Functional evaluation and history of TRS connector
2017-11-13

A TRS connector (tip, ring, sleeve) is a common family of connector typically used for analog signals including audio. It is cylindrical in shape, typically with three contacts, although sometimes with two (a TS connector) or four (a TRRS connector).


It is also termed an audio jack, phone jack, phone plug, and jack plug. Specific models are termed stereo plug, mini-jack, mini-stereo, headphone jack, tiny telephone connector and bantam plug.


The TRS connector was invented for use in telephone switchboards in the 19th century and is still widely used, both in its original 1⁄4 in (exactly 6.35 mm) size and in miniaturized versions: 3.5 mm (approx. 1⁄8 in) and 2.5 mm (approx. 3⁄32 in). The connector's name is an initialism derived from the names of three conducting parts of the plug: tip, ring, and sleeve— hence TRS.


In the UK, the terms jack plug and jack socket are commonly used for the respective male and female TRS connectors.In the US, a stationary (more fixed) electrical connector is called a "jack".The terms phone plug and phone jack are sometimes used to refer to TRS connectors,but are also sometimes used colloquially to refer to RJ11 and older telephone plugs and the corresponding jacks that connect wired telephones to wall outlets (the similar terms phono plug and phono jack (or in the UK, phono socket) refer to RCA connectors common in consumer HiFi and Audio Visual equipment). In conversation, the diameter is often added to specify which size — quarter-inch phone plug or 3.5 mm phone jack for the unbalanced two-channel three-contact version, and balanced TRS jack or TRS phone plug for the balanced one-channel three-contact version.