What type of video connection is this?
Most monitors and projectors and modern televisions accept HDMI and VGA input.
Working out what type of connector you have on your PC or laptop can be something of a challenge. And when you're responsible for hooking up a speaker's laptop to the projector, it can be even more of a challenge to find out what type of video output connections THEIR laptop has.
This picture describes the most common types of video connectors:
What about Macs?
Video connections on Macs are many and varied. And to paraphrase Alice, "They change so!"
Who better to explain them than Apple?
How do you cope with all this?
If you're the presenter, do yourself and the AV techs a favor. ALWAYS arrive with both HDMI and VGA adapters for your computer(s). That is, adapters with an HDMI or VGA connector at one end and a {whatever your computer has} connector at the other.
If you're the AV tech, you'll want to assemble a set of pretty much every video adapter type you can think of. A couple of each of the more common ones is a very good idea for times when you have to hook up multiple computers. Or when the presenter walks off with one of yours.
Where do you find all this stuff?
Large computer stores (usually rather expensive), Amazon and the other usual suspects.
But my personal favorite (thank you, PowerPoint MVP Dave Paradi for this and other bits of sage advice) is Monoprice.com. They've got an amazing selection of adapters, cables, converters and just about anything else you'd need. The quality is excellent and the prices are the best I've seen anywhere.
No, I don't get a commission.
Our friends at Chabos (PowerPoint MVP Chantal Bosse and her husband/partner Patrice Perras sell a nice Speaker Kit that has most of what you'll need to connect most computers and projectors, all in a nice clear plastic box. Like so:
Nope. STILL no commission.