Data line
Updated: 12/30/2019 by Computer Hope
A data line may refer to any of the following:
1. When referring to a cable or wire, a data line, data cable, or data cord is a cable that's used to transmit data communications between two different points. For example, a telephone wire is considered a data line.
Tip
Many devices connected to your computer have two cables, the data cable that communicates with the computer and power cable to power the device.
Examples of data cables
There are many different types of data cables that connect to a computer. Below are additional examples of data cables used with a computer.
- Audio (e.g., speakers) - Mini plug and USB
- Camera - Firewire (IEEE-1394) and USB
- Display (e.g., monitor) - Coaxial, Composite, DisplayPort, DVI, HDMI, S-Video, and VGA
- Drives (e.g., hard drive) - EIDE/IDE, USB, SATA, SCSI, and Thunderbolt
- Mouse and keyboard - AT, PS/2, Serial, and USB
- Musical keyboard - MIDI
- Network - Cat5 cable and Fiber optic
- Printer - Parallel, SCSI, and USB
2. With computer microchips, a data line is an electrical line or circuit that carries data and determines whether a bit represents a 0 or a 1.
