ribbon cable (hardware) A type of flat multicore cable with cores positioned side-by-side, making it quick and relatively easy to clamp an Insulation Displacement Connector (IDC) across all cores.
Ribbon cables typically have grey insulation with cores on a 0.050" pitch and a red stripe marking Pin 1. They are less resilient than screened, multicore cable and are usually used inside equipment where little movement or plugging and unplugging are expected. A common use is connecting a disk drive to the motherboard in a PC. Last updated: 2007-07-21
