Which DVI Cable?

Conrad11 · 2 Dec 2007 at 21:46

Hi there,

On my graphics cards i have an output DVI-I (Dual link) according to the picture here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVI.

The input on my monitor is DVI-D (dual link)

What sort of cable am i looking for. DVI-D -> DVI-I or will a DVI-D -> DVI-D suffice?

Thanks.

RobH · 2 Dec 2007 at 22:22

Conrad11 said:
Hi there,

On my graphics cards i have an output DVI-I (Dual link) according to the picture here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVI.

The input on my monitor is DVI-D (dual link)

What sort of cable am i looking for. DVI-D -> DVI-I or will a DVI-D -> DVI-D suffice?

Thanks.

DVI-D to DVI-D (or DVI-I to DVI-I) will do fine, there is no such thing as a DVI-D to DVI-I as you would have pins that aren't connected to the other end.

Conrad11 · 2 Dec 2007 at 22:24

Well my monitor is a DVI-D, so surely it will not accept a DVI-I input?

Its a Philips 190B4.

Has VGA and DVI-D outputs.

RobH · 2 Dec 2007 at 22:27

Conrad11 said:
Well my monitor is a DVI-D, so surely it will not accept a DVI-I input?

Yeah it will there is only one connector it's just wired differently depending on the signal being output. DVI-I uses extra pins to transmit an analog signal (think of it as DVI-D + analog). That's why you have these D-Sub to DVI adapters with graphics cards that have 2x DVI ports.

RobH · 2 Dec 2007 at 22:39

Conrad11 said:
Its a Philips 190B4.

Has VGA and DVI-D outputs.

The reason it has a DVI-D input and not a DVI-I input is because the monitor doesn't accept an analog signal through the DVI port (that's why there is a VGA port too). Most modern graphics cards have 2x DVI-I port which means they can output either a digital signal or analog RGB signal from each port. If you hook up a monitor using a DVI to VGA adapter then the card will output analog VGA, if you kook it up to a DVI-D device then it will output digital.

Hopefully this makes sense, DVI-I is basically two different signals that use the same cable but not at the same time and DVI-D is digital signal only.

Conrad11 · 2 Dec 2007 at 22:55

Ah right.

Any advantage of me using DVI over VGA or this particular monitor?

peetee · 3 Dec 2007 at 00:43

hd-dvd/bluray playback, no loss of signal strength.

Something along those lines. Its better to keep it all digital instead of it having to be converted to analog and then digital again. DVI will have replaced VGA soon enough, shocked that my parents TV had a VGA input and not a DVI though!

Conrad11 · 3 Dec 2007 at 21:47

Does it matter if its Dual Link or Single Link?

What's the difference?

Spyhop · 3 Dec 2007 at 22:13

Dual Link mode (still passed along a single cable) is needed for resolutions above 1920x1200. Using a Dual Link capable cable for lower resolutions is also fine.

RobH · 3 Dec 2007 at 22:29

Conrad11 said:
Does it matter if its Dual Link or Single Link?

What's the difference?

Dual Link has more bandwidth and therefore supports a higher resolution if your display is 1920 x 1200 or less then you only need a single link DVI cable. A dual link cable will still work fine, it just has extra pins connected.

Conrad11 · 3 Dec 2007 at 22:36

If I bought a DVI monitor that did a resolution of 1280*1024, would it most likely come with a Dual link or a single link cable?

Lol - i know that sounds like a stupid question, but im just interested

RobH · 3 Dec 2007 at 22:41

Conrad11 said:
If I bought a DVI monitor that did a resolution of 1280*1024, would it most likely come with a Dual link or a single link cable?

Lol - i know that sounds like a stupid question, but im just interested

Hard to say, you may be luck if you even get a DVI cable, some manufacturers only give VGA if the display has DVI & VGA. More than likely it would be a dual-link DVI though, mine came with a dual link cable (I think most DVI cables you can buy will be dual link just because it's not much more effort to connect all the pins). Of course you'd have to also check that your graphics card can do resolutions of 1920 x 1200 and above over DVI-D.