Mini-DIN connector - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The mini-DIN connectors are a family of multi-pin electrical connector

Electrical connector

An electrical connector is an electro-mechanical device for joining electrical circuits as an interface using a mechanical assembly. The connection may be temporary, as for portable equipment, require a tool for assembly and removal, or serve as a permanent electrical joint between two wires or...

s used in a variety of applications. Mini-DIN is similar to the larger, older DIN connector

DIN connector

A DIN connector is a connector that was originally standardized by the , the German national standards organization. There are DIN standards for a large number of different connectors, therefore the term "DIN connector" alone does not unambiguously identify any particular type of connector unless...

. Both are standards of the Deutsches Institut für Normung

Deutsches Institut für Normung

is the German national organization for standardization and is that country's ISO member body. DIN is a Registered German Association headquartered in Berlin...

, the German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

standards body.

Standard connectors

Mini-DIN connectors are 9.5 mm in diameter and come in seven patterns, with the number of pins from three to nine. Each pattern is keyed in such a way that a plug with one pattern cannot be mated with any socket of another pattern. An important aspect of why each of these 7 mini-DIN connectors are official standards is because they are each drastically different from the other, with no simultaneously and directly overlapping similarities in (1) pin arrangement, (2) square key size and position, (3) circular shielding metal skirt notches & metallic additions - unlike the nonstandard mini-DIN connectors which may have directly overlapping characteristics to each other or to the standard mini-DIN connectors.

(The plug or male connectors shown, as visible when unplugged looking into the connector.)

The pin numbering for the plugs shown above is done left to right, bottom row to top row. Pin 1 will be on the lower left, and the highest pin number will be on the upper right.

WARNING. No references are cited for these pin arrangements. The mini-DIN 9-pin diagram is not the standard; the standard is nonuniform spacing on the first row and uniform spacing on the second. See, for example, a data sheet for mini-DIN 9 connector that shows a nonuniform spacing on the top row.

3-pin

Apple LocalTalk Network
LocalTalk
LocalTalk is a particular implementation of the physical layer of the AppleTalk networking system from Apple Computer. LocalTalk specifies a system of shielded twisted pair cabling, plugged into self-terminating transceivers, running at a rate of 230.4 kbit/s...
VESA Stereo
VESA Stereo
VESA Stereo is a liquid crystal shutter glasses interface standard by the Video Electronics Standards Association for stereoscopic 3D displays...
SGI StereoView (pinout diagram)
Behringer
Behringer
Behringer is an audio equipment company founded by Uli Behringer in 1989, in Willich, Germany. Behringer was listed as the 14th largest manufacturer of music products in 2007. Behringer is a multi-national group of companies, with direct marketing presence in 10 countries or territories and a...

Mixer
Mixing console
In professional audio, a mixing console, or audio mixer, also called a sound board, mixing desk, or mixer is an electronic device for combining , routing, and changing the level, timbre and/or dynamics of audio signals. A mixer can mix analog or digital signals, depending on the type of mixer...

Power Supplies
Power supply
A power supply is a device that supplies electrical energy to one or more electric loads. The term is most commonly applied to devices that convert one form of electrical energy to another, though it may also refer to devices that convert another form of energy to electrical energy...
Optoma EH1020 Projector
TOPFIELD TF5400 PVR Combo Receiver

4-pin

Apple Desktop Bus
Apple Desktop Bus
Apple Desktop Bus is an obsolete bit-serial computer bus connecting low-speed devices to computers. Used primarily on the Macintosh platform, ADB equipment is still available but not supported by most Apple hardware manufactured since 1999....

(Pinout diagram)
S-Video
S-Video
Separate Video, more commonly known as S-Video and Y/C, is often referred to by JVC as both an S-VHS connector and as Super Video. It is an analog video transmission scheme, in which video information is encoded on two channels: luma and chroma...

(Pinout diagram)
Thomson SpeedTouch 605 Console Serial Port / DSL Router (pinout diagram)
Low voltage power supplies like the Seagate Pushbutton External Drive Power Supply

5-pin

Low-voltage power supply input connector on various pieces of equipment
SONY
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....

LANC
LANC
LANC or Local Application Control Bus System, also known as Control-L is a protocol by Sony used to synchronize camcorders and cameras....

camcorder
Camcorder
A camcorder is an electronic device that combines a video camera and a video recorder into one unit. Equipment manufacturers do not seem to have strict guidelines for the term usage...

control interface (Pinout diagram)
5-pin MIDI input and output connectors used by the Creative Technology Sound Blaster X-Fi Front I/O Panel and the Creative LivedriveII (pinout diagram)
Altec Lansing
Altec Lansing
Altec Lansing is a line of professional, home, automotive, computer, and multimedia audio products first developed in 1936. They were used in many studios as monitor speakers...

ACS 45 (2.1)
Alliance Peripheral Systems, Inc. APS ProDAT Power supply input connector

6-pin

IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...

PS/2 keyboard/mouse connector
PS/2 connector
The PS/2 connector is a 6-pin Mini-DIN connector used for connecting some keyboards and mice to a PC compatible computer system. Its name comes from the IBM Personal System/2 series of personal computers, with which it was introduced in 1987...
Amateur radio
Amateur radio
Amateur radio is the use of designated radio frequency spectrum for purposes of private recreation, non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, and emergency communication...

TNC
Terminal node controller
A terminal node controller is a device used by amateur radio operators to participate in AX.25 packet radio networks. It is similar in function to the Packet Assembler/Disassemblers used on X.25 networks, with the addition of a modem to convert baseband digital signals to audio tones.The TNC was...

modem-radio interface
Power supply
Power supply
A power supply is a device that supplies electrical energy to one or more electric loads. The term is most commonly applied to devices that convert one form of electrical energy to another, though it may also refer to devices that convert another form of energy to electrical energy...

DC output for some electronic devices
Altec Lansing PC Speaker Connection to subwoofer
Acorn Archimedes
Acorn Archimedes
The Acorn Archimedes was Acorn Computers Ltd's first general purpose home computer to be based on their own ARM architecture.Using a RISC design with a 32-bit CPU, at its launch in June 1987, the Archimedes was stated as running at 4 MIPS, with a claim of 18 MIPS during tests.The name is commonly...

keyboard
Blitz
Blitz
-Armed conflict:*The Blitz, the German aerial attacks on Britain in WWII. The name Blitz was subsequently applied to many individual bombing campaigns or attacks.*Blitzkrieg, the "lightning war", a strategy of World War 2 Germany-People:...

DVD screen for cars
Klipsch
Klipsch
Klipsch Audio Technologies is an American loudspeaker company based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in Hope, Arkansas in 1946 as 'Klipsch and Associates' by Paul W...

2.1 channel audio system (2 speakers/1 subwoofer)
Leadtek and VisionTek GeForce2 Ti cards as TV-out
Saitek x52
Saitek x52
The Saitek X52 is an advanced HOTAS Joystick/Throttle combination from Saitek released in 2004.-Features:The X52 is one of Saitek's flagship products and features both a Joystick and a Throttle...

Flight stick to throttle connection
Creative Cambridge SoundWorks Ps 2000 Digital Connection from woofer to main volume
Auxiliary control output on some Ferrograph dot matrix LED displays (call centre wallboards)
All Chatterbox headsets
Kenwood TS-480 DATA port
Yaesu FT-450 DATA port (view of rear panel, 6-pin DATA port on far left)
Yaesu FT-817 DATA port
Yaesu FT-857D DATA port
Neopost
Neopost
Neopost is a manufacturer of postage meters and mailroom equipment. It claims to rank number one in Europe and number two worldwide in mailroom equipment and logistics systems....

SE4PC postal scale
Mitsubishi Q series PLC RS232 port
Dell
Dell
Dell, Inc. is an American multinational information technology corporation based in 1 Dell Way, Round Rock, Texas, United States, that develops, sells and supports computers and related products and services. Bearing the name of its founder, Michael Dell, the company is one of the largest...

MP series projectors RS232 port
Radio Shack CCTV monitor P/N 49-2514 and CCTV camera/motion sensor P/N 49-2515 proprietary pin-out
Commonly used on GPS mice to connect the device to an adapter cable with a USB or RS232 connector.
Being an internal bus, there is no standard connector for I²C
I²C
I²C is a multi-master serial single-ended computer bus invented by Philips that is used to attach low-speed peripherals to a motherboard, embedded system, cellphone, or other electronic device. Since the mid 1990s, several competitors I²C ("i-squared cee" or "i-two cee"; Inter-Integrated Circuit;...

, but the 6-pin mini DIN is often used for I²C where external connections are required, such as in measurement and control equipment with a documented pinout.

7-pin

Commodore 16
Commodore 16
The Commodore 16 was a home computer made by Commodore with a 6502-compatible 8501 CPU, released in 1984. It was intended to be an entry-level computer to replace the VIC-20 and it often sold for 99 USD...

and Plus/4
Commodore Plus/4
The Commodore Plus/4 was a home computer released by Commodore International in 1984. The "Plus/4" name refers to the four-application ROM resident office suite ; it was billed as "the productivity computer with software built-in"...

Datasette connector
iRobot
IRobot
iRobot Corporation is an American advanced technology company founded in 1990 and incorporated in Delaware in 2000, the iRobot Corporation designs robots such as an autonomous home vacuum cleaner , the Scooba that scrubs and cleans hard floors, and military and police robots, such as the PackBot...

Roomba serial connector
Altec Lansing
Altec Lansing
Altec Lansing is a line of professional, home, automotive, computer, and multimedia audio products first developed in 1936. They were used in many studios as monitor speakers...

ATP3
XO Vision headrest screen
Digital Equipment Corporation DECserver
DECserver
In computer networking, DECserver initially referred to a highly successful family of asynchronous console server / terminal server / print server products introduced by Digital Equipment Corporation and later referred to a class of UNIX-variant application and file server products based upon the...

90L/90L+/90TL/90M
Märklin 610479 10 pin to 7 pin adapter cable
a standard 8 pin DIN plug below can be fitted into a standard 7 pin socket
ATI Radeon Video Card - HDTV Out

8-pin

Sony VISCA Camera Control
Apple Macintosh Serial Port
Serial port
In computing, a serial port is a serial communication physical interface through which information transfers in or out one bit at a time...
Epson
- Epson PX-8 and Epson PX-4
  Epson PX-4
  The Epson PX-4 is a portable CP/M based computer introduced in 1985. The screen was 40×8 characters physical, but 80×25 or 40×50 virtual, making it almost compatible with the Epson PX-8 Geneva...
  
  RS-232 and Serial port
  Serial port
  In computing, a serial port is a serial communication physical interface through which information transfers in or out one bit at a time...
- Scanner TPU and automatic document feeder
  Automatic Document Feeder
  In multifunction or all-in-one printers, fax machines, photocopiers and scanners, an automatic document feeder or ADF is a feature which takes several pages and feeds the paper one page at a time into a scanner or copier, allowing the user to scan, and thereby copy, print, or fax, multiple-page...
NEC
NEC
, a Japanese multinational IT company, has its headquarters in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. NEC, part of the Sumitomo Group, provides information technology and network solutions to business enterprises, communications services providers and government....

Turbo Duo Controller Port
Multimedia Extension Connector
Multimedia Extension Connector
Multimedia Extension Connector is a method of connecting video cameras and other video inputs to video capture cards and the like.MXC is based on the 8 pin Mini-DIN connector. It is used by 's range of Videum capture cards....
ATI Radeon 8-pin video connector.
Legacy Roland serial port MIDI connectors (Mac/PC).
Sanyo
Sanyo
is a major electronics company and member of the Fortune 500 whose headquarters is located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo targets the middle of the market and has over 230 Subsidiaries and Affiliates....

/Fischer
Fischer
- Origin and meaning :The German language name is derived from the profession of the fisherman. The name Fischer is the fourth most common German surname.- Variants:* Fisher * Fischler* Vischer* Fischers* Fischl* Fischel* Fischle)...

Camcorder
Camcorder
A camcorder is an electronic device that combines a video camera and a video recorder into one unit. Equipment manufacturers do not seem to have strict guidelines for the term usage...

A/V out (older models)
Mitsubishi FX series PLC RS422 port
Programmable logic controller
A programmable logic controller or programmable controller is a digital computer used for automation of electromechanical processes, such as control of machinery on factory assembly lines, amusement rides, or light fixtures. PLCs are used in many industries and machines...
Shure SCM810 and FP410 automixers.
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
- Serial Keyboard/Mouse connector (3/80 through UltraSPARC
  UltraSPARC
  The UltraSPARC is a microprocessor developed by Sun Microsystems who is now a part of Oracle Corporation and fabricated by Texas Instruments that implements the SPARC V9 instruction set architecture . It was introduced in mid-1995. It was the first microprocessor from Sun Microsystems to implement...
  
  ).
- SPARCstation
  SPARCstation
  The SPARCstation, SPARCserver and SPARCcenter product lines were a series of SPARC-based computer workstations and servers in desktop, deskside and rack-based form factor developed and sold by Sun Microsystems...
  
  IPC & IPX Serial port.
- SPARCstation
  SPARCstation
  The SPARCstation, SPARCserver and SPARCcenter product lines were a series of SPARC-based computer workstations and servers in desktop, deskside and rack-based form factor developed and sold by Sun Microsystems...
  
  IPC & IPX Audio In/Out port.
- Sun Fire E25K
  Sun Fire E25K
  The Sun Fire E25K is an enterprise-class server computer from Sun Microsystems. Announced in February 2004, the machine could be described as an upgraded Sun Fire 15K as the base cabinets are identical with the only difference between them being the processor boards installed...
  
  Serial port.
Directed Car Screens.
SiriusConnect interface for Sirius satellite radios
Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio is a satellite radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Radio.Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002 and currently provides 69 streams of music and 65 streams of...

.
Neptune Systems Aquacontroller serial and I/O port
Kenwood TM-V71 - Radio to PC connector
Yaesu
Yaesu (brand)
Yaesu is an international brand of commercial and amateur radio equipment.It was founded as in 1959 by a Japanese radio amateur Sako Hasegawa with callsign JA1MP in the Tokyo neighborhood of Yaesu...
- CAT (Computer aided transceiver) interface port
- FT-450 TUNER port (view of rear panel, 8-pin TUNER port middle-left)
- FT-817ND CAT/Linear port
- FT-857D CAT/Linear port
- FT-950 external tuner port
Numark CDN25+G CD player remote
Altec Lansing ADA885 left speaker connection
Hewlett Packard ScanJet ADF (C5195)
Idec PLC and HMI communication and programing ports
Polycom VSX7000 series serial/VC control connector
iSimple Gateway iPod/iPhone Interface Connectors
Commodore 16 and Plus/4 joystick connector.
Fuse electric violin by Evan Fourness

9-pin

WARNING. This mini-DIN 9-pin diagram is not the standard mini-DIN; the standard has nonuniform spacing on the first row and uniform spacing on the second. A data sheet for mini-DIN 9 connector shows this pattern.

These devices are the standard mini-DIN 9 because they have the non-uniform spacing on the top row:

Magtek MICR Wedge Mini.

These devices are definitely NOT the standard mini-DIN 9 because they have non-uniform spacing on middle row:

Logitech X-220 Speakers.
Philips
Philips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....

MC-D179 DVD Micro Theater

These devices may or may not be mini-DIN 9:

Acorn Archimedes
Acorn Archimedes
The Acorn Archimedes was Acorn Computers Ltd's first general purpose home computer to be based on their own ARM architecture.Using a RISC design with a 32-bit CPU, at its launch in June 1987, the Archimedes was stated as running at 4 MIPS, with a claim of 18 MIPS during tests.The name is commonly...

mouse
Creative GigaWorks T40 (for Creative Docking Station X-30)
Logitech
Logitech
Logitech International S.A. is a global provider of personal peripherals for computers and other digital platforms headquartered in Romanel-sur-Morges, Switzerland. The company develops and markets products like peripheral devices for PCs, including keyboards, mice, microphones, game controllers...

Z-340 Speakers
Logitech
Logitech
Logitech International S.A. is a global provider of personal peripherals for computers and other digital platforms headquartered in Romanel-sur-Morges, Switzerland. The company develops and markets products like peripheral devices for PCs, including keyboards, mice, microphones, game controllers...

Z-3e Speakers
Nvidia
NVIDIA
Nvidia is an American global technology company based in Santa Clara, California. Nvidia is best known for its graphics processors . Nvidia and chief rival AMD Graphics Techonologies have dominated the high performance GPU market, pushing other manufacturers to smaller, niche roles...

and ATI Technologies
ATI Technologies
ATI Technologies Inc. was a semiconductor technology corporation based in Markham, Ontario, Canada, that specialized in the development of graphics processing units and chipsets. Founded in 1985 as Array Technologies Inc., the company was listed publicly in 1993 and was acquired by Advanced Micro...

Video In Video Out (VIVO)
Video In Video Out
Video In Video Out, usually seen as the acronym VIVO , is a graphics port which enables some video cards to have bidirectional analog video transfer through a mini-DIN connector, usually of the 9-pin variety, and a specialised splitter cable .VIVO is found on high-end ATI and NVIDIA...

port connector for GeForce
GeForce
GeForce is a brand of graphics processing units designed by Nvidia. , there have been eleven iterations of the design. The first GeForce products were discrete GPUs designed for use on add-on graphics boards, intended for the high-margin PC gaming market...

and Radeon
Radeon
Radeon is a brand of graphics processing units and random access memory produced by Advanced Micro Devices , first launched in 2000 by ATI Technologies, which was acquired by AMD in 2006. Radeon is the successor to the Rage line. There are four different groups, which can be differentiated by...

video card
Video card
A video card, Graphics Card, or Graphics adapter is an expansion card which generates output images to a display. Most video cards offer various functions such as accelerated rendering of 3D scenes and 2D graphics, MPEG-2/MPEG-4 decoding, TV output, or the ability to connect multiple monitors...

s
Bus mouse
Bus mouse
A bus mouse is a variety of PC mouse which is attached to the computer using a specialized interface...
Dension Gateway
Vizualogic Car Screens
Freebox
Freebox
The Freebox is an ADSL modem that the French internet service provider named Free provides to its ADSL subscribers.Its main use is as a high-end wireless modem , but it also allows Free to offer added services using ADSL as support, like HD television , video recording with timeshifting...

HD (SCART to Mini-Din 9 plus 2 RCA : red and white)
Kam, cetronic and numark dule CD DJ decks
SCT XCAL2 Analog Inputs
Harman/Kardon 395 3pc Speaker Set - Cable from subwoofer to the satellites for volume control

Non-standard connectors

Several non-standard sockets are designed to mate with standard mini-DIN plugs. These connectors provide extra conductors, and are used to save space by combining functions in one connector that would otherwise require two standard connectors.

Other non-standard connectors mate only with their matching connectors, and are mini-DIN connectors only in the sense of sharing the 9.5 mm plug body. These mini-DIN style plugs are not approved by the Deutsches Institut für Normung

Deutsches Institut für Normung

is the German national organization for standardization and is that country's ISO member body. DIN is a Registered German Association headquartered in Berlin...

, the German

Germany

standards body, and many applications could be considered proprietary.

(plug or male connector shown, as visible when unplugged; female sockets appear left-right reversed)