The
mini-DIN connectors are a family of multi-pin
electrical connectorAn electrical connector is a conductive device for joining electrical circuits together. The connection may be temporary, as for portable equipment, or may require a tool for assembly and removal, or may be a permanent electrical joint between two wires or devices. There are hundreds of types of...
s used in a variety of applications. Mini-DIN is similar to the larger, older
DIN connectorA DIN connector is a connector that was originally standardized by the Deutsches Institut für Normung , the German national standards organization...
. Both are standards of the
Deutsches Institut für NormungDeutsches Institut für Normung e.V. is the German national organization for standardization and is that country's ISO member body....
, the
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
standards body.
Mini-DIN connectors are 9.5 mm in diameter and come in seven patterns, with the number of pins from three to nine. Each pattern is keyed in such a way that a plug with one pattern cannot be mated with any socket of another pattern.
The
mini-DIN connectors are a family of multi-pin
electrical connectorAn electrical connector is a conductive device for joining electrical circuits together. The connection may be temporary, as for portable equipment, or may require a tool for assembly and removal, or may be a permanent electrical joint between two wires or devices. There are hundreds of types of...
s used in a variety of applications. Mini-DIN is similar to the larger, older
DIN connectorA DIN connector is a connector that was originally standardized by the Deutsches Institut für Normung , the German national standards organization...
. Both are standards of the
Deutsches Institut für NormungDeutsches Institut für Normung e.V. is the German national organization for standardization and is that country's ISO member body....
, the
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
standards body.
Standard connectors
Mini-DIN connectors are 9.5 mm in diameter and come in seven patterns, with the number of pins from three to nine. Each pattern is keyed in such a way that a plug with one pattern cannot be mated with any socket of another pattern. An important aspect of why each of these 7 mini-DIN connectors are
official standards is because they are each drastically different from the other, with no simultaneously and directly overlapping similarities in (1) pin arrangement, (2) square key size and position, (3) circular shielding metal skirt notches & metallic additions - unlike the nonstandard mini-DIN connectors which may have directly overlapping characteristics to each other or to the standard mini-DIN connectors.
(plug or male connector shown, as visible when unplugged)
WARNING. No references are cited for these pin arrangements. The mini-DIN 9-pin diagram may not be the standard; the standard may be nonuniform spacing on the first row and uniform spacing on the second.
3-pin
- Apple LocalTalk Network
LocalTalk is a particular implementation of the physical layer of the AppleTalk networking system from Apple Computer. LocalTalk specifies a system of shielded twisted pair cabling, plugged into self-terminating transceivers, running at a rate of 230.4 kbit/s....
- VESA Stereoscopic shutter sync (pinout diagram)
- SGI StereoView (pinout diagram)
- Behringer
Behringer Holdings Ltd is an audio equipment company founded by Uli Behringer in 1989, in Willich, Germany. Today, Behringer is a multi-national group of companies, with its headquarters in Monaco, a direct marketing presence in 10 countries or territories and a sales network in over 130 countries...
MixerIn professional audio, a mixing console, or audio mixer, also called a sound board or soundboard, is an electronic device for combining , routing, and changing the level, timbre and/or dynamics of audio signals. A mixer can mix analog or digital signals, depending on the type of mixer...
Power SuppliesPower supply is a reference to a source of electrical power. A device or system that supplies electrical or other types of energy to an output load or group of loads is called a power supply unit or PSU...
4-pin
5-pin
- Low-voltage power supply input connector on various pieces of equipment
- SONY
is a multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, and one of the world's largest media conglomerates with revenue exceeding ¥ 7.730.0 trillion, or $78.88 billion U.S. . Sony is one of the leading manufacturers of electronics, video, communications, video game...
LANCLANC or Local Application Control Bus System, also known as Control-L is a protocol by Sony used to synchronize camcorders and cameras....
camcorderA camcorder is an electronic device that combines a video camera and a video recorder into one unit.In order to differentiate it from other devices that are capable of recording video, like cell phones and compact digital cameras, a camcorder is generally identified as a portable device primarily...
control interface (Pinout diagram)
- 5-pin MIDI input and output connectors used by the Creative Technology Sound Blaster X-Fi Front I/O Panel and the Creative LivedriveII (pinout diagram)
- Altec Lansing
Altec Lansing is a line of professional, home, automotive, computer, and multimedia audio products beginning in 1936.Some of the most famous products produced under the Altec Lansing brand name include "The Voice of the Theatre" , and "inMotion", a line of portable speakers which was designed for...
ACS 45 (2.1)
6-pin
- IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
PS/2 keyboard/mouse connectorThe PS/2 connector is used for connecting some keyboards and mice to a PC compatible computer system. Its name comes from the IBM Personal System/2 series of personal computers, with which it was introduced in 1987...
- Amateur radio
Amateur radio, often called ham radio, is both a hobby and a service in which participants, called "hams," use various types of radio communications equipment to communicate with other radio amateurs for public service, recreation and self-training....
TNCA terminal node controller is a device used by amateur radio operators to participate in AX.25 packet radio networks. It is similar in function to the Packet Assembler/Disassemblers used on X.25 networks, with the addition of a modem to convert baseband digital signals to audio tones.The TNC was...
modem-radio interface
- Power supply
Power supply is a reference to a source of electrical power. A device or system that supplies electrical or other types of energy to an output load or group of loads is called a power supply unit or PSU...
DC output for some electronic devices
- Acorn Archimedes
The Acorn Archimedes was Acorn Computers Ltd's first general purpose home computer based on their own 32-bit ARM RISC CPU. The name is also commonly used to describe computers which were based on the same architecture, even where Acorn did not include 'Archimedes' in the official name.-Early...
keyboard
- Klipsch
Klipsch Audio Technologies is a consumer and professional speaker company based in the United States. Founded in Hope, Arkansas in 1946 by Paul Klipsch as Klipsch and Associates, it produces loudspeaker drivers and enclosures, as well as complete loudspeakers for high end, high fidelity sound...
2.1 channel audio system (2 speakers/1 subwoofer)
- Leadtek and VisionTek GeForce2 Ti cards as TV-out
- Saitek x52
The Saitek X52 is an advanced HOTAS Joystick/Throttle combination from Saitek released in 2004.-Features:The X52 is one of Saitek's flagship products and features both a Joystick and a Throttle...
Flight stick to throttle connection
- Creative Cambridge SoundWorks Ps 2000 Digital Connection from woofer to main volume
- Auxiliary control output on some Ferrograph dot matrix LED displays (call centre wallboards)
- All Chatterbox headsets
7-pin
- Commodore Plus/4
The Commodore Plus/4 was a home computer released by Commodore International in 1984. The "Plus/4" name refers to the four-application ROM resident office suite ; it was billed as "the productivity computer with software built-in". It had some success in Europe...
- iRobot
Founded in 1990 and incorporated in Delaware in 2000, the iRobot Corporation designs robots such as an autonomous home vacuum cleaner , the Scooba that scrubs and cleans hard floors, and military and police robots, such as the PackBot...
Roomba serial connector
- Altec Lansing
Altec Lansing is a line of professional, home, automotive, computer, and multimedia audio products beginning in 1936.Some of the most famous products produced under the Altec Lansing brand name include "The Voice of the Theatre" , and "inMotion", a line of portable speakers which was designed for...
ATP3
- XO Vision headrest screen
- Marklin 610479 10 pin to 7 pin adapter cable
- a standard 8 pin willies plug below can be fitted into a standard 7 pin socket
8-pin
- Sony VISCA Camera Control
- Apple Macintosh Serial Port
In computing, a serial port is a serial communication physical interface through which information transfers in or out one bit at a time...
- Allen-Bradley MicroLogix 1100 PLC
- NEC
, a Japanese multinational IT company, has its headquarters in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. NEC, part of the Sumitomo Group, provides information technology and network solutions to business enterprises, communications services providers and government....
Turbo Duo Controller Port
- Multimedia Extension Connector
Multimedia Extension Connector is a method of connecting video cameras and other video inputs to video capture cards and the like.MXC is based on the 8 pin Mini-DIN connector. It is used by 's range of Videum capture cards....
- ATI Radeon 8-pin video connector.
- Legacy Roland serial port MIDI connectors (Mac/PC).
- Sanyo
is a major electronics company and member of the Fortune 500 whose headquarters is located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo targets the middle of the market and has over 324 offices and plants worldwide, together employing more than 11,000 employees.On November 2, 2008, Sanyo and...
/FischerFischer is a surname may refer to:People with the surname include:- A – E :* Abraham Fischer South African public official* Ádám Fischer , Hungarian conductor* Alfred Fischer , German judge...
CamcorderA camcorder is an electronic device that combines a video camera and a video recorder into one unit.In order to differentiate it from other devices that are capable of recording video, like cell phones and compact digital cameras, a camcorder is generally identified as a portable device primarily...
A/V out (older models)
- Mitsubishi FX0 PLC
A programmable logic controller or programmable controller is a digital computer used for automation of electromechanical processes, such as control of machinery on factory assembly lines, amusement rides, or lighting fixtures. PLCs are used in many industries and machines...
- Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. is a multinational vendor of computers, computer components, computer software, and information technology services, founded on February 24, 1982...
Serial Keyboard/Mouse connector (3/80 through UltraSPARCThe UltraSPARC is a microprocessor developed by Sun Microsystems and fabricated by Texas Instruments that implements the SPARC V9 instruction set architecture . It was introduced in mid-1995. It was the first microprocessor from Sun Microsystems to implement the SPARC V9 ISA...
).
- Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. is a multinational vendor of computers, computer components, computer software, and information technology services, founded on February 24, 1982...
SPARCstationThe SPARCstation, SPARCserver and SPARCcenter product lines were a series of SPARC-based computer workstations and servers in desktop, deskside and rack-based form factor developed and sold by Sun Microsystems...
IPC & IPX Serial port.
- Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. is a multinational vendor of computers, computer components, computer software, and information technology services, founded on February 24, 1982...
SPARCstationThe SPARCstation, SPARCserver and SPARCcenter product lines were a series of SPARC-based computer workstations and servers in desktop, deskside and rack-based form factor developed and sold by Sun Microsystems...
IPC & IPX Audio In/Out port.
- Directed Car Screens.
- Neptune Systems Aquacontroller serial and I/O port
- Yaesu
is a neighborhood in Chūō, Tokyo, Japan, located north of Ginza, west of Nihonbashi and Kyōbashi, and adjacent to the east side of Tokyo Station. The Yaesu exit, which faces Nihonbashi, is recent and primarily provides access to the Shinkansen platforms.-History:...
CAT (Computer aided transceiver) interface port
- Numark CDN25+G CD player remote
- Altec Lansing ADA885 left speaker connection
- Hewlett Packard ScanJet ADF (C5195)
9-pin
- Sega Mega Drive II / 32X
- Acorn Archimedes
The Acorn Archimedes was Acorn Computers Ltd's first general purpose home computer based on their own 32-bit ARM RISC CPU. The name is also commonly used to describe computers which were based on the same architecture, even where Acorn did not include 'Archimedes' in the official name.-Early...
mouse
- Creative GigaWorks T40 (for Creative Docking Station X-30)
- Logitech
Logitech International S.A. , headquartered in Romanel-sur-Morges, Switzerland, is the holding company for Logitech Group, a Swiss peripheral-device maker. Logitech makes peripheral devices for PCs, including keyboards, mice, game controllers and webcams...
Z-340 Speakers
- Logitech
Logitech International S.A. , headquartered in Romanel-sur-Morges, Switzerland, is the holding company for Logitech Group, a Swiss peripheral-device maker. Logitech makes peripheral devices for PCs, including keyboards, mice, game controllers and webcams...
Z-3e Speakers
- Nvidia
Nvidia is a multinational corporation which specializes in the development of graphics processing units and chipset technologies for workstations, personal computers, and mobile devices...
and ATI TechnologiesATI Technologies Inc. was a major Canadian designer and supplier of graphics processing units and motherboard chipsets. In 2006, the company was acquired by Advanced Micro Devices and was renamed the AMD Graphics Product Group , although the ATI brand was retained for graphics cards.The AMD...
Video In Video Out (VIVO)Video In Video Out, usually seen as the acronym VIVO , is a graphics port which enables some video cards to have bidirectional analog video transfer through a mini-DIN connector, usually of the 9-pin variety, and a specialised splitter cable .VIVO is found on high-end ATI and NVIDIA...
port connector for GeForceGeForce is a brand of graphics processing units designed by Nvidia. , there have been eleven iterations of the design. The first GeForce products were discrete GPUs designed for use on add-on graphics boards, intended for the high-margin PC gaming market...
and RadeonATI Radeon is a brand of graphics processing units that since 2000 has been manufactured by ATI Technologies and subsequently AMD and is the successor to their Rage line. There are four different groups, which can be differentiated by the DirectX generation they support...
video cardA video card, video adapter, graphics-accelerator card, display adapter, or graphics card is an expansion card whose function is to generate and output images to a display...
s
- Bus mouse
A bus mouse is a variety of PC mouse which is attached to the computer using a specialized interface...
- Dension Gateway
- Vizualogic Car Screens
- Freebox
The Freebox is an ADSL modem that the French internet service provider named Free provides to its ADSL subscribers.Its main use is as a high-end wireless modem , but it also allows Free to offer added services using ADSL as support, like HD television , video recording with timeshifting...
HD (SCART to Mini-Din 9 plus 2 RCA : red and white)
- Kam, cetronic and numark dule CD DJ decks
- SCT XCAL2 Analog Inputs
Non-standard connectors
Several non-standard sockets are designed to mate with standard mini-DIN plugs. These connectors provide extra conductors, and are used to save space by combining functions in one connector that would otherwise require two standard connectors.
Other non-standard connectors mate only with their matching connectors, and are mini-DIN connectors only in the sense of sharing the 9.5 mm plug body. These mini-DIN style plugs are
not approved by the
Deutsches Institut für NormungDeutsches Institut für Normung e.V. is the German national organization for standardization and is that country's ISO member body....
, the
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
standards body, and many applications could be considered
proprietaryThe word proprietary indicates that a party, or proprietor, exercises private ownership, control or use over an item of property.Terms relating to Proprietary include:*Proprietary chapel*Proprietary church*Proprietary colleges*Proprietary colony...
.
(plug or male connector shown, as visible when unplugged; female sockets appear left-right reversed)
7-pin
Many
laptopA laptop is a personal computer designed for mobile use and small and light enough to sit on one's lap while in use. A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device , speakers, and often including a battery, into a single...
s and
video cardA video card, video adapter, graphics-accelerator card, display adapter, or graphics card is an expansion card whose function is to generate and output images to a display...
s use a 7-pin video output jack compatible with a standard 4-pin mini-DIN plug. Pins 1-4 use the standard
S-videoSeparate Video, more commonly known as S-Video, and sometimes incorrectly referred to as Super Video and also known as Y/C, is an analog video signal that carries video data as two separate signals: lumen and chroma...
pinout, enabling standard S-video cables to connect directly. A wider key prevents insertion of the matching plug into a standard 4-pin socket.
The use of the extra three pins varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, but commonly includes a
composite videoComposite video is the format of an analog television signal before it is combined with a sound signal and modulated onto an RF carrier.Composite video is often designated by the CVBS acronym, meaning "Color, Video, Blank and Sync"...
output which is available using the manufacturer's proprietary adapter. Alternatively a
YPbPr' is a color space used in video electronics, in particular in reference to component video cables. is the analog version of the YCBCR color space; the two are numerically equivalent, but YPBPR is designed for use in analog systems whereas...
signal may be provided. Later Dell laptops provide an SPDIF audio signal. Some proprietary adapters bridge specific pins in order to enable the signal on other pins, or to specify the type of signal to be delivered.
The keying and pin arrangement prevents the use of the standard 7-pin mini-DIN plug, but even if a suitable plug can be obtained, use of non-proprietary adaptors on these ports may cause problems. Some graphics hardware, for example, is not engineered to have both the S-video and composite video outputs in use at once, and attempts to do this using non-standard adapters will produce poor results at best, and possibly damage the video output circuitry.
- Dell Inspiron/Latitude Video/Digital Audio Output
- Also used for ATI Radeon 7-pin
- SendStation PocketDock AV for Apple iPod
iPod is a brand of portable media players designed and marketed by Apple and launched on . The product line-up includes the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the video-capable iPod Nano, and the compact iPod Shuffle. The iPhone can function as an iPod but is generally...
(see this link)
- XFX (Nvidia) GeForce 8800GT Video Card TV-Out Port
- Apple PowerBook G3 Firewire (Setting Up Your PowerBook, page 7, reveals an included composite
Composite video is the format of an analog television signal before it is combined with a sound signal and modulated onto an RF carrier.Composite video is often designated by the CVBS acronym, meaning "Color, Video, Blank and Sync"...
-to-S-videoSeparate Video, more commonly known as S-Video, and sometimes incorrectly referred to as Super Video and also known as Y/C, is an analog video signal that carries video data as two separate signals: lumen and chroma...
adapter cable, and page 20 shows the S-videoSeparate Video, more commonly known as S-Video, and sometimes incorrectly referred to as Super Video and also known as Y/C, is an analog video signal that carries video data as two separate signals: lumen and chroma...
output port)
- Apple PowerBook G4
The PowerBook G4 is a series of notebook computers that was manufactured, marketed, and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. between 2001 and 2006 as part of its PowerBook line. It uses the PowerPC G4 processor, initially produced by Motorola and later by Freescale, after Motorola spun off its...
15" & 17" (see this link)
- Apple Beige G3, input on the Wings personality card
- ATI Xclaim TV (some product information is provided here)
- GeForce Go7400 output used in some HP laptop computers
8-pin
8-pin (b)
9-pin
- Alternate Video In Video Out (VIVO)
Video In Video Out, usually seen as the acronym VIVO , is a graphics port which enables some video cards to have bidirectional analog video transfer through a mini-DIN connector, usually of the 9-pin variety, and a specialised splitter cable .VIVO is found on high-end ATI and NVIDIA...
port connector
Some versions of the
VIVOVideo In Video Out, usually seen as the acronym VIVO , is a graphics port which enables some video cards to have bidirectional analog video transfer through a mini-DIN connector, usually of the 9-pin variety, and a specialised splitter cable .VIVO is found on high-end ATI and NVIDIA...
port on some
ATIATI Technologies Inc. was a major Canadian designer and supplier of graphics processing units and motherboard chipsets. In 2006, the company was acquired by Advanced Micro Devices and was renamed the AMD Graphics Product Group , although the ATI brand was retained for graphics cards.The AMD...
and
NvidiaNvidia is a multinational corporation which specializes in the development of graphics processing units and chipset technologies for workstations, personal computers, and mobile devices...
GeForceGeForce is a brand of graphics processing units designed by Nvidia. , there have been eleven iterations of the design. The first GeForce products were discrete GPUs designed for use on add-on graphics boards, intended for the high-margin PC gaming market...
video cardA video card, video adapter, graphics-accelerator card, display adapter, or graphics card is an expansion card whose function is to generate and output images to a display...
s used a 9-pin connector without the small metal bar to determine how the plug fit into the socket (instead, the 3 indentions in the outer ring were used.)
See
this link (4-connector version) as well as
this link (6-connector version) for pinout mapping, and
here for the ATI Radeon VIVO port pinout mapping.
- 9-pin Apple GeoPort connector
The Apple
GeoPortGeoPort was a serial data system used on some models of the Apple Macintosh. GeoPort slightly modified the existing Mac serial port pins to allow the computer's internal sound hardware to emulate various devices such as modems and fax machines. GeoPort could be found on late-model m68k-based...
used a 9-pin jack compatible with either an 8-pin or a 9-pin mini-DIN plug, and was able to be used with devices designed for either the 8-pin mini-DIN Macintosh
serial portIn computing, a serial port is a serial communication physical interface through which information transfers in or out one bit at a time...
connector, or the additional GeoPort protocols.
Apple pin numbering follows the 8-pin DIN assignments, for compatibility with earlier Macintosh serial ports using the standard 8-pin connector. The additional pin is numbered 9 by Apple, and corresponds to pin 5 of a 9-pin mini-DIN plug. It is used for a 5V 350mA power supply available to the peripheral. Pins 5-8 of the GeoPort socket and the mini-DIN-8 plugs used with it then correspond to pins 6-9 respectively of the standard mini-DIN-9 plug.
- This connector is close enough in specification to an Altec Lansing right speaker connection to be replaced with this connector plug.
9-pin (b)
10-pin
10-pin (b)
Other non-standard connectors
- JVC
, usually referred to as JVC, is a Japanese international consumer and professional electronics corporation based in Yokohama, Japan which was founded in 1927...
Mini-DIN 8
- Allen-Bradley
Allen-Bradley is the brand-name of a line of Factory Automation Equipment manufactured by Rockwell Automation . The company, with revenues of approximately US$4.5 billion in 2006, manufactures programmable automation controllers , human-machine interfaces, sensors, safety components and systems,...
Micrologix PLCA programmable logic controller or programmable controller is a digital computer used for automation of electromechanical processes, such as control of machinery on factory assembly lines, amusement rides, or lighting fixtures. PLCs are used in many industries and machines...
Mini-DIN 8
- Beyerdynamic
beyerdynamic GmbH & Co. KG is a German audio equipment manufacturer, which produces microphones, headphones, wireless audio systems and conference systems...
microphone connector
See also
- DIN connector
A DIN connector is a connector that was originally standardized by the Deutsches Institut für Normung , the German national standards organization...
- DC Connector
- S-video
Separate Video, more commonly known as S-Video, and sometimes incorrectly referred to as Super Video and also known as Y/C, is an analog video signal that carries video data as two separate signals: lumen and chroma...