You are not logged in.

#1 2009-10-30 11:12:35

Bogart
Member
From: Madrid, Spain
Registered: 2005-06-22
Posts: 272

HDMI to DVI or plain VGA?

Hi all,

I've just upgraded my old CRT monitor to an LCD screen. So far I've connected them through VGA and everything works fine, resolution (using KMS, no xorg.conf), image quality, etc...

However, the monitor has a DVI input and came with DVI cable. In theory, if I connect using this digital connection things should be better (though opinions vary sometimes). But my computer does not have DVI, it only has HDMI (apart from VGA). So the question is, will it be worth to get a DVI to HDMI converter and connect digitally the monitor to the computer or is it just a theoretical advantage that will have no real world advantages? Or might it even give me problems with resolution, HDMI output, etc...?

Anyone with experience that can advice?

Thanks.

Offline

#2 2009-10-30 11:57:07

eldragon
Member
From: Buenos Aires
Registered: 2008-11-18
Posts: 1,029

Re: HDMI to DVI or plain VGA?

if you dont experience any analogue artifacts, i wouldnt bother...

i switched from a DVI to a VGA connection a couple of monthes ago and i didnt notice any difference, other than the LCD telling me its an analogue connection.

Offline

#3 2009-10-30 12:28:41

Bogart
Member
From: Madrid, Spain
Registered: 2005-06-22
Posts: 272

Re: HDMI to DVI or plain VGA?

For now everything works fine. I don't play games, but video and any animation is smooth, and text is sharp. I might give a try to DVI at some point, but it seems there's not reason to rush about it.

Thanks for your answer.

Offline

#4 2009-10-30 16:28:19

R00KIE
Forum Fellow
From: Between a computer and a chair
Registered: 2008-09-14
Posts: 4,734

Re: HDMI to DVI or plain VGA?

Well, using vga doesn't make much sense if you can use any form of digital connection but if your graphics card doesn't have any digital output and if things are working well no need loose your sleep over it.

If you have more than one connection option then if you have all the needed cables give them all a try and pick the one that seems to work better.


R00KIE
Tm90aGluZyB0byBzZWUgaGVyZSwgbW92ZSBhbG9uZy4K

Offline

#5 2009-10-30 19:54:20

Bogart
Member
From: Madrid, Spain
Registered: 2005-06-22
Posts: 272

Re: HDMI to DVI or plain VGA?

R00KIE wrote:

Well, using vga doesn't make much sense if you can use any form of digital connection but if your graphics card doesn't have any digital output and if things are working well no need loose your sleep over it.

If you have more than one connection option then if you have all the needed cables give them all a try and pick the one that seems to work better.

Yes, in theory it does sound stupid to convert the digital signal from the computer to analog, and then again to digital on the LCD side. But I was wondering if it does make any real difference to use all digital. I've heard from some users that digital will give a sharper image, but I've also heard from others that they get better results with VGA. That's why I was asking for advice from someone who has tested both.

My card has HDMI, but no DVI. My monitor has DVI but no HDMI. I have a DVI cable. So I just need a DVI to HDMI converter that costs a few bucks to try out the digital setup. I'll get one when I have the chance and test if it's any better.

Offline

#6 2009-10-30 20:43:28

toxygen
Member
Registered: 2008-08-22
Posts: 713

Re: HDMI to DVI or plain VGA?

on my PC, with an nvidia card, on vga i cant get 1920x1200 on console, but i can with DVI.  nvidia-utils also shows extra information not available when not using DVI


"I know what you're thinking, 'cause right now I'm thinking the same thing. Actually, I've been thinking it ever since I got here:
Why oh why didn't I take the BLUE pill?"

Offline

#7 2009-10-31 00:04:39

R00KIE
Forum Fellow
From: Between a computer and a chair
Registered: 2008-09-14
Posts: 4,734

Re: HDMI to DVI or plain VGA?

The differences that people may see when using different interfaces may be due to monitors that have a poor factory setup, some will have very good color reproduction if you connect them with a vga cable and poor color reproduction when connected with dvi, for other monitors it is the opposite.

One thing you can be sure with a digital connection is that you don't need to care about adjusting the size of the image to fit the whole screen, that's a plus (for me at least), I've seen cases where the analog connection picks up noise, it's not that the image isn't sharp, but solid colors are not solid anymore, not very noticeable but you can tell something is wrong.


R00KIE
Tm90aGluZyB0byBzZWUgaGVyZSwgbW92ZSBhbG9uZy4K

Offline

#8 2009-11-03 16:57:37

Bogart
Member
From: Madrid, Spain
Registered: 2005-06-22
Posts: 272

Re: HDMI to DVI or plain VGA?

Thanks everyone for the input.

I decided to get an adapter and connect the monitor digitally via HDMI. Mostly because I thought it might help to solve a bug I've been experiencing and that required to build my own kernels with a hack-patch.

So I've now tested it with the HDMI and I can say I can't notice any difference in image quality or anything else. It all looks exactly the same for what I can say (for the record, this is a Dell 2209wa monitor, 22" 1680x1050, IPS panel, very nice for the price).

But it did solve the bug for me, so I'm staying with this digital setup! smile

Offline

Board footer

Powered by FluxBB