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Difficulty: HardDisplay Cables and Connectors

A field technician is auditing server room display connectivity equipment and legacy display adapters. Match each display cable or interface standard on the left with its correct physical pin configuration and signal capabilities on the right.

  • DVI-D Dual-Link24 digital signal pins plus a flat ground blade; supports digital-only video resolutions up to 2560 × 1600 without analog pinouts.
  • VGA (DB-15)15 pins arranged in 3 rows; transmits analog RGBHV video signals exclusively and cannot carry digital data.
  • DisplayPort20-pin connector using packetized data transmission; natively supports Multi-Stream Transport (MST) for display daisy-chaining.
  • DVI-I Single-Link18 digital signal pins plus 4 analog pins surrounding a flat blade; carries integrated digital and analog video signals.

Answer

DVI-D Dual-Link matches with 24 digital signal pins plus a flat ground blade (digital-only up to 2560x1600). VGA (DB-15) matches with 15 pins arranged in 3 rows (exclusive analog RGBHV). DisplayPort matches with 20-pin packetized connector supporting MST daisy-chaining. DVI-I Single-Link matches with 18 digital pins plus 4 analog pins (integrated digital and analog).
DVI-D Dual-Link features 24 digital data pins without analog pins, delivering digital signals up to 2560 × 1600 at 60 Hz. VGA (DB-15) uses 15 pins across 3 rows exclusively for analog RGBHV signals. DisplayPort utilizes a 20-pin interface supporting packetized data and MST daisy-chaining. DVI-I Single-Link utilizes 18 digital pins plus 4 analog pins around the flat blade to support both digital signals and passive analog conversion.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze DVI connector variants by pinout and signal capability.
DVI-D carries digital-only signals (no analog pins present). The Dual-Link variant populates all 24 digital signal pins. DVI-I carries integrated digital and analog signals, identifiable by the 4 analog pins surrounding the flat blade.
Differentiating DVI-D from DVI-I and single-link from dual-link is essential for pinout identification.
2
Identify the legacy analog standard.
VGA uses the classic DB-15 (DE-15) 3-row, 15-pin connector that exclusively transmits analog RGBHV signals.
VGA is the primary legacy analog display interface in CompTIA A+ specifications.
3
Identify packetized display technology capabilities.
DisplayPort uses a 20-pin connector and sends data in packets rather than continuous raster streams, allowing Multi-Stream Transport (MST) to drive multiple independent monitors over a single port.
MST daisy-chaining is a defining feature unique to DisplayPort architecture.

Key Concept

Display Cable and Connector Pinout Characteristics and Architecture
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Topics

Display Cables and Connectors

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