DVI vs D-Sub on LCD Monitor

[wmansfield]

I've been looking for a 19" LCD and found a lot of them for under $250 at Newegg.. but all of them have 15pin Dsub connectors instead of DVI. Is there really a noticable difference in the picture? I've never had the opportunity to compare them side by side.

 

[lifeguard1999]

Yes, there is a noticeable difference in picture going from VGA to DVI.

 

[Keeir]

D-Sub or VGA is an Analog Port. LCDs are digital displays (ie made up of small finate elements). Video Cards produce pictures in a digital format.

So, to do stuff on the VGA port of the LCD monitor means..
Digital --> Analog --> Digital

Even with pretty good converters there is a inevitable loss of quality.

Hypothetically, a LCD monitor could have a good enough Analog --> Digital converter so the difference would be invisible... but considering LCDs with DVI are usually "value" monitors they probably contain not so great converters.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Yes there is a noticeable difference. It's subtle at first but you notice it a lot over time. VGA just looks a bit off on an LCD - the text isn't nearly as sharp, it ghosts a lot more on certain panels (ghosting/streaking) and sometimes it can even affect colours.

I ran dual LCD's for the past year; for most of that time, one was VGA and one was DVI - the VGA one never quite looked as good (let me tell you though, VGA doesn't look bad with certain cards. The VGA on my X600 Pro looks GREAT!).

For your main screen, definitely get DVI, it helps tremendously in games, with text, etc.

 

[n7]

On a good 19" LCD, the difference between DVI & VGA is rarely noticeable, but as was mentioned, many of the LCDs w/o DVI...well, they aren't so good.

Personally, i don't see the difference at 1280x1024.
But with higher resolution LCDs, like 1600x1200, i find the difference huge.