How Many Pins Are on a Single-Link DVI-D Connector?

A standard single-link DVI-D connector features 19 pins: an 18-pin digital grid arranged in three rows of six, alongside one wide, flat grounding blade. Because DVI-D handles digital-only signals, it completely lacks the four analog pins commonly found surrounding the blade on DVI-I connectors. This configuration allows a single-link connection to drive video resolutions up to 1920×1200 at a 60 Hz refresh rate.

Pin Configuration and Physical Layout

Understanding the structure of a single-link DVI-D connector requires looking at how its pins are divided between digital transmission and physical grounding:

• The Digital Grid (18 Pins): The connector contains three horizontal rows of eight possible slots. In a single-link setup, the middle two vertical columns remain unpopulated, leaving two blocks of nine pins (or three rows of six active pins). These 18 pins carry the primary Transition-Minimized Differential Signaling (TMDS) channels, clock signals, Display Data Channel (DDC) lines for plug-and-play identification, and 5V power.
• The Ground Blade (1 Flat Pin): Located to the side of the main grid, this flat horizontal blade serves strictly as a ground reference for the cable shielding. In single-link DVI-D, this blade stands entirely alone without any surrounding pins.

Single-Link vs. Dual-Link DVI-D

The primary physical difference between DVI-D variants lies in the digital pin count. While single-link DVI-D uses 18 grid pins plus the flat blade (19 contact points total), dual-link DVI-D populates all 24 positions in the 3×8 grid alongside the blade (25 contact points total).

The extra six pins in a dual-link cable form a secondary TMDS data transmitter link. This doubles the available video bandwidth, enabling older digital displays to achieve resolutions up to 2560×1600 at 60 Hz or 1920×1080 at 120 Hz, which single-link connectors cannot support.

DVI-D vs. DVI-I Pin Differences

Another common point of confusion is distinguishing DVI-D from DVI-I:

• DVI-D (Digital Only): Designed exclusively for digital displays, omitting any analog VGA compatibility. The flat ground blade is isolated with empty space above and below it.
• DVI-I (Integrated Digital and Analog): Supports both digital panels and analog CRT/VGA monitors using passive adapters. A single-link DVI-I connector features the same 18-pin digital grid and ground blade, but adds 4 additional analog pins (two above and two below the flat blade) for red, green, blue, and horizontal sync signals, bringing its total to 23 contact points.