HDMI vs DVI monitor question

jpk

Senior member
Mar 30, 2001
399
0
71
My new graphics card has HDMI out as well as DVI. My monitor has HDMI in as well as DVI. Currently I'm running my setup with DVI out of the card to HDMI in on the monitor. Would there be any benefit to going straight HDMI to HDMI? TIA
 

santz

Golden Member
Feb 21, 2006
1,190
0
76
NO, as both signals of hdmi and dvi are digital, the only advantage you may see is if you have speakers in your monitor, in which case, instead of 2 wires, you would only need one hdmi cable, which would transfer both sound and video
 

fuzzymath10

Senior member
Feb 17, 2010
520
2
81
HDMI cable is also smaller and less fiddly with no thumbscrews. If you have a spare cable around, may as well switch, but don't bother buying a new cable if you have to.
 

rgallant

Golden Member
Apr 14, 2007
1,361
11
81
I didn't think hdmi 1.4 b could do higher than 1080p @ 60 fps ,24 fps maybe.
-DVI-D can
 

nanaki333

Diamond Member
Sep 14, 2002
3,772
13
81
You took the words right out of my mouth RavenSeal :eek:

If you dont want to use your mobo onboard audio or a dedicated card.
You have an option, nVidia audio chip , in which case you would need HDMI to HDMI ,,,,gl

my HTPC has a geforce gt 440 in it and is plugged in with a DVI to HDMI adapter and it's carrying sound to my TV. i had to double take to make sure, and sure enough, no other audio cables were plugged in. had no idea it was even possible...

apparently as of 2008, DVI has been able to carry audio (originally only ATI/AMD cards first though).
 
Last edited:

iCyborg

Golden Member
Aug 8, 2008
1,344
61
91
my HTPC has a geforce gt 440 in it and is plugged in with a DVI to HDMI adapter and it's carrying sound to my TV. i had to double take to make sure, and sure enough, no other audio cables were plugged in. had no idea it was even possible...

apparently as of 2008, DVI has been able to carry audio (originally only ATI/AMD cards first though).
DVI has always been capable of carrying audio, it's the same physical signal, it's just that HDMI uses a clever way of using some periods of time when no active pixel data are sent (blanking period) to transmit audio, apparently there's enough bandwith for 5.1. HDMI patented this so legally a device cannot output audio through DVI, but if an approved DVI->HDMI adapter is used, it will send it, no problem. Whoever made the adapter pays the royalties to HDMI spec owners, so it's all fine legally.
 

nanaki333

Diamond Member
Sep 14, 2002
3,772
13
81
DVI has always been capable of carrying audio, it's the same physical signal, it's just that HDMI uses a clever way of using some periods of time when no active pixel data are sent (blanking period) to transmit audio, apparently there's enough bandwith for 5.1. HDMI patented this so legally a device cannot output audio through DVI, but if an approved DVI->HDMI adapter is used, it will send it, no problem. Whoever made the adapter pays the royalties to HDMI spec owners, so it's all fine legally.

at first it was not able to due to the physical layout, at least according to the google. the only difference between them, other than the size, is that little cross part. otherwise they're identical. i didn't spend much time researching it, i just wanted to correct people in the thread that say dvi does not carry audio, based on personal experience.
 

iCyborg

Golden Member
Aug 8, 2008
1,344
61
91
what differences in physical layout, and what cross part? can you link source because it sounds wrong?
 

nanaki333

Diamond Member
Sep 14, 2002
3,772
13
81
what differences in physical layout, and what cross part? can you link source because it sounds wrong?

as i said, i did not really research it. i just did a quick google search. i skimmed through it and i misread what i saw.

"Since 2008, PC manufacturers have gradually upgraded the PC's controller to support HDMI-output in addition to DVI. Due to electrical and pin compatibility between the DVI and HDMI, only a simple passive adapter (or DVI-D to HDMI cable) is necessary in order for the PC to output HDMI to a compatible HDMI-display (such as a television), and take advantage of HDMI features (such as audio output.)"

can we please move on now? the only point i was trying to make was that dvi does carry sound, despite earlier replies. which, until 4 years ago (2008), was a hardware limitation on graphics cards. like i said, i was skimming it and did not read fully.
 

Magic Carpet

Diamond Member
Oct 2, 2011
3,477
233
106
You took the words right out of my mouth RavenSeal :eek:

If you dont want to use your mobo onboard audio or a dedicated card.
You have an option, nVidia audio chip , in which case you would need HDMI to HDMI ,,,,gl
Now the question is... does the integrated audio chip is any good versus say, ALC892?
 

nanaki333

Diamond Member
Sep 14, 2002
3,772
13
81
Now the question is... does the integrated audio chip is any good versus say, ALC892?

audio sounds perfectly fine on my TV from my GT 440. i discovered it when i forgot to my receiver on (optical connection to receiver) and heard sound coming out of the TV. very faint. turned it up and i've been using that ever since. less effort (lazy :) ).
 

jpk

Senior member
Mar 30, 2001
399
0
71
NO, as both signals of hdmi and dvi are digital, the only advantage you may see is if you have speakers in your monitor, in which case, instead of 2 wires, you would only need one hdmi cable, which would transfer both sound and video

Thanks. I'm using the mobo sound out to a set of speakers. My monitor has crappy speakers, as most monitors do. Was going to go to the store today to get a HDMI-HDMI cable but I'll just keep what I have.