HDMI in the context of Digital Visual Interface

A computer monitor is an output device that displays information in pictorial or textual form. A discrete monitor comprises a visual display, support electronics, power supply, housing, electrical connectors, and external user controls.

The display in modern monitors is typically an LCD with LED backlight, having by the 2010s replaced CCFL backlit LCDs. Before the mid-2000s, most monitors used a cathode-ray tube (CRT) as the image output technology. A monitor is typically connected to its host computer via DisplayPort, HDMI, USB-C, DVI, or VGA. Monitors sometimes use other proprietary connectors and signals to connect to a computer, which is less common.

Digital video is an electronic representation of moving visual images (video) in the form of encoded digital data. This is in contrast to analog video, which represents moving visual images in the form of analog signals. Digital video comprises a series of digital images displayed in rapid succession, usually at 24, 25, 30, or 60 frames per second. Digital video has many advantages, such as easy copying, multicasting, sharing and storage.

Digital video was first introduced commercially in 1986 with the Sony D1 format, which recorded an uncompressed standard-definition component video signal in digital form. In addition to uncompressed formats, popular compressed digital video formats today include MPEG-2, H.264 and AV1. Modern interconnect standards used for playback of digital video include HDMI, DisplayPort, Digital Visual Interface (DVI) and serial digital interface (SDI).

DisplayPort (DP) is a digital interface used to connect a video source, such as a computer, to a display device like a monitor. Developed by the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA), it can also carry digital audio, USB, and other types of data over a single cable.

Introduced in the 2000s, DisplayPort was designed to replace older standards like VGA, DVI, and FPD-Link. While not directly compatible with these formats, adapters are available for connecting to HDMI, DVI, VGA, and other interfaces.

USB‑C, or USB Type‑C, is a 24-pin reversible connector (not a protocol) that supersedes all previous USB connectors, which were designated legacy in 2014. This connector also supersedes Mini DisplayPort and Lightning connectors. USB-C is used for a variety of purposes: exchanging data with peripheral devices, such as external drives, mobile phones, keyboards, track-pads, and mice, or between hosts, or transferring A/V-data to displays and speakers, or also powering peripheral devices and getting powered by power adapters; either through directly wired connectors, or indirectly via hubs and docking stations. This connector type can be used for other data transfer protocols besides USB, such as Thunderbolt, PCIe, DisplayPort, and HDMI. It is considered extensible, allowing the support of future protocols.

The design for the USB‑C connector was initially developed in 2012 by Intel, Apple Inc., HP Inc., Microsoft, and the USB Implementers Forum. The Type‑C Specification 1.0 was published by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) on August 11, 2014. In 2016 it was adopted by the IEC as "IEC 62680-1-3".

A digital media player (also known as a streaming device or streaming box) is a type of consumer electronics device designed for the storage, playback, or viewing of digital media content. They are typically designed to be integrated into a home cinema configuration, and attached to a television or AV receiver or both.

The term is most synonymous with devices designed primarily for the consumption of content from streaming media services such as internet video, including subscription-based over-the-top content services. These devices usually have a compact form factor (either as a compact set-top box, or a dongle designed to plug into an HDMI port), and contain a 10-foot user interface with support for a remote control and, in some cases, voice commands, as control schemes. Some services may support remote control on digital media players using their respective mobile apps, while Google's Chromecast ecosystem is designed around integration with the mobile apps of content services.

The Adobe RGB (1998) color space or opRGB is a color space developed by Adobe Inc. in 1998. It was designed to encompass most of the colors achievable on CMYK color printers, but by using RGB primary colors on a device such as a computer display. The Adobe RGB (1998) color space encompasses roughly 30% of the visible colors specified by the CIELAB color space – improving upon the gamut of the sRGB color space, primarily in cyan-green hues. It was subsequently standardized by the IEC as IEC 61966-2-5:1999 with a name opRGB (optional RGB color space) and is used in HDMI.

Apple TV is a digital media player and microconsole made by Apple Inc. It is a small piece of networking hardware that sends received media data such as video and audio to a TV or external display. Its media services include streaming media, TV Everywhere–based services, local media sources, sports journalism and broadcasts.

The first generation Apple TV was introduced in 2007 and was primarily intended to download and play content from the iTunes Store. The second generation model in 2010 was redesigned as an all-streaming device and is only compatible with HDMI-equipped enhanced-definition or high-definition widescreen televisions. The fourth generation model released in 2015 introduced the tvOS operating system and support for third-party apps via an app store.

Amazon Fire TV (formerly stylized as amazon fireTV) is a line of digital media players and microconsoles developed by Amazon since November 19, 2014. The devices are small network appliances that deliver digital audio and video content streamed via the Internet to a connected high-definition television. They also allow users to access local content and to play video games with the included remote control or another game controller, or by using a mobile app remote control on another device.

The device is available in two forms, the first being a set-top box, of which the current model is the Fire TV Cube with embedded Amazon Echo smart speaker (which effectively replaced the original Fire TV box model). The other product is a HDMI plug-in stick with, in general, lesser specifications than the contemporaneous boxes; these are offered in the entry-level Fire TV Stick HD, the Fire TV Stick Lite, the standard Fire TV Stick, and the high-end Fire TV Stick 4K and Fire TV Stick 4K Max (the third of which effectively replaced the third-generation "pendant" Fire TV). Additionally, Amazon licenses the Fire OS and Fire TV interface to be embedded and built into certain television sets from third parties sold to the public, labeled as Fire TV Edition.

TOSLINK (Toshiba Link) is a standardized optical fiber connector system. Generically known as optical audio, the most common use of the TOSLINK optical fiber connector is in consumer audio equipment in which the digital optical socket carries (transmits) a stream of digital audio signals from audio equipment (CD player, DVD player, Digital Audio Tape recorder, computer, video game console) to an AV receiver that can decode two channels of uncompressed, pulse-code modulated (PCM) audio; or decode compressed 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound audio signals, such as Dolby Digital and DTS. Unlike an HDMI connector cable, a TOSLINK optical fiber connector does not possess the bandwidth capacity to carry the uncompressed audio signals of Dolby TrueHD and of DTS-HD Master Audio, but it can carry up to 8 channels of PCM audio when used to connect two devices that use the ADAT Lightpipe standard.

Although the TOSLINK connector supports several media formats and physical standards, the most common digital audio connectors are the rectangular EIAJ/JEITA RC-5720 (also CP-1201 and JIS C5974-1993 F05). In a TOSLINK connector, the optical signal appears as a red light, with a peak wavelength of 650 nm. Depending on the type of modulated signal being carried, other optical wavelengths can be present.

The digital television transition, also called the digital switchover (DSO), the analogue switch/sign-off (ASO), the digital migration, or the analogue shutdown, is the process in which older analogue television broadcasting technology is converted to and replaced by digital television. Conducted by individual nations on different schedules, this primarily involves the conversion of analogue terrestrial television broadcasting infrastructure to Digital terrestrial television (DTT), a major benefit being extra frequencies on the radio spectrum and lower broadcasting costs, as well as improved viewing qualities for consumers.

The transition may also involve analogue cable conversion to digital cable or Internet Protocol television, as well as analogue to digital satellite television. Transition of land based broadcasting had begun in some countries around 2000. By contrast, transition of satellite television systems was well underway or completed in many countries by this time. It is an involved process because the existing analogue television receivers owned by viewers cannot receive digital broadcasts; viewers must either purchase new digital TVs, or digital converter boxes which have a digital tuner and change the digital signal to an analogue signal or some other form of a digital signal (i.e. HDMI) which can be received on the older TV. Usually during a transition, a simulcast service is operated where a broadcast is made available to viewers in both analogue and digital at the same time. As digital becomes more popular, it is expected that the existing analogue services will be removed. In most places this has already happened, where a broadcaster has offered incentives to viewers to encourage them to switch to digital. Government intervention usually involves providing some funding for broadcasters and, in some cases, monetary relief to viewers, to enable a switchover to happen by a given deadline. In addition, governments can also have a say with the broadcasters as to what digital standard to adopt – either DVB-T2 ATSC Governments can also require all receiving equipment sold in a country to support the necessary digital 'tuner'.

The PlayStation 3 (PS3, initially stylized in all caps) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on November 11, 2006, in Japan, followed by November 17 in North America and March 23, 2007, in Europe and Australasia. It competed primarily with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles.

The PlayStation 3 was built around the custom-designed Cell Broadband Engine processor, co-developed with IBM and Toshiba. SCE president Ken Kutaragi envisioned the console as a supercomputer for the living room, capable of handling complex multimedia tasks. It was the first console to use the Blu-ray disc as its primary storage medium, the first to be equipped with an HDMI port, and the first capable of outputting games in 1080p (Full HD) resolution. It also launched alongside the PlayStation Network online service and supported Remote Play connectivity with the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation Vita handheld consoles. In September 2009, Sony released the PlayStation 3 Slim, which removed hardware support for PlayStation 2 games (though limited software-based emulation remained) and introduced a smaller, more energy-efficient design. A further revision, the Super Slim, was released in late 2012, offering additional refinements to the console's form factor.

A sound card (also known as an audio card) is an internal expansion card that provides input and output of audio signals to and from a computer under the control of computer programs. The term sound card is also applied to external audio interfaces used for professional audio applications.

Sound functionality can also be integrated into the motherboard, using components similar to those found on plug-in cards. The integrated sound system is often still referred to as a sound card. Sound processing hardware is also present on modern video cards with HDMI to output sound along with the video using that connector; previously they used a S/PDIF connection to the motherboard or sound card.

Component video is an analog video signal that has been split into two or more component channels. In popular use, it refers to a type of component analog video (CAV) information that is transmitted or stored as three separate signals. Component video can be contrasted with composite video in which all the video information is combined into a single signal that is used in analog television. Like composite, component cables do not carry audio and are often paired with audio cables.

When used without any other qualifications, the term component video usually refers to analog YP_BP_R component video with sync on luma (Y) found on analog high-definition televisions and associated equipment from the 1990s through the 2000s when they were largely replaced with HDMI and other all-digital standards. Component video cables and their RCA jack connectors on equipment are normally color-coded red, green and blue, although the signal is not in RGB. YPbPr component video can be losslessly converted to the RGB signal that internally drives the monitor; the encoding is useful as the Y signal will also work on black and white monitors.

Uncompressed video is digital video that either has never been compressed or was generated by decompressing previously compressed digital video. It is commonly used by video cameras, video monitors, video recording devices (including general-purpose computers), and in video processors that perform functions such as image resizing, image rotation, deinterlacing, and text and graphics overlay. It is conveyed over various types of baseband digital video interfaces, such as HDMI, DVI, DisplayPort and SDI. Standards also exist for the carriage of uncompressed video over computer networks.

Some HD video cameras output uncompressed video, whereas others compress the video using a lossy compression method such as MPEG or H.264. In any lossy compression process, some of the video information is removed, which creates compression artifacts and reduces the quality of the resulting decompressed video. When editing video, it is preferred to work with video that has never been compressed (or was losslessly compressed) as this maintains the best possible quality, with compression performed after completion of editing.

Mac Mini (stylized as Mac mini) is a small form factor desktop computer developed and marketed by Apple. It is one of the company's four current Mac desktop computers, positioned as the entry-level consumer product, below the all-in-one iMac and the professional Mac Studio and Mac Pro. From its launch, the device has been sold without a display, keyboard, or mouse, and was originally marketed with the slogan "BYODKM" (Bring Your Own Display, Keyboard, and Mouse). This strategic pitch targeted current owners of Windows desktop computers; by leveraging peripherals users likely already owned, the computer offered a cost-effective way to switch to a Mac.

In January 2005, the original Mac Mini was introduced with the PowerPC G4 CPU. In February 2006, Apple switched to an Intel Core Solo CPU. A thinner unibody redesign, unveiled in June 2010, added an HDMI port and was more readily positioned as a home theater device and an alternative to the Apple TV.