Written by James Fohl

Have you ever wondered what those red, yellow, and white plugs were on the back of your television, DVD, VCR, or video game system? Most people either call them RCA plugs, or composite plugs, but that is about the extent of the knowledge of what those plugs are.

Generally, the three plugs can either be used as input or output, and they are each supposed to have a specific function. The yellow cable carries a video signal, while the red and white cables carry the left and right channels of sound. But did you know that the plugs are also used in many other many ways and have a nice history to go along with them?

RCA Jacks / Plugs Have A Long History Starting In The Early 1970's

First off, RCA plugs (what they will be called from this point fourth in this article) first came about in the early 1970's when they were introduced by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) as a replacement cable for older input output plugs. The RCA plug than became popular as it was used to connect phonograph and cassette players to stereo speakers.

Later on, RCA plugs were eventually adopted in every electronic product that required either audio or video input / output plugs. For a vast amount of time, RCA plugs reigned supreme because of its (at the time) high quality output / input, as well as its low cost.

The major problem with RCA plugs, is the fact that a plug can only utilize one wire, therefore every channel of audio requires its own RCA plug. This is why there are two RCA plugs for audio, and one for video. If you have a system with both input and output capabilities, then you are going to have a big mess of cables lying around.

The RCA Jacks Were Not Made To Handle High Quality Video

Another major problem with RCA plugs is the fact, that while audio is split into different channels, video is enclosed in one sole cable. While the single video plug is great for VCRs and video game systems, users looking for high quality output from their DVD player are going to find themselves a little bit disapointed.This is the major reason why most DVD players today come equipped with S-Video output. S-Video is much more sophisticated, and advanced than composite RCA video.


While video RCA plugs have pretty much taken a backseat to S-video and other technologies, RCA plugs are still the number one choice for audio input and output. Besides for audio and video, RCA plugs have been adopted for a wide variety of different uses including used as a power cable for some electronics, and as a way to transfer voice communications.


So the next time you are looking at those red, yellow and white plugs, think about how widespread their usage is, and try to just imagine what this world would be if RCA (Radio Corporation of America) had not invented the plugs back in the early 1970's.