Giving up DVI?

[Dorkenstein]

I am stepping up from my 17" lcd that I have had for a few years to a larger monitor. The trick is, it doesn't have DVI. Is that a horrible step down or can it still look good? Thanks.

 

[SniperGuy]

My video card currently just half melted down so the DVI port stopped working, but the same monitor on VGA has a very minor quality loss. I can barely tell.

 

[Extelleron]

Seeing as I see no improvement (on my HDTV) when Component vs DVI, I dont think you'll have any problem- personally, I think better imputs such as DVI, while they might TECHNICALLY be better, don't show much of an improvement whatsoever.

 

[Elfear]

Is the larger monitor a CRT or an LCD?

I definetely noticed a difference on my 2005fpw. Text through the analog port looked like dump. DVI was much more clear and readable to me.

 

[jahutch]

This will quite honestly depend on your video card, monitor, and monitor cable. The thing with analog vs. digital is digital is all or nothing. If the signal arrives, its perfect. If it doesn't there's no picture. There's no in between. For this reason, arguments about cable quality, etc, are all silliness in the digital realm unless you are talking long cable runs. You either get the picture, or you don't. Analog on the other hand is by definition sucseptible to any variety of effects. Bad cables, interferance in the signal, bad analog output, bad input on the monitor, and so on.

In general, a GOOD analog connection should be just as good as a digital connection - *technically* the digital is perhaps a bit better, but its generally not perceptible. Analog also has the benefit of being more adjustable on most monitors. But start introducing some x-factors, and the analog quality can go down. Neither of my monitors has DVI at current, and the picture quality is excellent. But depending on your individual situation and components, you could have different results. You won't really know till you try it.

 

[sodcha0s]

I guess the experience varies, but I could tell a HUGE difference on my vp171b. The geometry and colors were terrible while using the VGA port, but a bad cable can be the cause of that. However with DVI you always get perfect geometry.

 

[Dorkenstein]

It's going to be a CRT. What's the best cable one can use?