DVI-D to DVI-A / I Advice

[deanknox]

Please help!!

I have just bought a Hitachi 32LD7200 32" LCD TV and i'm overjoyed with it. I have it all connected up and working fine.

I thought I would connect the LCD to my computer as it has a HDMI and a DVI-D [::::::::-] socket. My PC has a the usual connections at the back. VGA, S-Video and what I think is a DVI-A [:::::::: :-:] socket (It has the numerous single pins, the flat horizontal pin with four individual pins around it). My problem is which cable to buy?

I bought a DVI-I cable (Digital and Analogue I think?) but this would not go into the LCD as it didn't have the 4 pin slots around the flat cable.

Can anybody help me as no so called 'experts' in shops seem to know!

Thanks in advance

Dean

[edtyct]

Dean,

If you have a DVI-A connector from your PC, you're out of luck. It will look like the one below.

http://www.pacificcable.com/Photos/DVI-A-Male-Connector.jpg
DVI-A and DVI-D, which is the Hitachi's format, are incompatible. DVI-I is compatible with both A and D, but not for cross-conversion. In other words, you can't use a DVI-I cable between a DVI-A device and a DVI-D device, only between the same format. It looks like you'll have to find another way to connect the two units, unless you actually have DVI-D on both ends.

Ed

[deanknox]

I know it definately has the 4 pins around the flat one on the PC, but not sure how many individual pins it has. Are all analogue ports the same?

If this is the case what are my options? Can I:

1) replace my video card to be digital DVI socket?
2) fit a HDMI port to my PC?
3) What other connections can I use VGA --> DVI-D?

Which option is the cheapest, I am not too bothered about quality of image as long as the same as a VGA picture.

Dean

[edtyct]

Dean,

I'll answer here instead of privately to air it out for others to contribute. I would think that you'd be able to get a video card that had a DVI-D output. I'm not much of a computer person, but I would also think that although this option would preserve video quality best, it would also be more expensive than the other viable option--using a VGA to DVI-D adapter, which would lose resolution. Digital to digital is always the preferred choice when quality of image is at stake. You might want to make sure which PC resolutions your Hitachi is able to reproduce.

Ed

[deanknox]

Thaks i'll look into the DVI-D card.

But if I buy a DVI-D to VGA aren't I mixing Digital and Analogue signals? I thought that was not possible?

[edtyct]

Misleading at best, and wrong at worst, on my part. Conversion of VGA analog to DVI digital (both being RGB formats) is possible with an adaptor, which is more like a box than a cable or cable end, since it has a bit of work to do. The Gefen version that I've seen costs about $300. I don't know what a decent card would cost, maybe less. But I still think that it's the better bet for image quality, since it would avoid an analog to digital conversion.

Sorry for the confusion. My knowledge of video cards and their prices is sadly small these days.

Ed