MASTER YOUR PC PORTS
Take a look at the back of your PC. Can you name all those weird and wonderful ports? And more importantly, what do they all do? Even those you might be familiar with – such as USB and HDMI – have hidden features that will transform how you use them.
Over the next few pages, we’ll identify the most common video, audio and data ports found on PCs, laptops, monitors and TVs, explaining what they do and how you can make the most of them.
Some of you might still be using PCs from the mid-to-late 2000s, albeit ones that have since been upgraded. As you’ll see from the gallery of ports below and opposite, we look at modern ports as well as those from yesteryear – and as we’ll explain, with the help of a few inexpensive adapters you can still put many of these vintage ports to good use.
VIDEO PORTS
Composite
An analogue port is often found on computers built 10 or so years ago. Mostly used to carry video signals from a graphics card to an older CRT TV. Not to be confused with coaxial audio (see page 51).
HDMI
The most popular video port for computers. Like DisplayPort, it can carry high-quality digital audio alongside video and lets you connect your computer to monitors, TVs and projectors.
DisplayPort
Outputs digital video and audio and similar in appearance to HDMI (see below). It can handle higher resolutions and frame rates than HDMI and supports ‘daisy-chaining’ (see page 55).
VGA
A popular analogue video port found on computers built around eight or more years ago, but still common even now on TV sets and monitors. Like other analogue video ports, it can’t output audio.
DVI
Launched in 1999, DVI outputs digital and analogue video (but not audio) and is still found on modern PCs and monitors along with HDMI.
S-Video
This is an analogue video port that was commonly found on graphics cards from around 10 years ago. It’s capable of producing higher-quality video than composite and can match the resolutions of VGA.
AUDIO PORTS
3.5mm
An analogue port that lets you transmit audio between your PC and devices such as headphones, speakers and
