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The HTPC I'm building has a DVI output. The TV I'm connecting to has an HDMI input. Someone on another thread here told me that HDMI is basically use DVI-D with audio (which I didn't previously know). I'm somewhat confused about the connections though. HDMI cables are expensive and I have DVI cables. Rick Hart sells a DVI-HDMI plug. I'm not sure if it's two ways though, meaning can I use it to convert from DVI to HDMI and from HDMI to DVI? Or do I need to buy the right one for this? Can I put that plug on the TV and then just use a DVI cable from my HTPC to save buying an HDMI cable? Is there some advantage in having the HDMI cable?
HDMI cables really dont' need to be expensive. It's all digital so it's either on or off ... there isn't a half way. I really don't understand using cables over $300!! that is crazy.
Jaycar makes a nice high quality cable for $39 http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView...Max=&SUBCATID=
otherwise you can go to lindy.com.au and get a adaptor but that also cost $39 and doesn't have the DVI cable. So the jaycar is probably a better option as it's 1 piece.
as DVI doesn't carry Audio signal like HDMI, you will need a 3.5mm Stereo Jack Male to 2 x RCA Male Audio cable to get audio. the 3.5mm jack from your audio out of your motherboard or sound card .... and the RCA to the respective audio input of your HDMI.
you can get the audio cable also from lindy.com.au or jaycar .. they're only about $5.
I myself use a lindy DVI/HDMI converter and it's worked perfectly ... this is cos way back when I bought my plasma .. no HDMI/DVI cables exsited .. but now they're very common.
hope that helped... good luck
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Silverstone LC10M, Athlon64 3500+, Asus AN8-E Mobo 2x512mb ram, Zalman CNPS7000B-Cu, Gigabyte 6600GT 256mb, DVI-HDMI out, DigitalNOW Twin USB X 2, Logitech Harmony 520, Pioneer 434 Plasma, Onkyo Amp
as DVI doesn't carry Audio signal like HDMI, you will need a 3.5mm Stereo Jack Male to 2 x RCA Male Audio cable to get audio. the 3.5mm jack from your audio out of your motherboard or sound card .... and the RCA to the respective audio input of your HDMI.
Although the TV has speakers, I'm not using them. Sound will be carried from the HTPC to the AV unit via optical and the receiver has 6.1 speakers connected to it.
HDMI cables really dont' need to be expensive. It's all digital so it's either on or off ... there isn't a half way. I really don't understand using cables over $300!! that is crazy.
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Cables quality for digital does make a difference. As you say, it's either on or off, but intermittently OFF because of poor cable quality can make for a poor viewing experience.
HDMI Inputs on the latest televisions are not designed to be used from a computer.
If you try to do this you will run into the old overscan issue which is an absolute pain to fix and infact is a waste of time even trying to do so as you will notice only minor improvements for a major issue.
Just use the computer input on the television which will display a very nice crisp resolution at your televisions native resolution.
I'm also a bit confused about DVI.
DVI has a number of different types connectors:
DVI-D Digital only connector; 24 pins [modified D style];
DVI-A Analog only; [modified D style], I don't think this is part of the standard
DVI-I Digital and Analog [RGB]; 29 pins [modified D style]
Then there's Dual Link and Singlee Link.
My observations are:
Most VGA to DVI (passive) cables have DVI-I connectors.
Many displays use DVI-D connectors.
A DVD-I plug wont fit in a DVD-D socket.
My Asus Radeon 9250 graphics card has both VGA and DVI-I connecors on it. Can I successfully connect the DVI-I output to my LCD DVI-D input?
Is DVD-D (or DVD-I) any better than VGA?
I have found some of the answers.
VGA is essentially analogue (RGBHV) ie. the display card converts the digital signals to analoge for transmission along the cable to the monitor where they are converted back to digital.
In theory, DVI-D would be digital from the card into the monitor thereby reducing the latency of the D-A & A-D conversions.
There are some (expensive) VGA to DVI convertor boxes available. What do they do?
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Stretch
System: Case: Antec NSK2480, Mobo: ASUS P4S800-MX SE, CPU: P4 3.0G HT, RAM: 1GB DDR400, HDD: Seagate 200GB SATA, Tuner: Compro Videomate T300, VGA: HIS ATI X1650 PRO 512MB AGP, Monitor: ACER 32" LCD, Misc: Pioneer Surround Amp, Aaron speakers.
I have found some of the answers.
VGA is essentially analogue (RGBHV) ie. the display card converts the digital signals to analoge for transmission along the cable to the monitor where they are converted back to digital.
In theory, DVI-D would be digital from the card into the monitor thereby reducing the latency of the D-A & A-D conversions.
There are some (expensive) VGA to DVI convertor boxes available. What do they do?
Hi there,
Simple answer is that many users have found that VGA just works better, and if there is any difference in quality, it's hard to see it (IMHO). The latency you talk about is insignificant in reality, and DVI is not a direct digital signal into the TV from the PC, there is still conversions going on either way. Expensive VGA to DVI convertor boxes just do what they say, but IMHO (again), are a complete waste of time. As are most video convertor boxes for that matter. The more steps/conversions video (or audio to an even greater extent) has to go through, the greater the chance of crap being introduced along the way. (Can't polish a turd !).
Others may disagree, and every setup is a bit different, but I'd stick with VGA to VGA, get a good quality shielded cable, as short as possible, and enjoy!!!!!
(DVI cable quality does matter indeed by the way, but like VGA, it only becomes more critical the longer the cable is....)
My observations are:
Most VGA to DVI (passive) cables have DVI-I connectors.
They will all have DVI-I or DVI-A connectors, DVI-I is just DVI-D + DVI-A and so a DVI->VGA cable just takes the DVI-A section and changes the shape of the plug.
Quote:
My Asus Radeon 9250 graphics card has both VGA and DVI-I connecors on it. Can I successfully connect the DVI-I output to my LCD DVI-D input?
Yes, a DVI-D cable will work/fit in a DVI-I socket.
Basically DVI is designed so if you can plug it in it will work. i.e. DVI-I will accept DVI-I, DVI-D and DVI-A. DVI-D will only take DVI-D.
Quote:
Is DVD-D (or DVD-I) any better than VGA?
Yes, though in practice the amount of difference may vary from a large amount to not at all noticeable.
