Datasheet
60
Chapter 1
N
Personal Computer System Components
FIGURE 1.41 An RCA jack (female) and RCA plug (male)
Female
Male
Today, RCA jacks and connectors (or plugs) are used to transmit both audio and
video information. Typically, when you see a yellow-coded RCA connector on a PC
video card (next to a DE15F connector), it’s for composite video output (output to a
television or VCR). However, digital audio can be implemented with S/PDIF, which can
be deployed with an RCA jack. Figure 1.19 showed an S/PDIF RCA jack. Other options
for S/PDIF include BNC coaxial and TOSLINK fiber connectors. Toshiba’s TOSLINK
interface is a digital fiber-optic audio technology that is implemented with its own
connector.
Although they aren’t used for video, it bears mentioning that the
1
⁄8-inch stereo mini-
jack and mating miniplug are more commonly used on computers these days for analog
audio. Your sound card, microphone, and speakers have them. Figure 1.42 is a photo of a
TOSLINK optical interface with a flip-up cover and pictured to the left of a set of standard
analog minijacks.
FIGURE 1.42 The TOSLINK interface
In the spirit of covering interfaces that support both audio and video, don’t forget the
HDMI interface, which carries both over the same interface. Only CATV coaxial connec-
tions to TV cards can boast that on the PC. An RCA jack and cable carry either audio or
video, not both simultaneously.
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