I had to address a "lack of understanding" at one of the non-profits that I support. Specifically, confusion over cables.
It seems folks now rely on the type and polarity of a cable-end connector exclusively to determine "what connects to what".
In this case, I encountered a DV-DVI adapter plugged into the DP of a monitor, mated to a DVI-DVI cable which then was connected to a computer's DVI port.
And, the invariable conclusion that <something> was broken (computer, monitor, cable, etc.).
Of course, the flaw lies in the assumption that the presence of a DP connector on an adapter means it can be fitted to ANY DP "receptacle".
I had thought of imposing a ban on adapters to avoid this mix-and-match problem.
But, that is flawed as a cable can be a "very long" adapter!
Thinking about the various types of video cables, there are so few that are truly bidirectional (imposing no real restrictions on their deployment) to be considered "safe".
I can't imagine a "simple" (these folks are just "warm bodies", largely unsupervised) criteria to tell them how to regard interconnects. I.e., a DP-to-DVI cable could be seen as connecting a DVI *output* to a DP input -- even though it actually is a DP output connecting to a DVI input. Thank the folks who decided the connector should not convey its intended application!
Short of PAINTING/tagging "approved cables", is there any criteria I can give them to fix this problem going forward?