Is DVI really digital?

[Michael Culley]

I thought the old VGA plug on a video card was analog and the new DVI was completely digitial. But if that is the case why is it so
easy to convert DVI into VGA (with a $15 adaptor). I suspect it is just VGA with some extra control signals, is this true?

Cheers,
Michael Culley

 

[Michael Culley]

"Andrew" <aimcnabb@spamfreehotmail.com> wrote in message news:ha8pe01aktdtlec7233qj62i551oq54tl9@4ax.com...

try this, no idea hold old / relevant it is


http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=1577&p=1

Thanks, that answers my question. For anyone reading this it looks like DVI is completely digital but has pins that are analog for
backwards compatibility only. A DVI monitor will use the digital pins while an analog monitor will use the analog pins, which is why
it is so easy to 'convert' from DVI to VGA. Not all DVI video cards have the analog pins although most do now.

--
Michael Culley

 

[Andrew]

try this, no idea hold old / relevant it is


http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=1577&p=1

A

On Wed, 7 Jul 2004 09:09:23 +1000, "Michael Culley"
<mculleyNOSPAM@optushome.com.au> wrote:

I thought the old VGA plug on a video card was analog and the new DVI was completely digitial. But if that is the case why is it so
easy to convert DVI into VGA (with a $15 adaptor). I suspect it is just VGA with some extra control signals, is this true?

Cheers,
Michael Culley

 

[Alex Gibson]

"Michael Culley" <mculleyNOSPAM@optushome.com.au> wrote in message
news:2l0po4F5kqq4U1@uni-berlin.de...

I thought the old VGA plug on a video card was analog and the new DVI was
completely digitial. But if that is the case why is it so
easy to convert DVI into VGA (with a $15 adaptor). I suspect it is just
VGA with some extra control signals, is this true?

Cheers,
Michael Culley

Which DVI ?

There is
DVI-A analog
DVI-I analog and digital
DVI-D digital

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/D/DVI.html

http://www.datapro.net/techinfo/dvi_info.html has pictures of the
connectors

Alex

 

[Alex]

On Thu, 8 Jul 2004 10:27:36 +1000, "Michael Culley"
<mculleyNOSPAM@optushome.com.au> wrote:

"Andrew" <aimcnabb@spamfreehotmail.com> wrote in message news:ha8pe01aktdtlec7233qj62i551oq54tl9@4ax.com...
try this, no idea hold old / relevant it is


http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=1577&p=1

Thanks, that answers my question. For anyone reading this it looks like DVI is completely digital but has pins that are analog for
backwards compatibility only. A DVI monitor will use the digital pins while an analog monitor will use the analog pins, which is why
it is so easy to 'convert' from DVI to VGA. Not all DVI video cards have the analog pins although most do now.

An interesting fact I leant recently was that the 15 pin sub-d
connector used in normal analog VGA cables isn't actually designed to
carry the frequencies used by VGA. The DVI connector, OTOH, is.

So you're slightly better off using the DVI connection even if your
monitor is analog. Assuming it has one, of course.

Whether anyone could tell the difference is another matter..

Cheers,

Alex.
Ernie and bert don't live in my email address.