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There’s an industry trend of referring to miniaturized BNC connectors for video as “Mini BNC”. While there is an actual connector on the market called Mini BNC, most often manufacturers and sales people are actually referring to something else. On closer inspection, the connector turns out to be DIN 1.0/2.3 or HDBNC.
Now why is this a problem? Because people tend to believe the manufacturer and their representatives when they say a product is supposed to operate a certain way or has a certain compatibility. Relying on false information when purchasing technology can lead to the obvious expense of wasting money on the purchasing the wrong thing, but has more far reaching consequences. Using the wrong technology can cause embarrassment and cause a system to not perform as intended. This leads to damaged reputations and lost business.
So lets clear this up. DIN isn’t something exotic or new. It’s an acronym for the Deutsches Institut fur Normung (DIN), the German national standards organization. So it’s foreign you say! About as foreign as an IBM PC or Commodore 64. Both of which were very popular personal computers made by American companies. The automotive industry also has many connectors that follow a DIN standard – so it’s also in your car.
In response to a question thread about whether mini BNC or DIN was supposed to be used, one manufacturer representative responded “whatever that is”. Really? The spokesperson for a manufacturer doesn’t know what the standard connection on their company’s flagship devices are called? Moreover, marketing materials and documentation, according to reports, also references the near-mythical “Mini BNC.”
Now I’m not saying the purple cow doesn’t exist. Atomos, for example used “Mini BNC” on their first iteration of the Samurai portable digital video recorder. These are NOT DIN 1.0/2.3 connectors. Those who have been using Blackmagic Design and other manufacturer devices for years are quite familiar with the DIN 1.0/2.3 standard as they are often used when the device designer wants a high density array of video connections to their product. Livestream.com’s Live Stream Studio devices, for example feature this connector, as they are based on Blackmagic Design I/O products that use this high density DIN connector. So referring to “mini BNC” for DIN 1.3/2.0 connections can cause confusion, frustration, and ultimately customer dissatisfaction.
The connector is not new, in fact DIN 1.3/2.0 has been around since the 90’s. That’s 30 years ago. Admittedly, the name is stupid. But not unusual, as standards often have strange names like SMPTE 2110, AES67, etc. Most would find it hard to remember SMPTE ST-2082 as opposed to the much sexier “12G SDI”. But to use one term (miniBNC) to refer to another thing entirely (DIN 1.0/2.3) is nothing short of confusing.
Then there is the high density HDBNC connector from Amphenol. It has also been referred to by some as “Mini BNC” connectors. It is a twist lock connector similar to a standard BNC but quite unlike the push-pull action of the DIN 1.0/2.3 connector. This connector is mechanically superior to the DIN connector because it doesn’t introduce wobble and it is terminated in the sams was as a traditionally BNC. Because of the sturdy connection the electrical contacts pass signal better than other miniaturized video connectors and therefore is a good fit for higher frequency video signals.
If this article is TLDR, try this 30 second video that should clear up the differences in connectors for you.
https://www.savweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/img_2728.mov
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