Video Connection Basics
, Because our company deals with only state-of-the-art A/V technology, we often make assumptions about what people know. By the time most have gotten to us, they've already done a lot of homework and educated themselves about a whole range of optionson the market.
But we thought we would throttle back and explain something as basic as different video connection types.
When you look at the back of, say, your Blu-ray player, you'll see different types of connections to choose from. We've included an illustration of the different types of connections you might encounter because that'll help you see those differences easier than trying to describe them to you.
There is one basic difference you must know up front about these connections: HDMI sends digital signal and supports 1080p high-def images--today's standard for HD video. Meanwhile Coax, RCA and S-Video best supports analog signal. So if you were curious as to whether or not one of your components supports high-def quality, it MUST have an HDMI connection. If it doesn't, you'll never enjoy the benefits of HDTV in 1080p clarity. So if you don't have an HD TV, maybe the old analog format is fine for you. It delivers a good, clean signal.
Or lets suppose you were looking at video equipment and trying to figure out how current the technology on it is. If you don't see HDMI ports, the unit was built before digital was THE delivery system and therefore is an older component that has already seen its better days!
As with everything, this brief look at output connections is offered as generalities. As professional installers, we can do work-arounds that will get you the best resolution output on your video system. We just thought it made sense to offer a quickie look as to why the back side of your video components have all of those connections and what they do!
by Bryan Naquin. Follow Bryan on Twitter @ACIexperts. And you can always contact him at 225.906.2589 or by email at
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