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diskobolos · Apr 13, 2002, 08:42 PM

I just bought a sony lcd, it has hook ups for both vga and dvi. They ship with a vga to dvi cable and that's what I'm using now. Is it worth it to go dvi to dvi? Will I notice a difference in picture quality in any way?

Reason I'm asking is though dvi to dvi cables are only like $15, it seems I would also need an adc to dvi adapter (link) which is like $40 plus shipping since my card only has adc and vga, thanks to Apple going proprietary with their displays (again).

So anyone know if it would be worth it?

[edit: fix link (i hope)]

[ 04-13-2002: Message edited by: diskobolos ]

[ 05-24-2002: Message edited by: diskobolos ]

Justin W. Williams · Apr 13, 2002, 08:50 PM

Should make a difference.

Go buy the $15 part.

diskobolos · Apr 13, 2002, 10:08 PM

But I'd also have to buy the $40 adapter.. so it ends up being $55 in cables, probably $75 with shipping. Wanted to see if anyone had any testimony to see if it's worth it.. the picture quality is pretty darn good now, I don't know in which areas the dvi would improve.

larkost · Apr 13, 2002, 10:30 PM

The ADC -> DVI adaptor (Computer side being ADC) is simply a Belkin part. You can find it for much cheaper than the AppleStore. I found this out after purchasing mine. The difference between VGA and DVI is very noticeable. The only problem I have with it is that I am unable to find the correct settings for full resolution under MacOS 9... under MacOS X it just works (I think this is particular to the cube).

Drakino · Apr 14, 2002, 12:22 AM

I assume it's a Sony SDM-M81 or similar LCD, as I have one and was a bit upset over the DVI to VGA cable on a monitor with DVI and VGA inputs. Oh well, I have a cable on order and will let you know.

It should make a bit of a difference, considering the monitor can stop doing an analog to digital conversion. The DVI-A (Analog over DVI) cable I tried on mine helped eliminate some of the settings, that if they are wrong, can cause some major image issues.

I'll have my DVI cable on a Radeon 8500 in my gaming PC, but will see about borrowing an ADC to DVI converter to test the Cube video output as well.

And if you do have the SDM-M81, can you try something? Set the resolution to 1280x1024, 60HZ refresh, and drag a window around the screen. (Assuming OS X), or play a full screen movie with lots of action. Look for an odd time difference split down the screen near the left side. I noticed this on mine, and have gone through 3 monitors until I found the 75hz setting eliminates it. It seemed to be a product wide problem, as I also saw it on two other ones in the store, just wondering if it's been fixed yet. (Monitor 1 returned for tis, monitor 2 returned for a crapload of dead pixels)

diskobolos · Apr 14, 2002, 01:12 PM

Originally posted by Drakino:
I assume it's a Sony SDM-M81 or similar LCD, as I have one and was a bit upset over the DVI to VGA cable on a monitor with DVI and VGA inputs. Oh well, I have a cable on order and will let you know.

Yes it's a SDM-M81.. me too I was like wtf this is a dvi monitor why are they shipping with a vga cable? But I suppose its good otherwise I'd have to go vga - vga since I don't have dvi on my card.

And if you do have the SDM-M81, can you try something? Set the resolution to 1280x1024, 60HZ refresh, and drag a window around the screen. (Assuming OS X), or play a full screen movie with lots of action. Look for an odd time difference split down the screen near the left side.

I just dragged some windows and played some movies and didn't notice anything weird. Couldn't find any dead pixels either, overall I'm quite happy and impressed with the LCD. Only takes up 8" of space on my desk compared to 19" with my CRT and has roughly the same viewable.

Though twice after waking it from sleep the signal was yellow, I did a test and the display colors still showed rgb, so I unplugged and replugged the monitor from the cpu and it was fixed. It was suprising to see my new monitor acting funky, but it seemed to be just a cabling issue.

I already bought a dvi - dvi cable cheap off ebay, looks like mac connection sells adc - dvi for $31.. so I'll probably end up getting one sometime.

Thanks for the info.

Drakino · Apr 14, 2002, 04:25 PM

I just dragged some windows and played some movies and didn't notice anything weird.

Ok, good to know they fixed this, guess my monitor needs to make a trip back to the store. The issue wouldn't bother me except for the fact that I am playing more and more games at 1280x1024, and most default to 60hz with no way to easially change it on the PC. Oh well, possible problems like this are why I bought the protection plan on it.

And I ordered the caqble from eBay as well, just found a buy it now auction, and completed the checkout, so I should have it soon. I got a DVI Dual link cable, not sure exactly what that means, but it had all the pins so it whould work fine for what I need.

diskobolos · Apr 14, 2002, 06:27 PM

Originally posted by Drakino:
<STRONG>

Ok, good to know they fixed this, guess my monitor needs to make a trip back to the store. The issue wouldn't bother me except for the fact that I am playing more and more games at 1280x1024, and most default to 60hz with no way to easially change it on the PC.</STRONG>

Press and hold the menu button on your monitor for about 5 seconds and it will tell you the manufacture date. Mine's 2002-03, so I suppose they could have fixed some issues. Or maybe I'm just not quite sure what you're talking about, or does it do it on any screen savers, like flurry, rastafied, skyflysaver, plasma tunnel, etc?

Drakino · Apr 17, 2002, 12:07 PM

It is real easy to spot with any motion in that part of the screen, and if you see nothing odd at 1280x1024 with a 60hz refresh rate, then there is probably nothing wrong with yours. I'll check the date on mine when I get home, it's several months old now though from my ownership alone.

diskobolos · May 24, 2002, 01:39 PM

Just thought I'd post an update saying I got the belkin adc -> dvi adapter cable to use with my Sony dvi monitor. It work fine with, not sure there is any real quality difference from the vga -> dvi but some of the monitor setting are now handled automatically which I suppose it good.

Only thing, and I was wondering if anyone else was using a adc -> dvi cable so I could check if it happens to them as well, is it doesn't quite sleep properly in OS X. The screen will black out but instead of powering off it just flashes the screen test color bar graphic. So I switch input modes and then it sleeps.

Probably no one else with a similar setup but if so I thought I'd check if it happens to others as well.

Mac Zealot · May 24, 2002, 01:48 PM

The M81? Isn't that the one that's black with silver and has the controls on top?

Damn almost bought that display.. until I saw the cinema