9 PIN mini Din FEMALE connector at the videocard
The 9-pin VIVO (Video In/Video Out) connector appeared on higher-end NVIDIA GeForce 6x and 7x series cards in the early-to-mid 2000s, combining S-Video Y/C, composite CVBS, component YPbPr, and I²C bus control into a single proprietary socket. Despite sharing its pin count with standard mini-DIN-9, the physical layout is evenly spaced in a 3-4-2 arrangement and is not mechanically compatible with a standard mini-DIN-9 plug. TV encoding on GeForce 3 and GeForce 4 generation cards was handled by discrete encoder chips such as the Conexant CX25871 or Philips SAA7102, which generated CVBS and Y/C signals from the GPU’s digital pixel stream. A dedicated NVIDIA breakout cable (part numbers 5511A001-001-LF and 6111017500G) converts the connector to standard 4-pin S-Video, RCA composite, and RCA component (YPbPr) jacks.
| Pin | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | CHROMA (C) Input | May be S-video luminance IN/CVBS IN (checked on a GT-N66T128VP card) |
| 2 | LUMA (Y)/COMPOSITE (CVBS) Input | |
| 3 | GND | |
| 4 | I2C SDA - I2C Data I/O | |
| 5 | Pb Output | |
| 6 | GND | |
| 7 | LUMA (Y)/COMPOSITE (CVBS) Output | |
| 8 | I2C SCL - I2C Clock Output | |
| 9 | CHROMA (C)/Pr Output |
Signals
- CHROMA (C) Input — S-Video chrominance (C) input signal; community observation suggests it may also accept composite CVBS on some card revisions.
- LUMA (Y)/COMPOSITE (CVBS) Input — S-Video luminance (Y) input, shared with composite video input; the encoder chip selects the active input mode.
- GND — Signal ground; two ground pins (3 and 6) provide return paths for both input and output signal pairs.
- I2C SDA — Bidirectional I²C data line used to control the on-board TV encoder chip (e.g. Conexant CX25871 or Philips SAA7102) from the GPU.
- Pb Output — Component video Pb (blue-difference) analogue output for HDTV connections via the breakout cable.
- LUMA (Y)/COMPOSITE (CVBS) Output — S-Video luminance (Y) output, shared with composite CVBS output; the active signal depends on the connected adapter.
- I2C SCL — I²C clock output driven by the GPU to synchronise communication with the TV encoder chip.
- CHROMA (C)/Pr Output — S-Video chrominance (C) output, shared with component Pr (red-difference) output for YPbPr component video.
Notes
- The physical pin layout is an evenly spaced 3-4-2 arrangement, not standard mini-DIN-9 spacing; a standard mini-DIN-9 plug will not fit.
- The official NVIDIA VIVO breakout cable (P/N 5511A001-001-LF / 6111017500G) provides 4-pin S-Video IN, 4-pin S-Video OUT, RCA composite IN, RCA composite OUT, and RCA component YPbPr outputs.
- Earlier NVIDIA cards (GeForce, GeForce2, GeForce3, GeForce4) used a standard 4-pin S-Video output; the 9-pin VIVO socket is specific to the higher-end GeForce 6x and 7x series.
- TV encoder chips on GeForce 3/4-era cards (Conexant CX25871, Philips SAA7102) support PAL and NTSC output standards; the Conexant CX25874 family additionally supports 480p, 720p, and 1080i HDTV modes.
- Composite video conforms to the CVBS standard: 1 Vpp into 75 Ω. S-Video luminance is approximately 1 Vpp into 75 Ω; chrominance approximately 0.3 Vpp into 75 Ω, per IEC 60933-5.