An earlier attempt to promulgate an updated standard to the analog [[VGA connector]] was made by the [[Video Electronics Standards Association]] (VESA) in 1994 and 1995, with the [[VESA Enhanced Video Connector|Enhanced Video Connector]] (EVC), which was intended to consolidate cables between the computer and monitor.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vesa.org:80/standards.html |title=VESA Standards |publisher=Video Electronics Standards Association |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990117080256/http://www.vesa.org:80/standards.html |archive-date=January 17, 1999 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=Manchester99>{{cite report |first=Gary |last=Manchester |date=1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160112151649/http://www.tu-chemnitz.de/informatik/RA/news/stack/kompendium/vortraege_99/peripherie/standards/dfp/DFPwhitepap.PDF |title=The VESA Digital Flat Panel (DFP) Standard: A White Paper |publisher=VESA Marketing Committee |url=http://www.tu-chemnitz.de/informatik/RA/news/stack/kompendium/vortraege_99/peripherie/standards/dfp/DFPwhitepap.PDF |archive-date=January 12, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> EVC used a 35-pin [[Molex]] MicroCross connector and carried analog video (input and output), analog stereo audio (input and output), and data (via [[USB]] and [[FireWire]]). At the same time, with the increasing availability of digital flat-panel displays, manufacturersthe beganpriority exploringshifted to digital video transmission, towhich would remove the extra analog/digital conversion steps required for VGA and EVC;<ref name=DVI-whitepaper/>{{rp|5–6}} the EVC connector was reused by VESA, which released the P&D connector in 1997. P&D offered single-link TMDS digital video with, as an option, analog video output and data (USB and FireWire), using a similar 35-pin MicroCross connector, in which the analog audio and video input lines from EVC were repurposed to carry digital video.<ref name=DVI-whitepaper/>{{rp|4}}<ref name=VESA-P&D>{{cite web |url=http://www.vesa.org/public/PnD/pnd.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030704041337/http://www.vesa.org/public/PnD/pnd.pdf |archive-date=July 4, 2003 |url-status=dead |date=June 11, 1997 |title=VESA Plug and Display (P&D) Standard, Version 1 |publisher=Video Electronics Standards Association}}</ref>{{rp|§1.3.3}}
Because P&D was a physically large, expensive connector, somea consortium of companies developed the DFP connectorstandard (1999), which strippedwas thefocused functionalitysolely P&D down toon digital video transmission only using a 20-pin [[micro ribbon connector]] and omitted the analog video and data capabilities of P&D.<ref name=Manchester99/>{{rp|3}}<ref name=DVI-whitepaper>{{cite chosereport a|url=https://www.fpga4fun.com/files/WP_TMDS.pdf different|title=Digital priorityVisual andInterface & TMDS Extensions |date=October 2004 |publisher=Silicon Image |access-date=31 January 2023}}</ref>{{rp|4}} DVI instead chose to strip strippedjust the data functions from P&D, using a 29-pin MicroCross connector to carry digital and analog video. Critically, DVI allows dual-link TMDS signals, meaning it supports higher resolutions than the single-link P&D and DFP connectors, which led to its successful adoption as an industry standard.
