So you picked your type of monitor but now you are not sure what cables you need to hook up your monitor to your computer. No worries! In this article, our experts, who spent countless hours researching and testing monitor cables with different PCs, go over the monitor cable that is best for you and your situation.
Important information to know before continuing to the rest of the article
Read the manual or look at the back of your monitor
For the proper cables your monitor and pc need, please read the manual or look at the back of your monitor and pc for the ports they can handle.
Cable types
- HDMI cables
- DVI cables
- Displayport
- USB-C
- Thunderbolt
- Component video cable
- Composite video cable
HDMI cables or High definition multimedia interface
HDMI means high definition multimedia interface. HDMI monitor cables help transmit digital audio and visual from a computer monitor or TV. Many experts consider the HDMI cable the standard and most popular interface for TVs and computers.
The three type of HDMI cables are standard, mini, and micro.
The standard HDMI connector can be used for TVs and computer monitors.
The mini HDMI connector can be used with portable monitors or tablets.
The micro HDMI connector cable is used on smaller portable devices such as a smartphone.
DVI cables
DVI cable is a digital visual interface cable that connects a video source device to a display device like a monitor. Additionally, it can move digital and analog video data. The DVI cable allows computer monitors to use color and not just black and white. It supports resolutions as high as 2560 x 1600. There are mini-dvi cables and micro-dvi cables available as well.
When DVI cables first came on the scene, they attempted to replace VGA cables.
Different DVI cable types: DVI-A vs DVIA-D vs DVI-I
DVI-A = analog signal only
It is compatible with VGA interface.
DVI-D = digital signal only
DVI-A = analog signal and digital signal
Displayport cable
Computer monitors primarily use the displayport cable as opposed to HDMI cables, which are primarily used for TVs. The cable works with display resolutions as high as 5k at 60 Hz. The displayport cable can work from the oldest system to the most up to date system. This makes it ideal for most people that want to keep their cables for a long time. Luckily, it can get high definition video and audio signals.
VESA (video electronics standards association) made the Displayport cable a video and audio interface standard. It was designed to replace the VGA cable and DVI cable.
Different displayport cable types: standard and mini
Standard displayport cables or connectors are used in computer monitors or laptops.
Mini displayport (mDP) were used as a cable or connector for the thunderbolt cable. Now the USB-C cable is the main adapter in the Thunderbolt 3.
USB-C cable
USB is the universal serial bus that standardizes computers and other electronic devices.
USB-c cables can work both ways, since each end of the cable is the same. They are powerful enough to charge laptops. Additionally, USB-c cables can be used as a connector for your monitor to your pc.
USB-C cable vs USB cable
USB-c cable is the newest cable in the USB series. Both sides of the cable or connector are the same so you can use either side to plug into the device you are using. Lately, USB-c cables are made for smartphone chargers, but now more and more high resolution monitors have the USB-c monitor cables. They use a single cable in order to work properly.
USB cable is the oldest and most common USB cable type. One end of the connector is much wider than the other side. Typically, you would see these for charging smaller devices, such as older smartphone chargers and mobile chargers. Originally, they were used for external computer pieces, such as keyboard and computer mouse.
Thunderbolt cable
The latest thunderbolt cable 4 is a single cable that can support two 4k monitors or a single 8k monitor. They are fairly new in the technology world, so not all computer monitors will have a port for this cable. We recommend to read the manual or check the ports and see if the computer monitor can use the cable.
Differences between Thunderbolt cable and USB-C cable
They both look like similar cables and are universal but they are different. Thunderbolt cables can connect two external 4k monitors together while USB-c cables can not. For external computer accessories, it is easier to a thunderbolt cable than a USB-c cable.
Component Video Cable
It is an analog video signal that splits into multiple channels. Usually, it has three cables (blue, green and red) separating different channels. The blue and red cables help show the video or picture’s color while, the green cable helps produce brightness of the video or picture. On top of the three cables the component video uses, you will need a separate cable for audio.
Similar to composite video cables and VGA cables, the component video cables were big in the 1990s and 2000s, but HDMI cables replaced all three.
You can use a cable converter to all the other cable types.
Component video cables can support HD resolutions but we recommend using other monitor cables.
Composite video cable
It is an analog video signal that uses standard definition video. Similar to the component video cable, the composite video cable has three connectors. The two audio cables are red and white, while the video cable is yellow. The main difference between the composite video cable and component video cable is that the composite video cable can not handle HD resolutions.
You can use a cable converter to all the other cable types.
We would recommend other cable types and not the composite video cable.
VGA cable
Dominating in the early 1990’s, the video graphics array was the standard interface for analog signals of video. VGA cables are mainly used in older monitors now. The highest resolution it produces is 640 x 480. We recommend using other monitor cables.
Other important information
Monitor cable converters
If you don’t have the proper cables, you can buy a monitor adapter. Having the monitor converter, allows you to connect your computer display to an external source through the converter or adapter.
Monitor cable: female connector vs male connecting cable
A female connector is a jack that has a center conductor with a hole that receives the male pin.
A male connector is a plug that a pin for the center conductor that inserts into the female hole.
If you are trying to figure out what type of monitor you want, click here.
1 thought on “Types of monitor cables”
Comments are closed.