Video In Video Out

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Video In Video Out (VIVO)


A 6-connector VIVO splitter cable. From left to right: S-Video In, Component Pb out, Component Pr out, Component Y out/Composite out, Composite in, S-Video Out

Type Analog video connector
Production history
Manufacturer Various graphics card manufacturers
Specifications
Hot pluggable Yes
External Yes
Video signal At least up to 1080p
Pins 9
Connector Mini-DIN 9
Pin out
Image:Pseudo_miniDIN-9_Diagram.png
VIVO port using standard (left) and non-standard (right) Mini-DIN


Video In Video Out, usually seen as the acronym VIVO (commonly pronounced vee-voh), is a graphics card port which enables some video cards to have bidirectional (input and output) video transfer through a Mini-DIN connector, usually of the 9-pin variety, and a specialized splitter cable.

VIVO is found predominantly on high end ATI video cards, although a few high end NVIDIA video cards have this port as well. VIVO on these graphics cards typically support composite, S-Video, and Component as outputs and composite and S-Video as inputs using six connectors total. Many other video cards only support component and/or S-Video outputs to compliment VGA or DVI, typically using a component breakout cable and an S-Video cable. It should be noted that while the component out signals support high definition resolutions, it does not support the HDCP standard which would be required for official HDTV support as set out by the EICTA. Also, a person using VIVO must have software that can display the input signal. For example, in the case of Nvidia GeForce series 6 and 7 video card users this means downloading Nvidia's WDM drivers.

A graphics card with VGA, VIVO and DVI outputs
A graphics card with VGA, VIVO and DVI outputs

Some practical uses of VIVO include being able to display what's on your computer (including downloaded/recorded tv shows & movies) on a TV and being able to connect a DVD player or video game console to your computer and allow viewing via monitor. Note that VIVO cannot receive radio signals (either from an antenna or cable), and much like tunerless HDTV sets and composite monitors, there must be additional equipment to watch television programs.

Using a VIVO cable to use a TV as part of the desktop is disabled on Windows XP computers that use GeForce video cards with Scalable Link Interface (SLI) mode enabled, just as dual monitor mode is disabled the same way. The user will still briefly see some distorted imagery on a properly VIVO-connected television display at boot-up however.

[edit] See also