IDC is Insulation Displacement Technology and was designed to make the connection between multi-way cable and connectors quicker, easier and more reliable than hand-soldering the equivilent number and pitch of discrete wires.
IDC cable, or ribbon cable, is specially designed for use in this system and has a red stripe down one side to make orientation of the connectors simple. Normally, the connector is orientated so that pin 1 is on the striped side of the cable.
The IDC connector has jaw-like contacts so that when the connector and bar are squeezed tightly together around the wire, the contacts go through the cable insulation and press against the wires within the cable to make a good firm connection. The connector's contacts are arranged in two or four off-set rows so that there can be no chance of accidental short-circuits from one wire to the next.
An optional strain relief bar is available on the IDC sockets for applications where the cable might experience excessive pulling that could cause the connector to pull through the cable, for example within a computer where consumers pull the connectors by the cable to change or move the cable.
The cable with IDC socket can be connected to a PCB using a shrouded header. Shrouded headers are available with latches to hold the cable firmly in place - short latches for IDC sockets without strain relief, long latches for IDC sockets with strain relief.
