A universal cable interface and associated system and method are provided
for coupling a transmission medium to a processing device. The universal
cable interface can selectively operate in a first (input) mode and a
second (output) mode. The universal cable interface can also handle
different types of data, such as standard definition video data and high
definition video data. When operating in the first mode, the universal
cable interface may receive serial data over the transmission medium and
convert the serial data into a parallel format for transmission to the
processing device. When operating in the second mode, the universal cable
interface may receive parallel data from the processing device and
convert the parallel data into a serial format for transmission over the
transmission medium.