F connector

The F connector is a coaxial RF connector commonly used for "over the air" terrestrial television, cable television and universally for satellite television and cable modems, usually with RG-6/U cable or, in older installations, with RG-59/U cable.

The F Connector was invented by Eric E. Winston in the early 1950s while working for Jerrold Electronics on their development of cable television.

In the 1970s it became commonplace on VHF television antenna connections in the United States, as coaxial cables replaced twin-lead, and later for UHF also.

The F connector is inexpensive, yet has good 75 Ω impedance match for frequencies well over 1 GHz and has usable bandwidth up to several GHz. One reason for its low cost is that it commonly uses the solid conductor (center wire) of the specified types of coaxial cable as the pin of the male connector. Universally, stainless steel is used for all types of F connectors – as opposed to aluminum for Belling-Lee connectors.

This design is subject to the surface properties of the inner conductor (which must be solid wire) and is not corrosion resistant; hence waterproof versions are needed for outside use (for example, on aerials).

TOSLINK

TOSLINK (from Toshiba Link) is a standardized optical fiber connection system. Also known generically as an "optical audio cable" or just "optical cable", its most common use is in consumer audio equipment (via a "digital optical" socket), where it carries a digital audio stream from components such as CD and DVD players, DAT recorders, computers, and modern video game consoles, to an AV receiver that can decode two channels of uncompressed lossless PCM audio or compressed 5.1/7.1 surround sound such as Dolby Digital Plus or DTS-HD High Resolution Audio. Unlike HDMI, TOSLINK does not have the bandwidth to carry the lossless versions of Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio and LPCM.

Although TOSLINK supports several different media formats and physical standards, digital audio connections using the rectangular EIAJ/JEITA RC-5720 (also CP-1201 and JIS C5974-1993 F05) connector are by far the most common. The optical signal is a red light with a peak wavelength of 650 nm. Depending on the type of modulated signal being carried, other optical wavelengths may be present. A less common format is a coaxial cable ending in RCA jacks, which is found on some receivers.