this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2023
44 points (97.8% liked)
What is this thing?
5524 readers
13 users here now
Let us help you identify that mysterious object you’ve found.
Currently in CHALLENGE mode: If you've got something obscure knocking about, post a picture, and let's see how we do. Please prefix such posts with "CHALLENGE:" so we know we've got a fighting chance.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Testing with the multimeter, the outer pins of the 7-pin connector are 1-to-1 with the pins in the same places of the 4-pin connector. I read the wikipedia article on mini din connectors more carefully, and there is an indication that this scheme was sometimes used to have a socket which could accept either an S-video cable or the proprietary one. However, the keys don't look compatible. The key on the 7-pin is both wider and thinner than on the 4-pin.
the center pin of the row of 3 connects to the pin of the rca connector, and the ring of all 3 connectors are connected together. The center two pins of the row of 4 are not connected.
Alright, I am making a parallel reply to my other reply, because I went down into the dungeon and busted out my Antiquated Electronics Adapters Box Of Doom to look for some breakout cables. I knew I have a dickton of this type of thing, and I do. We might be getting closer.
Check it out:
This is an old GeForce 7950 with an analog TV out, was was the style at the time, and what I believe to be its attendant breakout cable. This card IIRC only supports S-Video and composite out. The connector on that is very similar to yours, with only one pin relocated. And the difference is, this cable also supports stereo audio output, which is what I believe the unused pins in your connector were probably for, although your cable does not have an audio jack on it. The port it plugged into may have supported it, or a version of a similar gadget using the same port did.
For comparison, this is an A/V input cable for an ATI capture card:
Same connector, opposite purpose! Note that the ATI cable also uses the audio pins, but this time for input. Now you see why identifying these things is such a PITA. Manufacturers just did whatever the hell, either repurposing or reconfiguring outwardly similar or even identical plugs.
To clue in the user, these cables actually have direction-of-signal arrows molded into the top. Does yours? I can't tell from the picture.
Both din connectors have a two-way symbol
Well that's mighty interesting. That implies two way signal, so this can either play back or record.
I think that narrows it down to some manner of analog video capture card or device -- one that's not expecting audio, at least from this cable. Something like one of the Hauppauge WinTV cards, several of which had a separate 1/8" audio input jack, leap to mind. Those were input only, though.
That pinout matches this port:
https://www.techpowerup.com/articles/other/97
So this is probably intended as a video out cable, rather than video in. The extra pins may go into unused holes in the port, or pass into the rectangular hollow in it where the keying peg would usually go. If not for an ATI card or port like this, it's certainly for something similar. Notably, neither your cable nor this port carry a component video signal which was typical for later nVidia cards and their ilk.
Likely Solved
Of the options people have presented, a video card is by far the most likely for us to have owned at the era those options are from. The two-way arrow symbol on the connectors does give a little bit of doubt, but it seems pretty clear at this point that if I still owned the matching product, I wouldn't use it, and that's enough info for my needs
I don't believe we ever owned a capture card, but it's at least plausible to me that an old video card may have used it.