DVI vs VGA : Demonstrate that DVI is better ... how ?

NoobyDoo

Senior member
Nov 13, 2006
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I remember reading a thread here ( or at SPCR ) where a forum member had asked if DVI is really better than VGA. Another member had replied with a specific example to demonstrate that DVI was better. I think it was a image with alternating white and black lines.

Can someone please point me to that thread. Tried search, failed.

Thanks.
 

alcoholbob

Diamond Member
May 24, 2005
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I guess this could be like a component vs HDMI thing...depends on the quality of the receiving equipment.
 

NoobyDoo

Senior member
Nov 13, 2006
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Thanks. Not exactly sure if that is the image I was referring to, but it will do.
 

MarcVenice

Moderator Emeritus <br>
Apr 2, 2007
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Whats the definitive answer? I bought a vga cable for a friend of mine, so he could hook up his LCD tv to his laptop. I played a movie on it for a short while, and it looked good to me. What's the real difference he and I will notice between my LCD-tv hooked up with dvi to hdmi, and his hooked up with vga to vga? I pretty much told him there is no real difference ( and he didnt have any other output then vga so he had no choice .. )
 

Jabbernyx

Senior member
Feb 2, 2009
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By its nature, a digital signal has a higher noise margin. So for crappy transmission mediums, digital would probably be better, though it is essentially a broader band system.
 

taltamir

Lifer
Mar 21, 2004
13,576
6
76
with DVI a lot of "bugs" about positioning have been solved. You don't have to center or adjust your picture, ever... it is painless to switch resolution because the monitor always unambiguously knows what goes where, and everything is always perfectly centered. and aligned.
 
Apr 20, 2008
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DVI has a much cleaner look to it. When i only had a VGA cable to my Acer i saw all kinds of tiny artifacts (like extremely little semi-transparent bugs) that annoyed me. I bought a DVI cable and problem solved.
 

grjr

Member
Mar 3, 2004
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You don't need any sort of special picture to notice the difference between VGA and DVI, all you need is an LCD with both VGA and DVI inputs. Try one and then the other, the DVI input will look much sharper than the VGA input. The problem with VGA inputs on digital displays is that the image created within the PC is digital and must be converted to an analog signal to be output on a VGA interface. The digital display then takes that analog signal and must convert into a digital form to be displayed on the screen. These digital to analog and analog to digital conversions are absent in a pure digital connection and display thus giving you a cleaner image on the screen.
 

dug777

Lifer
Oct 13, 2004
24,778
4
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I've compared DVI and VGA in the past on an LCD screen (iirc a BenQ 19"), and could see no difference personally, neither could the few other people I asked.

Card was a 9600XT.

I remember hearing that the quality of the DACs makes a big difference, and that laptops are usually awful in that regard?
 

techmanc

Golden Member
Aug 20, 2006
1,212
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Originally posted by: dug777
I've compared DVI and VGA in the past on an LCD screen (iirc a BenQ 19"), and could see no difference personally, neither could the few other people I asked.

Card was a 9600XT.

I remember hearing that the quality of the DACs makes a big difference, and that laptops are usually awful in that regard?

Then that would leave me to believe you monitor was not giving a good picture
 

Painman

Diamond Member
Feb 27, 2000
3,728
29
86
My 2690 has both DVI and VGA inputs; despite its best efforts to clean up an analog signal, it still looks like total crap compared to DVI. It's like night and day. Blurry and shadowy vs. clean and crisp.
 

rbV5

Lifer
Dec 10, 2000
12,632
0
0
Originally posted by: techmanc
Originally posted by: dug777
I've compared DVI and VGA in the past on an LCD screen (iirc a BenQ 19"), and could see no difference personally, neither could the few other people I asked.

Card was a 9600XT.

I remember hearing that the quality of the DACs makes a big difference, and that laptops are usually awful in that regard?

Then that would leave me to believe you monitor was not giving a good picture

Most people aren't going to notice the difference on smaller digital displays or CRT based displays like projectors and RPTV's, there's not that big of a difference or no difference at all. Larger and higher resolution digital displays however, digital connections like DVI or HDMI "should" give you the best possible PQ.

Its plenty noticable on my Plasma, the HDMI has a much sharper, crisper PQ than component or the VGA connectors.
 

techmanc

Golden Member
Aug 20, 2006
1,212
7
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Originally posted by: rbV5
Originally posted by: techmanc
Originally posted by: dug777
I've compared DVI and VGA in the past on an LCD screen (iirc a BenQ 19"), and could see no difference personally, neither could the few other people I asked.

Card was a 9600XT.

I remember hearing that the quality of the DACs makes a big difference, and that laptops are usually awful in that regard?

Then that would leave me to believe you monitor was not giving a good picture

Most people aren't going to notice the difference on smaller digital displays or CRT based displays like projectors and RPTV's, there's not that big of a difference or no difference at all. Larger and higher resolution digital displays however, digital connections like DVI or HDMI "should" give you the best possible PQ.

Its plenty noticable on my Plasma, the HDMI has a much sharper, crisper PQ than component or the VGA connectors.

I have a 19in Hans-G monitor that has DVD VGA inputs and I can definitely see a difference see a Sharper image with the DVI connector

Heres a link to the montior.................

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16824254034
 

secretanchitman

Diamond Member
Apr 11, 2001
9,352
23
91
i usually run the nvidia calibration tool, and when i used the vga connection (old 17" lcd), there would be blurry lines and not that great IQ unless i pressed auto calibrate or whatever on the monitor. however, when i got my 2407wfp and i used dvi on it, those blurry lines in the nvidia calibration tool were gone!

dvi > vga.
 

rbV5

Lifer
Dec 10, 2000
12,632
0
0
Originally posted by: techmanc
Originally posted by: rbV5
Originally posted by: techmanc
Originally posted by: dug777
I've compared DVI and VGA in the past on an LCD screen (iirc a BenQ 19"), and could see no difference personally, neither could the few other people I asked.

Card was a 9600XT.

I remember hearing that the quality of the DACs makes a big difference, and that laptops are usually awful in that regard?

Then that would leave me to believe you monitor was not giving a good picture

Most people aren't going to notice the difference on smaller digital displays or CRT based displays like projectors and RPTV's, there's not that big of a difference or no difference at all. Larger and higher resolution digital displays however, digital connections like DVI or HDMI "should" give you the best possible PQ.

Its plenty noticable on my Plasma, the HDMI has a much sharper, crisper PQ than component or the VGA connectors.

I have a 19in Hans-G monitor that has DVD VGA inputs and I can definitely see a difference see a Sharper image with the DVI connector

Heres a link to the montior.................

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16824254034

I don't doubt it, but thats not necessarily going to be everyones experience. Your displays could simply have poor analog support.
 

dug777

Lifer
Oct 13, 2004
24,778
4
0
Originally posted by: techmanc
Originally posted by: dug777
I've compared DVI and VGA in the past on an LCD screen (iirc a BenQ 19"), and could see no difference personally, neither could the few other people I asked.

Card was a 9600XT.

I remember hearing that the quality of the DACs makes a big difference, and that laptops are usually awful in that regard?

Then that would leave me to believe you monitor was not giving a good picture

Meh, it looked just great to me and anyone else who used it (it wasn't my screen, it was a mate's, and he used it for a couple of years).

With Good DACs and a short and well shielded monitor cable there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to get an excellent picture using VGA.

Your displays and or graphics card could also just have crap analogue support.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,570
10,202
126
Originally posted by: dug777
I've compared DVI and VGA in the past on an LCD screen (iirc a BenQ 19"), and could see no difference personally, neither could the few other people I asked.

Card was a 9600XT.

I remember hearing that the quality of the DACs makes a big difference, and that laptops are usually awful in that regard?

Ditto. On a Radeon X1950GT, using the supplied DVI-to-VGA adaptor, I cannot tell a difference between DVI and VGA.

On a 6600GT, I definately can. The DACs on the card make all the difference.