What is VGA?

Do you remember seeing a rather odd-looking, trapezoidal-shaped connector on your TVs, monitors, or perhaps even your projector, if you ever had one? Ever wondered what it is for? Read on to find out.

VGA connector: What you need to know

The trapezoidal-shaped connector you see on your devices is called the VGA, or Video Graphics Array. VGA is a display interface that is used to connect your laptops and desktops, or DVD players to larger displays such as monitors or TVs. The VGA connectivity standard has two main components – A male VGA cable connector, and a female VGA port. The male connector has two screws on either side along with 15 pins in the centre, while the female port gets two screw holes on either side, along with 15 jacks in the centre.

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It was first introduced in 1987 by IBM, as a video connectivity standard for desktops, with the PS/2 line of computers. VGA supports a maximum resolution of 640×480 pixels and a 60Hz refresh rate, and is capable of displaying a maximum of 256 colours at a time.

Pros and cons of VGA

Now, the VGA connectivity standard, like any other, comes with its own set of pros and cons. For starters, VGA is used only to transmit video to displays, and isn’t capable of audio transmission. Moreover, it supports lower resolution and refresh rates than the more modern HDMI port, making the latter ideal for displays with a 4K resolution and above.

Now this raises the question of just why one would want to use a VGA connector in the first place. Well, VGA for one, offers great compatibility with older computers, TVs, and projectors, should you ever need to use them. Secondly, VGA is a much more cost-effective option than HDMI and DisplayPort, and is much easier to set up as well, since it doesn’t require separate adapters.

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The VGA connectivity standard then, despite its limitations (and not to mention its age), still holds its own amongst several more modern and efficient display connectivity options.