So yeah, if you've been chomping at the bit to get HD quality resolutions delivered to your monitor via a USB connection, this may be the adapter for you. Comes in a kind of periwinkle blue hue for $99. [Sewell via Engadget]

• OK, so the reality of the situation might not be that exciting. All the Atlona DVI to Mini DisplayPort does is, well, convert a DVI signal to Mini DisplayPort. It's the first converter to accomplish the feat, though. For some users, especially laptop owners stuck with DVI out in their chassis, that's probably a big deal. Other than that, there's not much to write about. The converter supports resolutions up to 1920x1200, and it maintains HDCP information through the conversion. Hopefully that means there won't be any lockout issues now that iTunes is an HDCP curmudgeon. The fact that it's the first makes it pricey, but if it does what you need it to, you can grab the converter from Atlona for $179. [Press Release via Engadget]

The discussion thread reports that Apple recommends updating the firmware in the adapter itself to 1.02. Unfortunately you can't update it at home, so you'll have to go to an Apple store to trade it in. Even more unfortunate is the fact that users are saying the 1.02 firmware makes things even WORSE. [Mini DisplayPort coverage on Giz]

In our case, it simply didn't fix the MiniDisplay Port to Dual-Link DVI distortion problems, but according to Apple's forums, it opened up a whole new bag of hurt for some people:

I downloaded the update today and regret that I did. The problem for me is now worse. I cannot use my external samsung 22inch monitor on extended desktop mode, only mirror mode, and that is not helpful to me. In extended mode it goes black for extended times, flicking on occasionally to remind me that its there still.

If you already installed in the update, has it borked out on you? [AppleInsider]

That's because Apple will be licensing the Mini DisplayPort specification for free, meaning Apple might not be the singular assholes to use it (which is why their shrunken variations on DVI, while not technically proprietary, practically were). At the very least, even if vendors like Dell—an early supporter of DisplayPort—don't pick it up, it should mean a decent-sized ecosystem of Mini DisplayPort accessories, not just a handful of adapters and a pricey monitor that Apple's given us so far. How about a MDP to HDMI and MDP to DP adapters, for starters? [Ars]

USB Type A Universal Serial Bus, the gold standard. The whole idea behind it is that this one interface will connect everything (except the stuff it doesn't), killing off the old guard, like parallel and serial ports. It moves data, and in the case of USB 2.0—which is pretty much the standard now—it does it faster, and with some extra specs for power. Clarification: USB 2.0 adds in the Battery Charging specification 1.0, which allows for dedicated charging and other power goodness. This particular connector is the type A variety. It plugs everything from your iPod to your digital camera into a computer, or whatever else. If you haven't seen this before, what are you reading this on?

USB Type B The USB Type B plug is basically a USB connector for peripherals—you've probably seen it jacked into a printer or scanner.

Mini USB It's a type of USB connector for smaller devices like cameras and phones—it takes up less real estate than a port for a Type A connection, obviously.

Micro USB Even smaller than the above Mini USB. Since it's, like, even smaller, we're starting to see it adopted by LG, Motorola and others—hopefully this is the last time they all switch power adapters on us, till wireless power makes adapters unnecessary. Update: Better pic via Mobile Burn.

IEEE 1394 (aka FireWire) An alternative to USB, Apple popularized the IEEE 1394 interface as FireWire (Sony called it i.LINK). You're probably most familiar with it on a digital camcorder (or an old school iPod), since it's really speedy for data transfers. You're looking at the four- and six-pin versions of FireWire 400. The six-pin version delivers power, the four-pin version (originally favored by Sony) doesn't.

FireWire 800 A revised, faster version of FireWire introduced in 2003, it doesn't use the same connectors as the original, making it rare for non pros—and an unnecessary pain the ass.

RJ45 The kind of plug you're used to seeing on the end of a Category 5, Cat5 enhanced or Cat6 (commonly known as Ethernet) cable, which is plugged into your router or computer's networking port. Cat5e is an update to Cat5 that supports faster Gigabit Ethernet. Cat6 is the next-gen standard that will handle speeds twice as fast as Cat5e, and has stricter rules about noise and crosstalk. Interestingly, the most recently approved IEEE 1394 spec (aka FireWire S800T) uses RJ45 connectors as well.

eSATA External Serial ATA is a branch off of the Serial ATA interface that connects your hard drive to your computer if it was put together in the last couple of years. As you can guess from the name, the difference is it's an external port, but it delivers the same insane data transfer speeds as the hookup to your hard drive. Faster than USB or FireWire, it's basically for external hard drives for quicker data transfers. You'll be seeing it more as more laptops include a port for it, usually one that can also be used with USB. There's even talk of bus-powered eSATA coming in the next year or two.

HDMI High-Definition Multimedia Interface is another one of those "it'll connect everything except all the stuff it doesn't" deals, but for high-definition audio and video. It basically replaces DVI (see below) plus S-Video and all that other analog crap. Laptops, desktops and even high-end cameras and other gadgets are getting HDMI. Besides fat bandwidth, another benefit is control: The Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) profile already lets machines send commands to other products over HDMI—that or something like it could be very useful in the PC space, too.

DVI The digital successor to VGA, Digital Visual Interface is a video connection you'll most likely see dealing with computers or computer monitors, at least until they're all replaced by HDMI. Older HDTVs have DVI ports too. It can have a few different pin arrangements, depending on whether it carries a digital (DVI-D) or analog (DVI-A) signal or both (DVI-I, for integrated). The analog deal on some types is to make them easy to adapt for use with a VGA monitor, but it's less and less noteworthy. There's also a dual-link version that carries more data for high-res displays. These are helpfully depicted at Wikipedia.

Mini and Micro DVI are dumb, shrunken, Apple-only versions of DVI. Why dumb? Because they're essentially proprietary formats. HDMI will make them obsolete before long.

DisplayPort is the newest video interface on the block, and its plane of existence is basically in the computer-to-monitor realm only. It's not even close to mainstream yet, but Dell is backing it, among others, so you might wanna know it. It can carry a whole lot of data, but it's got DRM built into the spec, so it's a double-edged sword. Update: Swapped pic out with a better one.

That's enough cable to strangle most of California, but by all means feel free to add in your own cable trivia down in the comments.

Something you still wanna know? Send any questions about cables, plugs, holes, bird or bees to tips@gizmodo.com, with "Giz Explains" in the subject line.

[Gefen]

According to analyst firm In-Stat, the DVI interface will drop from 112 million shipped products in 2007 to just 3 million shipped products by 2011. And that number is really startling when you realize that HDMI will be included in 143 million shipped products this year alone. That number includes 90% of digital TVs on the market.

So for those looking for the easiest compatibility going into the future, go with HDMI products. For those with DVI in their home theater infrastructures, HDMI to DVI converters are a simple solution. [extremetech]

A touted aspect of DisplayPort is its "security," comforting to those who create content but an unwelcome guest for those who can't stand even the thought of DRM (digital rights management). Carrying HDCP along with it, the standard is designed to protect content from those free-copying, eyepatch-wearing pirates. In addition to that, it also carries an additional DRM can of worms, DPCP (DisplayPort Content Protection).

That gives the standard an advantage over DVI in the eyes of content creators, who have sometimes been known to arm-twist various hardware manufacturers. Speaking of which, the standard has gotten rousing support from many of the usual suspects, including Dell, HP, Philips, Samsung, Intel and Lenovo, and also graphics cards manufacturers AMD and NVIDIA.

Those companies might like this standard better than HDMI for another reason, too: Unlike HDMI, DisplayPort's an open standard with no fees required to those who invented it. Other than that, besides the slight bandwidth advantage of DisplayPort, the two are almost the same and will be interchangable in some cases with an adapter. But not all cases. Such as...

What do we like about it? You can daisy chain multiple 2560x1600 monitors together, and the standard also supports fiber optic cable, able to blast tons of serious bandwidth for longer distances. It also has an advantage over DVI with its 15-meter spec length, compared with DVI's measly 5-meter recommended distance. We're also quite fond of that ability to support 16-bit color for each component, and hey, the damn thing is easier to connect than a DVI or VGA cable. With Dell and ATI first out of the gate, expect graphics cards and monitors to jump on board any day now. [DisplayPort Info Guide]

Think about it: you need an HDMI cable for your home theater equipment that carries audio as well as video, but now there's a new cable on the way called DisplayPort specifically made for computer displays. Or maybe you'd like to hook up your TV to your computer via VGA. Then there's the old-timey composite, component, and S-video connections.

Not digital enough for you? Let's use DVI, or if you want higher resolution, you'll need dual-link DVI. Then there's digital audio, connecting via fiber optic that can't even decide whether it's called Toslink or the eloquent S/PDIF. Or maybe choose a coaxial connector for your digital audio, the same as an RCA plug used to connect analog audio, not that cable TV variety of coaxial.

Want to connect hard drives? You could use USB 2.0, or FireWire 400 is just about as fast. Want FireWire 800? Oops, you'll need a different cable for that. What about the new FireWire 3200? Yep, it'll need new cable, too. Connecting faster SATA hard drives isn't simple, either, because if you want to hook them up internally, you'll need an "L" connector, but if you want to use the external SATA drives (eSATA), well, those use in an "I" connector, to keep you from using unshielded wires inside a PC. The confusion goes on and on.

Oh, and by the way, while you're dealing with this Tower of Babel, you'll have to sidestep all the ripoff artists trying to charge you ten times as much for a cable that does exactly the same thing as its cheapest counterpart.

It's a mess. Please, someone round up all the consumer electronics manufacturers, and somehow make them all use the same connectors. But that's like herding cats. We told you we were going into the world of fantasy, but anyway, that's All Giz Wants.

WID101 [TeqGear]

The FP222W has two types of inputs, D-Sub and DVI. DVI would've been noteworthy two or three years ago, the lack of HDMI is somewhat surprising. Not because it's any better, but because it's newer; we need the latest and greatest, regardless of improvements in quality.

Though BenQ's latest monitor is due this month, there's still no word on how much coin it'll cost you. – Nicholas Deleon

BenQ launch new 22-inch wide-Screen LCD Monitor (FP222W) [Crowdedbrain]

BenQ Home Page [BenQ]

Fiber Optic HDMI Cable [DVIGear via Audioholics]

Product Page [SewellDirect]

Although it's great the notebook will have such a huge screen, we're puzzled at that oddball 1680x1050 resolution, frustratingly short of 1080p which will eventually be the lingua franca of HD DVD. And, at that big screen size, anything short of 1920x1200 is not what we would call state-of-the-art. Oh, well. Can't have it all.

Acer unveils world's second HD DVD laptop [Reg Hardware]