Video Cables & Connections (page 2)

How It Connects

• Ports are built in to most digital camcorders and many new computers. Accessory cards are also on the market.
• Connectors come in two forms - four-pin and six-pin. The tiny u-shaped four-pin connectors are typically found on camcorders; the larger rectangular six-pin connectors are often used at the receiving end on computers and internal cards.
• Cables come in three flavors - four-pin to four-pin, four-pin to six-pin, and six-pin to six-pin.

How to Use It

• Connect a camcorder to a computer with a FireWire cable and then power on the camera ("hot-plugging") to activate a bi-directional DV stream.
• Link two digital video devices to make backup clones of important tapes.

How the Cable Measures Up

• Cables are lightly shielded, so magnetic or radio frequency interference from speakers and televisions can cause signal drops.
• Four-pin connectors are extremely small and fragile, leaving them vulnerable to early failure.

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