A female DE-15 output in a laptop computer.
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Type | Computer analog video connector | ||
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Designer | IBM based on D-subminiature | ||
Designed | 1987 | ||
Produced | 1987 to present | ||
Superseded | CRT | ||
Superseded by | DVI (1999) | ||
Hot pluggable | Depends | ||
Video signal | RGB video signal plus option H and V sync | ||
Pins | 15 | ||
Connector | DE-15 | ||
Data signal | I²C data channel for DDC information | ||
A female DE15 socket (videocard side). | |||
Pin 1 | RED | Red video | |
Pin 2 | GREEN | Green video | |
Pin 3 | BLUE | Blue video | |
Pin 4 | ID2/RES | formerly Monitor ID bit 2, reserved since E-DDC | |
Pin 5 | GND | Ground (HSync) | |
Pin 6 | RED_RTN | Red return | |
Pin 7 | GREEN_RTN | Green return | |
Pin 8 | BLUE_RTN | Blue return | |
Pin 9 | KEY/PWR | formerly key, now +5V DC, powers EDID EEPROM chip on some monitors | |
Pin 10 | GND | Ground (VSync, DDC) | |
Pin 11 | ID0/RES | formerly Monitor ID bit 0, reserved since E-DDC | |
Pin 12 | ID1/SDA | formerly Monitor ID bit 1, I²C data since DDC2 | |
Pin 13 | HSync | Horizontal sync | |
Pin 14 | VSync | Vertical sync | |
Pin 15 | ID3/SCL | formerly Monitor ID bit 3, I²C clock since DDC2 | |
The image and table detail the 15-pin VESA DDC2/E-DDC connector; the diagram’s pin numbering is that of a female connector functioning as the graphics adapter output. In the male connector, this pin numbering corresponds with the mirror image of the cable’s wire-and-solder side. |
A Video Graphics Array (VGA) connector is a three-row 15-pin DE-15 connector. The 15-pin VGA connector was provided on many video cards, computer monitors, laptop computers, projectors, and high definition television sets. On laptop computers or other small devices, a mini-VGA port was sometimes used in place of the full-sized VGA connector.
DE-15 has been conventionally referred to ambiguously as D-sub 15, incorrectly as DB-15 and often as HD-15 (High Density, to distinguish it from the older and less flexible DE-9 connector used on old VGA cards, which has the same E shell size but only two rows of pins). The video connector is an "E" size D-sub connector, with 15 pins in three rows, which is the high-density connector version (DB15HD).
VGA connectors and cables carry analog component RGBHV (red, green, blue, horizontal sync, vertical sync) video signals, and VESA Display Data Channel (VESA DDC) data. In the original version of DE-15 pinout, one pin was keyed by plugging the female connector hole; this prevented non-VGA 15 pin cables from being plugged into a VGA socket. Four pins carried Monitor ID bits which were rarely used; VESA DDC redefined some of these pins and replaced the key pin with +5 V DC power supply. Devices that comply with the DDC host system standard provide 5V ±5% and supply a minimum of 300mA to a maximum of 1A.
The VGA interface is not engineered to be hotpluggable (so that the user cannot connect or disconnect the output device while the host is running), although in practice this can be done and usually does not cause damage to the hardware or other problems. However, nothing in the design ensures that the ground pins form the first make or the last break in the connection, so hotplugging may introduce surges in signal lines which may or may not be adequately protected against damage. Also, depending on the hardware and software, monitor detection is sometimes unreliable when hotplugging a VGA connection.