DVI or VGA?

[sindustrial777]

call me a n00b but whats the difference between dvi and vga and how do I tell which i have, because it could effect a decision I make in the near future. Thanks

 

[Petros]

DVI is digital, and a regular monitor output is analog. but you can get very cheap adapters that go from a regular monitor port to DVI. Also, HDMI is just DVI with a digital audio signal enclosed.

 

[sindustrial777]

Im learning!:lick:
I see that my graphics card has a DVI slot that isnt being used (saw a pic of it on google) so I must have analog.

Is the difference noticable between DVI and Analog?


Thanks

 

[Petros]

There won't be any visible difference on your average monitor doing average things. DVI will be necessary someday for very high resolutions, but I don't see the need right now. In fact, DVI itself will probably fade out due to the much more versatile and simple HDMI anyway.

 

[tibboh]

I have a situation where I have a low spec desktop in one room connected up to a CRT monitor. I would like to also feed a seperate monitor (wide/flat screen tv with analog plug) in another room for demo/advertising purposes.

Are there any (cheapish) sound cards out there that have two VGA outputs, or is it feasible to fit a card with VGA & DVI output, and use one those convertors to change the DVI to VGA, thereby having 2 VGA outputs?

 

[ming]

Not sure if this applies to all monitors, but DVI tends to have a lower refresh rate of 60Hz compared to 75Hz for VGA connections.

 

[X-Istence]

Not sure if this applies to all monitors, but DVI tends to have a lower refresh rate of 60Hz compared to 75Hz for VGA connections.

That is not why DVI has a lower refresh rate. Currently all VGA connections are being utilized on CRT's and Flat Screen, DVI was introduced with the flat screen, as it can push more data over the cable, DVI is simply not used with Analog, and thus never has to use over 60 Hz, my friends Panasonic TV/Monitor uses DVI, and does 75 Hz, and his is a flat screen 26".

 

[ming]

That is not why DVI has a lower refresh rate. Currently all VGA connections are being utilized on CRT's and Flat Screen, DVI was introduced with the flat screen, as it can push more data over the cable, DVI is simply not used with Analog, and thus never has to use over 60 Hz, my friends Panasonic TV/Monitor uses DVI, and does 75 Hz, and his is a flat screen 26".

Did I give a reasoning for DVI having lower refresh rate?

 

[sindustrial777]

Is the input on the monitor always the same but the computer end is different for DVI and VGA?

 

[NetRyder]

Is the input on the monitor always the same but the computer end is different for DVI and VGA?

No, displays that support DVI have two separate connectors - one for VGA and another for DVI.

VGA:

DVI:

 

[Petros]

is it feasible to fit a card with VGA & DVI output, and use one those convertors to change the DVI to VGA, thereby having 2 VGA outputs?

Yes.

 

[tibboh]

thanks petros, thats the answer I was after (but can you get cards with 2 VGA outputs? cant say i have noticed any whilst browsing)

 

[sindustrial777]

two last questions

what is the ms of the monitor and i a lower number better or a higher number and for contrast ratio higher:1 is better right?

Thanks for all help so far (rep's been given)

 

[NetRyder]

two last questions

what is the ms of the monitor and i a lower number better or a higher number and for contrast ratio higher:1 is better right?

Thanks for all help so far (rep's been given)

That's the response time of the LCD panel. It's basically a measure of the amount of time it takes for each liquid crystal in the panel to transition states from active to inactive to active again. The lower the number, the better it is, especially for fast-moving things like movies and games.

Edit: And yes, higher contrast ratios are better.

 

[sindustrial777]

ok thanks

 

[Mainframeguy]

No, displays that support DVI have two separate connectors - one for VGA and another for DVI.
...

by and large yes - but I have a couple of AOC 19" TFT's and they are virtually identical (were meant to be exactly identical) except that one of them accepts both DVI and VGA and has a menu setting to select the signal to display and the other ONLY has a DVI socket.

Incidentally DVI leads seem to set you back an awful lot more and it sems to now be quite rare for a DVI screen to ship with a lead (my first AOC did and the second did NOT!).

Just thought I would throw that information in there.... to muddy the waters further! j/k... hope it helps!

 

[sindustrial777]

by and large yes - but I have a couple of AOC 19" TFT's and they are virtually identical (were meant to be exactly identical) except that one of them accepts both DVI and VGA and has a menu setting to select the signal to display and the other ONLY has a DVI socket.

Incidentally DVI leads seem to set you back an awful lot more and it sems to now be quite rare for a DVI screen to ship with a lead (my first AOC did and the second did NOT!).

Just thought I would throw that information in there.... to muddy the waters further! j/k... hope it helps!

but would you say its worth the "set-back" to go and by the DVI cable seperatly? I planned on buying a new monitor anyways because the monitor my computer was bundeled with is a 15" 16ms e-machie E15T4. Not the best responsiveness when gaming

 

[NetRyder]

My Dell UltraSharp 1704FPT included both VGA and DVI cables.

I haven't actually tried using a VGA connection since my 6800 GT is dual-DVI and I don't have one of those DVI-to-VGA adapters. So I don't really know if there's a noticeable difference or not. I imagine there wouldn't be, until you start going up to larger, higher resolution displays like the 24" ones.

 

[Steevo]

My X1800XT has only DVI, but came with two nice adapters for DVI to VGA. I haven't used DVI much, but am very pleased with VGA still.

 

[Mainframeguy]

.... I imagine there wouldn't be, until you start going up to larger, higher resolution displays like the 24" ones.

as soemone using a three head up 19" setup with every possible permutation of TFT/CRT/DVI/VGA I can only say.... yes! I agree in principle, although somehow I seem to detect a different "luminosity" and colour temperature varying from VGA to DVI is all I would say. Remember this is direct live comparison - side by side in action - so should be accurate. I simply cannot justify the expense involved in going above 19" for the higher res.

Oh yeah and NetRyder - interesting about the leads - given Dells dominance in other ways this could be a brand tip. Lord - can you confirm if your UK shipment came with BOTH leads? Or at least DID come with DVI? (Yeah I know may not be relevant to poster, but helpful to forum to have info on this thread)