Originating with the 1987 IBM PS/2 and its VGA graphics system, the 15-pin connector went on to become ubiquitous on PCs,[1] as well as many monitors, projectors and HD television sets.

[4] Ultimately all VGA hardware makers switched to standard DE-15 connectors, relegating the early variant to relative obscurity.

In both its modern and original variants, VGA utilizes multiple scan rates, so attached devices such as monitors are multisync by necessity.

The VGA interface includes no affordances for hot swapping, the ability to connect or disconnect the output device during operation, although in practice this can be done and usually does not cause damage to the hardware or other problems.

[5] In the original IBM VGA implementation, refresh rates were limited to two vertical (60 and 70 Hz) and three horizontal[dubious – discuss] frequencies, all of which were communicated to the monitor using combinations of different polarity H and V sync signals.

There are no standards defining the quality required for each resolution, but higher-quality cables typically contain coaxial wiring and insulation that make them thicker.

Adapting from HDMI or DisplayPort to VGA without an active converter is not possible because those connectors don't output analog signals.

VGA can also be adapted to SCART in some cases, because the signals are electrically compatible if the correct sync rates are set by the host PC.

Many modern graphics adapters can modify their signal in software, including refresh rate, sync length, polarity and number of blank lines.

Under these restrictive conditions, a simple circuit to combine the VGA separate synchronization signals into SCART composite sync may suffice.