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Video

EDID

Also called: Extended Display Identification Data

The data block a display sends back to a source describing the resolutions, refresh rates, and audio formats it accepts, so the source knows what to output.

EDID is the handshake behind 'no signal' and 'why is this laptop outputting 1024x768'. In a switched system, the source only ever sees one EDID, so a matrix feeding a 4K display and a 1080p confidence monitor has to be told which capability set to advertise — usually by locking a managed EDID rather than passing whichever display answers first.

EDID management is a commissioning task and a documentation task. Write down the EDID mode per input, because the symptom of a lost EDID setting is intermittent and indistinguishable from a cable fault.

Related terms

HDMI
The standard digital interface for carrying video, audio, control, and copy protection between sources and displays over one cable.
HDCP
Copy protection that encrypts video between source and display and refuses to pass content if any device in the chain fails to authenticate.
Matrix Switcher
A device that routes any of several video inputs to any of several outputs independently, letting multiple sources appear on multiple displays at once.
Commissioning
Systematically configuring, testing, tuning, and documenting an installed system so it verifiably performs as designed — the step between installed and working.

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