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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Consumer Hardware & Components > VGA & DVI - the difference?

VGA & DVI - the difference?
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mduell
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May 10, 2007, 07:28 PM
 
Yea, HDMI is just DVI+audio with a different connector.
     
mduell  (op)
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May 10, 2007, 07:30 PM
 
Yea, HDMI is just DVI+audio with a different connector, so it will work with your TV.
     
Andhee
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Jun 10, 2007, 02:10 PM
 
Hey people, i've just been thinking, is there any noticeable difference in the quality between VGA cables and DVI cables? Atm I use a VGA cable with my laptop going through to my external monitor and the quality is exceptional, im just wondering, what better is DVI because I might be using two different monitors but one of them only has a VGA input whereas my main monitor has both VGA and DVI and I don't really think I can be bothered spending £30 to get two adaptors...

Please give me your thoughts.
     
mduell  (op)
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Jun 10, 2007, 02:42 PM
 
DVI carries a digital signal, so there's no quality loss. VGA carries an analog signal, which is more prone to quality loss/degradation/noise/etc.

For LCDs you want DVI, but for CRTs VGA is the only option.
     
mduell  (op)
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Jun 10, 2007, 02:45 PM
 
DVI is digital, so there's no signal degradation, and it looks sharper/better. VGA is analog, so it's prone to signal degradation/noise/etc and looks a little fuzzier.

With LCDs you want DVI, but with CRTs VGA is really the only option.
A DVI cable is only like $5 from reasonable places.
     
mduell  (op)
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Jun 10, 2007, 02:47 PM
 
DVI is digital, so there's no signal degradation, and it looks sharper/better. VGA is analog, so it's prone to signal degradation/noise/etc and looks a little fuzzier.

With LCDs you want DVI, but with CRTs VGA is really the only option.
A DVI cable is only like $5 from reasonable places.
     
Andhee
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Jun 10, 2007, 04:19 PM
 
Ahhh but wait, I've just spoke to one of my highly intelligent geeky friends, and he says I can run DVI through the HDMI port on the 40" tv which I plan on doing on odd occasions, so if I bought a DVI to HDMI cable, and a mini-dvi to dvi adaptor, i'd be fairly sorted in the lounge and in my room. How convenient.
     
cgc
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Jun 10, 2007, 06:13 PM
 
Does VGA really degrade over a good quality shielded 3 foot long cable? I doubt it's even noticable. Digital doesn't degrade, it will either work or not work. I think the thing to look at is minimizing conversions to/from analog/digital.
     
   
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