DVI cable length/quality?

BennyC · 5 Mar 2007 at 15:35

Hi guys,

I recently moved my bedroom round a bit, and my Tv is now futher away from my PC than it was before. I connect my PC to my TV to watch films through as it elimantes the need for a DVD player.

I have a x1800xt graphics card which is dual DVI. My samsung Tv has VGA input, so I had one of those DVI to VGA blocks, but it is quite bulky and cant use it due to space behind my PC.

So it occured to me as opposed to try and find a 4-5 meter DVI to VGA cable, why not buy a 3 meter DVI cable, then convert it to VGA by the conector block and then run the VGA into my TV.

Is this a good idea? will I loose and signal quality or anything like that? as the entire cable run will be split 3 meters and then run for a further 1 and a half?

Or is a DVI to VGA cable thats 5 meters long a better option? and one last question is £16 a reasonable price for a 3 meter DVI lead?

Sorry for the lengthy post!

Thanks in advance

Benny C

james.miller · 5 Mar 2007 at 15:39

erm. well, theoretically keeping it digital (dvi) as far as possible is the best idea because as long its its digital it'll be far less suseptable to interference. tbh neither should cause too many problems for you. I use a dvi>vga adaptor at my pc end, and a 10m vga lead to connect that to my sony bravia. the picture quality is still pin sharp and the only interference you can see is on a test image at 1920x1080. Thats more than acceptable considering a 10m vga lead is about the same price as a 3m dvi lead.

BennyC · 5 Mar 2007 at 15:45

okay dokey, cheers for that

Also could you tell me the difference between DVI-I and DVI-D in terms of cable as im not sure which one I need? Is one male and one female?

Thanks

james.miller · 5 Mar 2007 at 15:50

dvi-i is for both analogue and digital transmission. dvi-d is digital only

you only need dvi-d for pc use, but if the price is negligable then go for a dvi-i lead

edit: a slight adjustment, if you want to use a dvi>vga converter, you HAVE to use a dvi-i lead apparently. makes sense seeing as vga is analogue dvi-d doesn't carry an analogue signal

lol

BennyC · 5 Mar 2007 at 15:53

james.miller said:
dvi-i is for both analogue and digital transmission. dvi-d is digital only you only need dvi-d for pc use, but if the price is negligable then go for a dvi-i lead

DVI-I it is then.

Iv got a VGA lead from the back of my TV, then ill have the converter block to take it to DVI, then it'l be DVI to the DVI on my graphics card.

Sorted. Thanks for your help mate