DVI vs Analog

[merk]

I just got an LCD monitor yesterday (Samsung 930b). It has both DVI and analog and my video card supports both as well. I only have a analog cable.

Will i see any difference if i get a DVI cable? I found some online for $10-$15 plus shipping.

Is it likely to avoid any potential problems? I havent hreally had a chance to really test out the monitor yet, but so far i havent noticed any problems. The only thing i've seen which didnt look as good as i thought it should was a dvd. i tried playing a dvd (blade 3) and the video quality seemed grainier then i thought it should be. although i guess that could just be because the video quality is lower then the quality of the monitor. The dvd looks fine on a tv.

 

[cartmann]

that´s a good question! I wanna know that too! =D

 

[ryanv12]

Your LCD didn't come with a DVI cable? Strange.

Well, I noticed the difference when I hooked up two 2005FPW's right next to each other on the different cables, but that also has a higher resolution. I would probably just get the DVI anyways.

 

[SynthDude2001]

I would generally avoid using any LCD that's not connected via DVI, if I can avoid it. That said, it's not likely to be as big of a deal on a 19" (1280x1024) LCD as it is on mine (1680x1050) and larger ones, but still...

 

[merk]

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001
I would generally avoid using any LCD that's not connected via DVI, if I can avoid it. That said, it's not likely to be as big of a deal on a 19" (1280x1024) LCD as it is on mine (1680x1050) and larger ones, but still...

why do you avoid it? do you see a difference?

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: merk

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001
I would generally avoid using any LCD that's not connected via DVI, if I can avoid it. That said, it's not likely to be as big of a deal on a 19" (1280x1024) LCD as it is on mine (1680x1050) and larger ones, but still...

why do you avoid it? do you see a difference?

I see a big difference on my monitor, yeah (edit: specifically- there's a little 'ghosting', and it's just not as clear as over DVI). But like I said, my monitor is somewhat higher resolution than yours, and at higher resolutions you're kind of pushing the limits of an analog signal - in addition to the fact that a VGA signal on a LCD monitor has to go through two conversions (D->A on the video card and then A->D in the monitor again), which will never look as good as the original image.

You can probably run that LCD with no real problems over VGA - my experiences are based on bigger LCD's with higher resolutions.

Still, if you can get a DVI cable pretty cheaply ($10-15), it wouldn't be a bad investment at all. I am somewhat surprised that your monitor didn't come with one though.

 

[merk]

yeah i was surprised it didnt come with one either. I just thought the dvi cables were too expensive since my initial search was turning up prices 30, 50 or even 60 dollars. After i digged around a bit i found the cheaper ones. I'll probably order a DVI cable since i was considering buying a 2nd 17 or 15 inch lcd to have dual displays anyhow. or maybe another 19 inch if i feel greedy

 

[Unkno]

don't buy branded dvi cables...they show no difference when compared to generic. Generic dvi cables are only $15 while brand ones are more like $30/50.

Btw, both the samsung 730b and 930b only come with analog cables (no dvi cables)

 

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[Josh7289]

The thing about playing DVDs, was that in full screen?

I'll explain further when you reply

 

[VIAN]

First of all, with DVI, your Contrast and everything is prety much set automatically. I don't know if this is the best setting, but lets hope it is. So all I can play with is the brightness and the color. If you have auto adjust, I think that's only available via DVI. And if you go above 17" DVI provides better picture quality by reducing interference or something to that nature.