somewhat cheaper DE-9M connector for their devices. As the pin assignments needed to be condensed a noticeably different pin order was selected for that mechanical variant (for this see serial port). This type of connector became the de-facto standard for PCs and as well for many other DTE devices. Presence of a 25-pin D-sub connector does not necessarily indicate an RS-232-C compliant interface. For example, on the original IBM PC, a male D-sub was an RS-232-C DTE port (with a non-standard current loop interface on reserved pins), but the female D-sub connector on the same PC model was used for the parallel Centronics printer port. Some personal computers put non-standard voltages or signals on some pins of their serial ports.

Signals
The following table lists commonly used RS-232 signals and pin assignments.[9] See serial port (pinouts) for non-standard variations including the popular DE-9 connector.

Name Data Terminal Ready Data Carrier Detect Data Set Ready

Signal Typical purpose Indicates presence of DTE to DCE. DCE is connected to the telephone line.

Origin DB-25 Abbreviation DTE DCE pin DTR DCD DSR RI RTS CTS TxD RxD GND PG
common common

20 8 6 22 4 5 2 3 7 1

DCE is ready to receive commands or data. DCE has detected an incoming ring signal Ring Indicator on the telephone line. DTE requests the DCE prepare to receive Request To Send data. Clear To Send Indicates DCE is ready to accept data. Transmitted Data Carries data from DTE to DCE. Received Data Carries data from DCE to DTE. Common Ground Protective Ground

The signals are named from the standpoint of the DTE. The ground signal is a common return for the other connections. The DB-25 connector includes a second "protective ground" on pin 1. Data can be sent over a secondary channel (when implemented by the DTE and DCE devices), which is equivalent to the primary channel. Pin assignments are described in following table: Signal Pin Common Ground 7 (same as primary) Secondary Transmitted Data (STD) 14 Secondary Received Data (SRD) 16 Secondary Request To Send (SRTS) 19 Secondary Clear To Send (SCTS) 13 Secondary Carrier Detect (SDCD) 12

Ring Indicator' (RI), is a signal sent from the modem to the terminal device. It indicates to the terminal device that the phone line is ringing. In many computer serial ports, a hardware interrupt is generated when the RI signal changes state. Having support for this hardware interrupt means that a program or operating system can be informed of a change in state of the RI pin, without requiring the software to constantly "poll" the state of the pin. RI is a one-way

signal from the modem to the terminal (or more generally, the DCE to the DTE) that does not correspond to another signal that carries similar information the opposite way. On an external modem the status of the Ring Indicator pin is often coupled to the "AA" (auto answer) light, which flashes if the RI signal has detected a ring. The asserted RI signal follows the ringing pattern closely, which can permit software to detect distinctive ring patterns. The Ring Indicator signal is used by some older uninterruptible power supplies (UPS's) to signal a power failure state to the computer. Certain personal computers can be configured for wake-on-ring, allowing a computer that is suspended to answer a phone call.

Cables
Main article: Serial cable The standard does not define a maximum cable length but instead defines the maximum capacitance that a compliant drive circuit must tolerate. A widely used rule of thumb indicates that cables more than 50 feet (15 m) long will have too much capacitance, unless special cables are used. By using low-capacitance cables, full speed communication can be maintained over larger distances up to about 1,000 feet (300 m).[10] For longer distances, other signal standards are better suited to maintain high speed. Since the standard definitions are not always correctly applied, it is often necessary to consult documentation, test connections with a breakout box, or use trial and error to find a cable that works when interconnecting two devices. Connecting a fully standard-compliant DCE device and DTE device would use a cable that connects identical pin numbers in each connector (a socalled "straight cable"). "Gender changers" are available to solve gender mismatches between cables and connectors. Connecting devices with different types of connectors requires a cable that connects the corresponding pins according to the table above. Cables with 9 pins on one end and 25 on the other are common. Manufacturers of equipment with 8P8C connectors usually provide a cable with either a DB-25 or DE-9 connector (or sometimes interchangeable connectors so they can work with multiple devices). Poor-quality cables can cause false signals by crosstalk between data and control lines (such as Ring Indicator). If a given cable will not allow a data connection, especially if a Gender changer is in use, a Null modem may be necessary.

Conventions
For functional communication through a serial port interface, conventions of bit rate, character framing, communications protocol, character encoding, data compression, and error detection, not defined in RS 232, must be agreed to by both sending and receiving equipment. For example, consider the serial ports of the original IBM PC. This implementation used an 8250 UART using asynchronous start-stop character formatting with 7 or 8 data bits per frame, usually ASCII character coding, and data rates programmable between 75 bits per second and 115,200 bits per

second. Data rates above 20,000 bits per second are out of the scope of the standard, although higher data rates are sometimes used by commercially manufactured equipment. Since most RS232 devices do not have automatic baud rate detection, users must manually set the baud rate (and all other parameters) at both ends of the RS-232 connection. In the particular case of the IBM PC, as with most UART chips including the 8250 UART used by the IBM PC, baud rates were programmable with arbitrary values. This allowed a PC to be connected to devices not using the rates typically used with modems. Not all baud rates can be programmed, due to the clock frequency of the 8250 UART in the PC, and the granularity of the baud rate setting. This includes the baud rate of MIDI, 31,250 bits per second, which is generally not achievable by a standard IBM PC serial port.[11] MIDI-to-RS-232 interfaces designed for the IBM PC include baud rate translation hardware to adjust the baud rate of the MIDI data to something that the IBM PC can support, for example 19,200 or 38,400 bits per second.

RTS/CTS handshaking
Further information: Flow control (data) In older versions of the specification, RS-232's use of the RTS and CTS lines is asymmetric: The DTE asserts RTS to indicate a desire to transmit to the DCE, and the DCE asserts CTS in response to grant permission. This allows for half-duplex modems that disable their transmitters when not required, and must transmit a synchronization preamble to the receiver when they are re-enabled. This scheme is also employed on present-day RS-232 to RS-485 converters, where the RS-232's RTS signal is used to ask the converter to take control of the RS-485 busa concept that does not otherwise exist in RS-232. There is no way for the DTE to indicate that it is unable to accept data from the DCE. A non-standard symmetric alternative, commonly called "RTS/CTS handshaking," was developed by various equipment manufacturers. In this scheme, CTS is no longer a response to RTS; instead, CTS indicates permission from the DCE for the DTE to send data to the DCE, and RTS indicates permission from the DTE for the DCE to send data to the DTE. RTS and CTS are controlled by the DTE and DCE respectively, each independent of the other. This was eventually codified in version RS-232-E (actually TIA-232-E by that time) by defining a new signal, "RTR (Ready to Receive)," which is CCITT V.24 circuit 133. TIA-232-E and the corresponding international standards were updated to show that circuit 133, when implemented, shares the same pin as RTS (Request to Send), and that when 133 is in use, RTS is assumed by the DCE to be ON at all times.[12] Thus, with this alternative usage, one can think of RTS asserted (positive voltage, logic 0) meaning that the DTE is indicating it is "ready to receive" from the DCE, rather than requesting permission from the DCE to send characters to the DCE. Note that equipment using this protocol must be prepared to buffer some extra data, since a transmission may have begun just before the control line state change.

RTS/CTS handshaking is an example of hardware flow control. However, "hardware flow control" in the description of the options available on an RS-232-equipped device does not always mean RTS/CTS handshaking.

3-wire and 5-wire RS-232

A minimal "3-wire" RS-232 connection consisting only of transmit data, receive data, and ground, is commonly used when the full facilities of RS-232 are not required. Even a two-wire connection (data and ground) can be used if the data flow is one way (for example, a digital postal scale that periodically sends a weight reading, or a GPS receiver that periodically sends position, if no configuration via RS-232 is necessary). When only hardware flow control is required in addition to two-way data, the RTS and CTS lines are added in a 5-wire version.

Seldom used features

The EIA-232 standard specifies connections for several features that are not used in most implementations. Their use requires 25-pin connectors and cables.

Signal rate selection

The DTE or DCE can specify use of a "high" or "low" signaling rate. The rates as well as which device will select the rate must be configured in both the DTE and DCE. The prearranged device selects the high rate by setting pin 23 to ON.

Loopback testing
Many DCE devices have a loopback capability used for testing. When enabled, signals are echoed back to the sender rather than being sent on to the receiver. If supported, the DTE can signal the local DCE (the one it is connected to) to enter loopback mode by setting pin 18 to ON, or the remote DCE (the one the local DCE is connected to) to enter loopback mode by setting pin 21 to ON. The latter tests the communications link as well as both DCE's. When the DCE is in test mode it signals the DTE by setting pin 25 to ON. A commonly used version of loopback testing does not involve any special capability of either end. A hardware loopback is simply a wire connecting complementary pins together in the same connector (see loopback). Loopback testing is often performed with a specialized DTE called a bit error rate tester (or BERT).

Timing signals
Some synchronous devices provide a clock signal to synchronize data transmission, especially at higher data rates. Two timing signals are provided by the DCE on pins 15 and 17. Pin 15 is the transmitter clock, or send timing (ST); the DTE puts the next bit on the data line (pin 2) when

this clock transitions from OFF to ON (so it is stable during the ON to OFF transition when the DCE registers the bit). Pin 17 is the receiver clock, or receive timing (RT); the DTE reads the next bit from the data line (pin 3) when this clock transitions from ON to OFF. Alternatively, the DTE can provide a clock signal, called transmitter timing (TT), on pin 24 for transmitted data. Data is changed when the clock transitions from OFF to ON and read during the ON to OFF transition. TT can be used to overcome the issue where ST must traverse a cable of unknown length and delay, clock a bit out of the DTE after another unknown delay, and return it to the DCE over the same unknown cable delay. Since the relation between the transmitted bit and TT can be fixed in the DTE design, and since both signals traverse the same cable length, using TT eliminates the issue. TT may be generated by looping ST back with an appropriate phase change to align it with the transmitted data. ST loop back to TT lets the DTE use the DCE as the frequency reference, and correct the clock to data timing. Synchronous clocking is required for such protocols as SDLC, HDLC, and X.25.

Secondary channel
There is a secondary data channel, identical in capability to the first. Five signals (plus the common ground of the primary channel) comprise the secondary channel: Secondary Transmitted Data (STD), Secondary Received Data (SRD), Secondary Request To Send (SRTS), Secondary Clear To Send (SCTS), and Secondary Carrier Detect (SDCD).

Related standards
Other serial signaling standards may not interoperate with standard-compliant RS-232 ports. For example, using the TTL levels of near +5 and 0 V puts the mark level in the undefined area of the standard. Such levels are sometimes used with NMEA 0183-compliant GPS receivers and depth finders. A 20 mA current loop uses the absence of 20 mA current for high, and the presence of current in the loop for low; this signaling method is often used for long-distance and optically isolated links. Connection of a current-loop device to a compliant RS-232 port requires a level translator. Current-loop devices can supply voltages in excess of the withstand voltage limits of a compliant device. The original IBM PC serial port card implemented a 20 mA current-loop interface, which was never emulated by other suppliers of plug-compatible equipment. Other serial interfaces similar to RS-232:

RS-422 (a high-speed system similar to RS-232 but with differential signaling) RS-423 (a high-speed system similar to RS-422 but with unbalanced signaling) RS-449 (a functional and mechanical interface that used RS-422 and RS-423 signals - it never caught on like RS-232 and was withdrawn by the EIA) RS-485 (a descendant of RS-422 that can be used as a bus in multidrop configurations) MIL-STD-188 (a system like RS-232 but with better impedance and rise time control)

EIA-530 (a high-speed system using RS-422 or RS-423 electrical properties in an EIA232 pinout configuration, thus combining the best of both; supersedes RS-449) EIA/TIA-561 8 Position Non-Synchronous Interface Between Data Terminal Equipment and Data Circuit Terminating Equipment Employing Serial Binary Data Interchange EIA/TIA-562 Electrical Characteristics for an Unbalanced Digital Interface (low-voltage version of EIA/TIA-232) TIA-574 (standardizes the 9-pin D-subminiature connector pinout for use with EIA-232 electrical signalling, as originated on the IBM PC/AT)

Development tools
When developing or troubleshooting systems using RS-232, close examination of hardware signals can be important to find problems. A serial line analyzer is a device similar to a logic analyzer but specialized for RS-232's voltage levels, connectors, and, where used, clock signals. The serial line analyzer can collect, store, and display the data and control signals, allowing developers to view them in detail. Some simply display the signals as waveforms; more elaborate versions include the ability to decode characters in ASCII or other common codes and to interpret common protocols used over RS-232 such as SDLC, HDLC, DDCMP, and X.25. Serial line analyzers are available as standalone units, as software and interface cables for generalpurpose logic analyzers, and as programs that run in common personal computers.

Digital Visual Interface

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search "DVI" redirects here. For other uses, see DVI (disambiguation). This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
(March 2012)

Digital Visual Interface (DVI)

A male DVI-D (single link) connector. Type Digital computer video connector Production history Designer Designed Produced Superseded Digital Display Working Group April 1999 1999present VGA connector

Superseded by DisplayPort General specifications Hot pluggable Yes External Yes Digital video stream: Single: 1,920 1,200 (WUXGA) @ 60 Hz Video signal Dual: Limited by copper bandwidth limitations, DVI source limitations, and DVI sync limitations. Analog RGB video (3 dB at 400 MHz) Pins 29 Data

Data signal

RGB data, clock, and display data channel (Single link) 3.96 Gbit/s

Bitrate

(Dual link) Limited only by copper bandwidth limitations, DVI source limitations, and DVI sync limitations.

Max. devices 1 3 transition minimized differential signaling data and clock Pin out

Protocol

A female DVI-I socket from the front

Color coded (click to read text) Pin 1 Pin 2 TMDS data 2 TMDS data 2+ TMDS data 2/4 shield Digital green (link 2) Digital red (link 1) Digital red+ (link 1)

Pin 3

Pin 4

TMDS data 4

Pin 5

TMDS data 4+

Digital green+ (link 2)

Pin 6 Pin 7 Pin 8

DDC clock DDC data Analog vertical sync Digital green (link 1) Digital green+ (link 1)

Pin 9

TMDS data 1

Pin 10

TMDS data 1+

Pin 11

TMDS data 1/3 shield TMDS data 3TMDS data 3+ Digital blue (link 2) Digital blue+ (link 2) Power for monitor when in standby Return for pin 14 and analog sync

Pin 12 Pin 13

Pin 14

+5 V

Pin 15

Ground

Pin 16

Hot plug detect Digital blue (link 1) and digital sync Digital blue+ (link 1) and digital sync

Pin 17

TMDS data 0

Pin 18

TMDS data 0+

Pin 19

TMDS data 0/5

shield Pin 20 Pin 21 Pin 22 TMDS data 5 TMDS data 5+ TMDS clock shield Digital clock+ (links 1 and 2) Digital clock (links 1 and 2) Digital red (link 2) Digital red+ (link 2)

Pin 23

TMDS clock+

Pin 24

TMDS clock

C1 C2 C3

Analog red Analog green Analog blue Analog horizontal sync Return for R, G, and B signals

C4

C5

Analog ground

Digital Visual Interface (DVI) is a video display interface developed by the Digital Display Working Group (DDWG). The digital interface is used to connect a video source to a display device, such as a computer monitor. DVI was developed to create an industry standard for the transfer of digital video content. The interface is designed to transmit uncompressed digital video and can be configured to support multiple modes such as DVI-D (digital only), DVI-A (analog only), or DVI-I (digital and analog). Featuring support for analog connections as well, the DVI specification provides optional compatibility with the VGA interface.[1] This compatibility along with other advantages led to widespread acceptance in the PC industry over other competing digital standards such as Plug and Display (P&D) and Digital Flat Panel (DFP).[2] Though predominantly found in computer devices, DVI is also present in some consumer electronics such as television sets, although most newer sets only offer HDMI all-digital connectors.

Contents

1 Technical overview o 1.1 Single-link DVI o 1.2 Dual-link DVI o 1.3 Cable length 2 Connector 3 Specifications o 3.1 Digital 3.1.1 Digital data encoding 3.1.2 Clock and data relationship 3.1.3 Display power management o 3.2 Analog 4 DVI and HDMI compatibility 5 Proposed successors 6 See also 7 References 8 Further reading

Technical overview
DVI's digital video transmission format is based on PanelLink, a serial format devised by Silicon Image Inc. PanelLink uses transition minimized differential signaling (TMDS), a high-speed serial link developed by Silicon Image. Like modern analog VGA connectors, the DVI connector includes pins for the display data channel (DDC). A newer version of DDC called DDC2 allows the graphics adapter to read the monitor's extended display identification data (EDID). If a display supports both analog and digital signals in one DVI-I input, each input method can host a distinct EDID. Since the DDC can only support one EDID, there can be a problem if both the digital and analog inputs in the DVI-I port detect activity. It is up to the display to choose which EDID to send. When a source and display are connected, the source first queries the display's capabilities by reading the monitor EDID block over an IC link. The EDID block contains the display's identification, color characteristics (such as gamma level), and table of supported video modes. The table can designate a preferred mode or native resolution. Each mode is a set of CRT timing values that define the duration and frequency of the horizontal/vertical sync, the positioning of the active display area, the horizontal resolution, vertical resolution, and refresh rate. For backward compatibility with displays using analog VGA signals, some of the contacts in the DVI connector carry the analog VGA signals. To ensure a basic level of interoperability, DVI compliant devices are required to support one baseline video mode, "low pixel format" (640480 at 60 Hz). Digitally encoded video pixel data is transported using multiple TMDS links. At the electrical level, these links are highly resistant to electrical noise and other forms of analog distortion.

Single-link DVI

A single-link DVI connection consists of four TMDS links; each link transmits data from the source to the device over 1 twisted wire pair. Three of the links correspond to the RGB components of the video signal: red, green, blue (for a total of 24 bits per pixel.) The fourth link carries the pixel clock. The binary data is encoded using 8b10b encoding. The 8b10b encoding system serves several purposes: it preserves DC balance over time, it generates sufficient signal transitions to maintain receiver bit-alignment (pixel clock recovery), and it provides symbol (byte) alignment. Each TMDS link carries binary data at ten times the pixel clock reference frequency, for a maximum data rate of 1.65 Gbit/s 3 data pairs for single-link DVI. DVI does not use packetization, but rather transmits the pixel data as if it were a rasterized analog video signal. As such, during each vertical refresh period, the complete frame is 'drawn' over the DVI link. The full active area of each frame is always transmitted; no data compression is used, and there is no support for only transmitting changed parts of the image. Video modes typically use horizontal and vertical refresh timings that are compatible with CRT displays, but this is not a requirement. The DVI specification (see below for link) does, however, include a paragraph on "Conversion to Selective Refresh" (under 1.2.2), suggesting this feature for future devices. The DVI specification mandates a maximum pixel clock frequency of 165 MHz when running in single-link mode. With a single DVI link, the highest supported standard resolution is 2.75 megapixels (including blanking interval) at 60 Hz refresh. For practical purposes, this allows a maximum screen resolution at 60 Hz, for widescreen 16:10 ratio of 2,098 1,311 or, for 4:3 ratio of 1,915 1,436 pixels, or for 5:4 ratio of 1,854 1,483 pixels.

Dual-link DVI
To support display devices requiring higher video bandwidth, there is provision for a dual DVI link. A dual link doubles the number of TMDS pairs, effectively doubling video bandwidth at a given pixel clock frequency. The DVI specification mandates how the dual link may be used. All display modes that use a pixel clock below 165 MHz, and have at most 24 bits per pixel, are required to use single-link mode. All modes that require more than 24 bits per pixel, or 165 MHz pixel clock frequency must use dual-link mode. In modes where each pixel uses 24 bits of color data per pixel or less and dual-link mode is in use, the transmitter stripes pixel data across both links; each sequential video pixel is transmitted on alternate links. In modes with color depth greater than 24 bits per pixel, the second link carries the least significant bits of each pixel.

Cable length
The maximum length of DVI cables is not included in the specification since it is dependent on the pixel clock frequency, and hence the video mode's bandwidth requirements (which is a function of resolution and refresh rate). In general, cable lengths up to 4.5 m (15 ft) will work for displays at resolutions of 1,920 1,200. This resolution will work even up to 10 m (33 ft) if the appropriate cable is used. Cable lengths up to 15 m (50 ft) can be used with displays at resolutions up to 1,280 1,024. For longer distances, the use of a DVI booster is recommended to mitigate signal degradation. DVI boosters may use an external power supply.

Connector

Male DVI connector pins (view of plug)

Male M1-DA connector pins (view of plug) See also: Mini-DVI and Micro-DVI

The DVI connector usually contains pins to pass the DVI-native digital video signals. In the case of dual link systems, additional pins provide increased bandwidth allowing higher resolutions and longer distances.[3] Dual link should not be confused with dual display (also known as dual head), which is a configuration that involves a single computer connected to two monitors. In addition to digital, the DVI connector includes pins that carry an analog signal, compatible with the RGBHV signals in a VGA connector. This allows a VGA monitor to be connected with a passive plug adapter and offers a universal solution for the DVI interface. The analog pins are the four that surround the flat blade as shown on the left-hand side of the diagrams for DVI-I and DVI-A.

The DVI connector on a device is therefore given one of three names, depending on which signals it implements:

DVI-D (digital only, single-link or dual-link) DVI-A (analog only) DVI-I (integrated, combines digital and analog in the same connector; digital may be single- or dual-link)

The DVI-D and DVI-I connector provide (via additional pins) for a second data link. This allows resolutions up to 2560x1600, which are supported by many add-on graphic cards. A connector with these additional pins is sometimes referred to as DVI-DL (dual link). The long flat pin on a DVI-I connector is wider than the same pin on a DVI-D connector, so it is not possible to connect a male DVI-I to a female DVI-D by removing the 4 analog pins. It is possible, however, to connect a male DVI-D cable to a female DVI-I connector. Many flat panel LCD monitors have only the DVI-D connection so that a DVI-D male to DVI-D male cable will suffice when connecting the monitor to a computer's DVI-I female connector. DVI is the only widespread video standard that includes analog and digital transmission options in the same connector.[4] Competing standards are exclusively digital: these include a system using low-voltage differential signaling (LVDS), known by its proprietary names FPD-Link (flat-panel display) and FLATLINK; and its successors, the LVDS Display Interface (LDI) and OpenLDI. Some new DVD players, TV sets (including HDTV sets) and video projectors have DVI/HDCP connectors; these are physically the same as DVI connectors but transmit an encrypted signal using the HDCP protocol for copy protection. Computers with DVI video connectors can use many DVI-equipped HDTV sets as a display, but only computers whose graphics systems support High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection are currently able to play content that requires digital rights management. USB signals are not incorporated into the connector, but were earlier incorporated into the VESA Plug and Display connector used by InFocus on their projector systems, and in the Apple Display Connector, which was used by Apple until 2005. The DMS-59 connector is a way to combine two analog and two digital signals in one plug. It is commonly used when a single graphics card has two outputs. Note that this is dual display it does not have the additional pins for the dual link TDMI signals. M1-DA connectors are sometimes labeled as DVI-M1; they are used for the VESA Enhanced Video Connector and VESA Plug and Display schemes. Note also that on the male DVI connector, pin 14 (+5 volts) is shorter than the other pins. This is intended to ensure that this is the last contact to mate when inserting a plug. In practice, it is possible to mate the pins at the opposite end to the analogue signals later if the connector is inserted at an angle.

Specifications

A passive DVI-to-VGA adapter. This adapter will NOT work with a DVI-D output. It requires a DVI-I or DVIA output to get the analog signal to a VGA input (even if the adapter looks like a DVI-D). An expensive active adapter (or converter) would be required for a DVI-D output to VGA input.

Digital

Minimum clock frequency: 25.175 MHz Single link maximum data rate including 8b/10b overhead is 4.95 Gbit/s @ 165 MHz. With the 8b/10b overhead subtracted, the maximum data rate is 3.96 Gbit/s. Dual link maximum data rate is limited only by the bandwidth limits of the copper the DVI cable is constructed of and by the DVI signal's source. Pixels per clock cycle: o 1 (single link at 24 bits or less per pixel, and dual link at between 25 and 48 bits inclusively per pixel) or o 2 (dual link at 24 bits or less per pixel) Bits per pixel: o 24 bits per pixel support is mandatory in all resolutions supported. o Less than 24 bits per pixel is optional. o Up to 48 bits per pixel are supported in dual link DVI, and is optional. If a mode greater than 24 bits per pixel is desired, the least significant bits are sent on the second link. Example display modes (single link): o HDTV (1,920 1,080) @ 60 Hz with CVT-RB blanking (139 MHz) o UXGA (1,600 1,200) @ 60 Hz with GTF blanking (161 MHz) o WUXGA (1,920 1,200) @ 60 Hz with CVT-RB blanking (154 MHz) o SXGA (1,280 1,024) @ 85 Hz with GTF blanking (159 MHz) o WXGA+ (1440 900) @ 60 Hz (107 MHz) o WQUXGA (3,840 2,400) @ 17 Hz (164 MHz) Example display modes (dual link): o QXGA (2,048 1,536) @ 75 Hz with GTF blanking (2 170 MHz) o HDTV (1,920 1,080) @ 85 Hz with GTF blanking (2 126 MHz) o WUXGA (1,920 1,200) @ 120 Hz with CVT-RB blanking (2 x 154 MHz)

o o o o

WQXGA (2,560 1,600) @ 60 Hz with GTF blanking (2 174 MHz) (30-inch or 762millimetre Apple, Dell, Gateway, HP, NEC, Quinux, and Samsung LCDs) WQXGA (2,560 1,600) @ 60 Hz with CVT-RB blanking (2 135 MHz) (30-inch or 762millimetre Apple, Dell, Gateway, HP, NEC, Quinux, and Samsung LCDs) WQXGA (2,560 1,600) @ 60 Hz with CVT-RB blanking (269 MHz) (This is for high end monitors when operating at greater than 24 bits per pixel.) WQUXGA (3,840 2,400) @ 33 Hz with GTF blanking (2 159 MHz)

Generalized Timing Formula (GTF) is a VESA standard which can easily be calculated with the Linux gtf utility. Coordinated Video Timings-Reduced Blanking (CVT-RB) is a VESA standard which offers reduced horizontal and vertical blanking for non-CRT based displays.[5]
Digital data encoding

One of the purposes of DVI stream encoding is to provide a DC-balanced output stream. A DC balanced link reduces decoding errors. This goal is achieved by using 10 bit symbols for 8 bit or less characters and using the extra bits for the DC balancing. Like other ways of transmitting video, there are two different regions: the active region, where pixel data is sent, and the control region, where synchronization signals are sent. The active region is encoded using Transition Minimized Differential Signaling, where the control region is encoded with a fixed 8b/10b encoding. As the two schemes yield different 10 bit symbols, a receiver can fully differentiate between active and control regions. When DVI was designed, most computer monitors were still of the Cathode ray tube type that require analog video synchronization signals. The timing of the digital synchronization signals matches the equivalent analog ones, making the process of transforming DVI to and from an analog signal a process that does not require extra (high-speed) memory, expensive at the time. HDCP is an extra layer that transforms the 10 bit symbols before sending through the link. Only after correct authorization can the receiver undo the HDCP encryption. Control regions are not encrypted in order to let the receiver know when the active region starts.
Clock and data relationship

The DVI data channel operates at a bit-rate that is 10 times the frequency of the clock signal. In other words, in each DVI clock period there is a 10 bit symbol per channel. The set of three 10 bit symbols represents one complete pixel in single link mode and can represent either one or two complete pixels as a set of six 10 bit symbols in dual link mode. DVI links provide differential pairs for data and for the clock. The specification document allows the data and the clock to not be aligned. However, as the ratio between clock and bit rate is fixed at 1:10, the unknown alignment is kept over time. The receiver must recover the bits on the stream using any of the techniques of clock/data recovery and find then the correct symbol boundary. The DVI specification allows the input clock to vary between 25MHz and 165MHz. This 1:6.6 ratio can make pixel recovery difficult, as Phase-locked loops, if used, need to work

over a large frequency range. One benefit of DVI over other links is that it is relatively straightforward to transform the signal from the digital domain into the analog one using a video DAC, as both clock and synchronization signals are sent over the link. Fixed frequency links, like DisplayPort, need to reconstruct the clock from the data sent over the link.
Display power management

The DVI specification includes signaling for reducing power consumption. Similar to the analog VESA display power management signaling (DPMS) standard, a connected device can turn a monitor off when the connected device is powered down, or programmatically if the display controller ("graphics card") of the device supports it. Devices with this capability can also attain Energy Star certification.

Analog
The analog section of the DVI specification document is brief and points to other specifications like VESA VSIS[6] for electrical characteristics and GTFS for timing information. The idea of the analog link is to keep compatibility with the previous VGA cables and connectors. HSync, Vsync and three video channels are available in both VGA and DVI connectors and are electrically compatible. Auxiliary links like DDC are also available. A passive adapter can be used in order to carry the analog signals between the two connectors.

DVI and HDMI compatibility

HDMI is a newer digital audio/video interface developed and promoted by the consumer electronics industry. DVI and HDMI have the same electrical specifications for their TMDS and VESA/DDC links. However, HDMI and DVI differ in several key ways:

HDMI lacks VGA compatibility. The necessary analog contacts are absent in HDMI connectors. DVI is limited to the RGB color range (0-255). HDMI supports RGB, but also supports YCbCr 4:4:4 and YCbCr 4:2:2. These ranges are widely used outside of (beyond) computer graphics, color rendering. HDMI supports the transport of packets, needed for digital audio, in addition to digital video. An HDMI source differentiates between a legacy DVI display and an HDMI-capable display by reading the display's EDID block.

To promote interoperability between DVI-D and HDMI devices, HDMI source components and displays support DVI-D signalling. For example, a 1080p HDMI display can be driven by a single-link DVI-D source - since HDMI and DVI-D both define an overlapping minimum set of supported resolutions and frame buffer formats. So, DVI-D devices output HDMI signals, many including audio, (examples: ATI 3000-series and NVIDIA GTX 200-series video cards),[7] and some multimedia displays input that HDMI signal, including audio, by using a DVI to HDMI adapter. Exact capabilities vary by video card specifications. In the reverse scenario, a DVI monitor that lacks optional support for HDCP might be unable to display protected content, even though it is otherwise compatible with the HDMI source. And,

features specific to HDMI, such as: remote-control, audio transport, xvYCC, and deep-color, are not usable in devices that support only DVI signals. Effectively, HDCP compatibility between source and destination devices is completely subject to the manufacturer's specifications for each, respective HDMI capable device.

Proposed successors

IEEE 1394 is proposed by High-Definition Audio-Video Network Alliance (HANA Alliance) for all cabling needs, including video, over coax and/or 1394 cable as a combined data stream. However, this interface does not have enough throughput to handle uncompressed HD video, so it is unsuitable for applications that require uncompressed HD video like video games and interactive program guides. High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), a forward-compatible standard that also includes digital audio transmission Unified Display Interface (UDI) was proposed by Intel to replace both DVI and HDMI, but was deprecated in favor of DisplayPort. DisplayPort (a license-free standard proposed by VESA to succeed DVI that has DRM capabilities) / Mini DisplayPort / Thunderbolt

In December 2010, Intel, AMD, and several computer and display manufacturers announced they would stop supporting DVI-I, VGA and LVDS-technologies from 2013/2015, and instead speed up adoption of DisplayPort and HDMI.[8] They also stated: "Legacy interfaces such as VGA, DVI and LVDS have not kept pace, and newer standards such as DisplayPort and HDMI clearly provide the best connectivity options moving forward. In our opinion, DisplayPort 1.2 is the future interface for PC m