ESCO Expert’s Corner – Darin Hutson – VGA is Set to Retire
The VGA Connector is Set to Retire
The time has come to start preparing for the retirement of the VGA connector. It has served us well for many years, not only for connection of the personal computer to the computer monitor, but for many video sources in classrooms, board rooms, healthcare, digital signage and many more applications. Some may say that the death of the VGA connector is near, but I would disagree. I think that we are in the midst of a sunset retirement that will eventually fade. I believe that the VGA connector is much like the VCR. The VCR and VHS tapes fought a long hard battle for years. When Wal-Mart, one of the largest retailers of VHS tapes, indicated that it would stop selling video tapes, consumers were forced to embrace the new technologies of the time.
Just over a year ago there was a press release from several of the largest manufacturers of computers and displays. They included: AMD, Dell, Intel, Levenovo, Samsung, and LG. Many people have not seen it or did not take the time to read it, so let me give some highlights. Full version can be found at: newsroom.intel.com/leading-pc-companies-move-to-all-digital-display-technology-phasing-out-analog
The LVDS (Low Voltage Differential Signaling panel interface technology) will no longer be supported by 2013, and VGA (Video Graphics Array) will start to fade, and end support by 2015. AMD also indicated that this will also include the DVI-I connector. The removal of the VGA connector on PC’s is due to the need for higher resolution, deeper colors, lower power consumption, and 3D. It is expected that PC manufacturers will migrate to the DisplayPort connector or possibly HDMI connector. The press release indicates that as PC manufactures ends support of the VGA connector, some display manufacturers may continue past 2015 for the consumers that still have legacy equipment.
To understand what is next in the video connector standards I wanted to look back at where we came from. The first connector that I think most people would recognize is the phono
connector, or as we know it today, the RCA connector. It was found on the Radio Corporation of America’s (RCA) phonograph in the 1930’s to connect the phonograph turntable to the radio receiver. In the early 1940’s the connector was used for audio connections, by the 1950s it was popular for “high fidelity” systems. Even though the connector was designed for audio, it has had many uses over the years such as, power, RF, loudspeakers, S/PDIF audio, composite and component video. Much like the VGA connector, its time is also fading. In the audio world the connector is being replaced by the 3.5mm headphone connector, and video is being replaced by HDMI and DisplayPort.
The next connector to be invented in 1951 came from three men that worked at Bell Labs, Paul Neill, Carl Concelman and Octavio M. Salati. The connector was a bayonet style, so it was 
called Bayonet Neill-Concelman (BNC). I have also heard it referred as the British Naval Connector. Paul Neil later invented the “N” connector and Carl Concelman invented the “C” connector. Both are still used today on RF network applications. There were many versions of the BNC connector until a standard was formed in 1978. The connection was adapted for video, computer networks and RF applications for commercial and professional applications because of its locking capabilities, one of the downfalls of HDMI.
In the late 1970’s the BNC and RCA connector was the standard for composite video. The world wanted a better, cleaner picture, so the “super video” standard was being created. The
Atari 800 and Commodore 64 were the first applications of this video standard. However, it was not that 1987 when JVC created the S-VHS video cassette, and the S-Video connector standard. Most people agree this technology is officially dead.
At the same time that the JVC released the S-video connector, IBM released the VGA connector that became the standard for computer and some high definition television sets. This
connector allowed a simpler connection for RGBHV (Red, Green, Blue, Horizontal and Vertical Sync.) instead of connecting five cables with BNC connectors. Today the VGA connector not only carries the RGBHV, but it also may contain DDC (Display Data Channel). The DDC allows the display and source to handshake the supported resolutions of each device and energy star settings.
In 1999 it was expected that the new DVI connector that was invented by the Digital Display Work Group would soon replace the VGA connector. In some applications it has, however,
the cable distance and connector size was the downfall for many installed applications. There are three different DVI connectors (ignoring dual link DVI), DVI-A (Analog) DVI-D (Digital) and DVI-I (Integrated). DVI-I is a cable standard that allows the cable to work on either analog or digital. DVI-A can be converted to VGA and DVI-D can be converted to HDMI, but they are not compatible with each other without electronic conversion. DVI has locking screws that make the cabling desirable to integrators, but for resolutions of up to 1,920x 1,200 the typical cable distance is 15’. With better quality cables that distance can be a little further. Lengths of up to 50’ can be reached with a lower resolution of 1,280 x 1,024.
The last two connectors are considered to be the connectors that we will use in the future, however, they are not brand new. HDMI was created in 2002 and display port was designed in 2006. Both have gone through a couple versions before they were officially adapted. HDMI was created by seven different companies. Together they were called HDMI Licensing LLC, 
however, in October of this year all future development will be done by a new organization called the HDMI Forum. The current cable standard 1.4B was released October 2011, and includes; video resolution up to 4K x 2K, eithernet, 3D formats, up to 8 audio channels, audio return channel, Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) and HDCP (High-bandwith Digital Content Protection). HDMI was designed to be a consumer connector that is backward compatible with DVI-D, and would allow consumers to connect audio and video with only one cable. Many people in the commercial integration world complain about HDMI because the connector does not lock, hard to terminate in the field, short cable lengths, the unpredictability of connecting multiple sources to multiple displays or “sinks”, and it does not pass closed caption. Over time there have been several versions of the HDMI standard. Unfortunately cable manufacturers are officially prohibited from marketing the cables by HDMI standard and can only be distinguished by the bitrate that they support. Also starting January 1, 2012 manufacturers of devices will not be able to reference the standard but must list the features of the HDMI specification that the product supports.
It is expected that many manufacturers will migrate to DisplayPort instead of HDMI due to cost. HDMI costs manufacturers $10,000 a year and $.04 per device. Like HDMI, DisplayPort also carries multiple audio/video streams, Ethernet and HDCP. However, DisplayPort also supports USB2, “AUX” channel, but does not support CEC channels and is not directly
compatible with DVI. Apple adopted the standard after creating the Mini DisplayPort connector in late 2008. HP shipped the first display with DisplayPort in June 2011.
With the retirement of the 20 year old VGA connector, and two viable video standards, what is the best connector for installed installations? I believe it is a connector that was created by 
Bell Labs in 1975, the RJ45 connector with Cat 6 cabling. The structured cable approach to cabling a facility is not only the most economical way, but also the most flexible. Many manufacturers are now producing balums that convert RCA, S-Video, VGA, DVI, HDMI, or DisplayPort to the RJ45 cabling standard, travel long distance, then convert back to the original format at the far end. Structured cabling allows customers to change the balum to keep up with the current technology.
I am not ready to abandon the VGA connector altogether, just yet. I feel that installations in new rooms should look at multiple technologies. As an AV Engineer, I am very money conscious and always try to give the customer the best solution for the lowest cost. Unfortunately for customers, this means that I recommend for the next couple of years to install two cable solutions, one analog (VGA) and one digital (HDMI/Displayport).
I would love to hear your opinion. Please leave your comments on ESCO Communication’s Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/ESCOcomm.
About the author:
Darin Hutson graduated from Indiana State University with a double major in Electronics and Computer Hardware, in December of 1996. He has worked at ESCO Communications for 15+ years as a technician and Engineer. He holds InfoComm CTS, NICET Audio I, Video Technician II, and Video Designer I and multiple manufacturer certifications.
