I switched from 15pin VGA cable to 5 wire BNC cable

[Iron Woode]

Wow! What a difference. Everything is much clearer and sharper than before.

My video card is a GForce2 GTS and my monitor is a Dell D2026T (20 inch trinitron).

I have heard that some people get an improvement in video quality when they switch to BNC and others say there is no change.

I was just wondering if others have tried it and what were the results.

 

[Looney]

Heck ya... big difference on my Sony GDM-FW900.

 

[ProviaFan]

Good. Now upgrade from that GF2 (many of those were notorious for bad 2D IQ at higher resolutions) and get at least a well-made brand of GF4, or better yet, a built-by-ATI Radeon 9700 Pro.

 

[Wag]

It shouldn't make a noticable difference unless both ends have 5BNC connectors (your card and monitor).

What's probably the case is that BNC cables are generally of higher quality than stock VGA cables. A good high-quality VGA cable from somewhere like PCCables.com can make a huge difference. I bought a 15ft run for my HDTV and it's amazing how much better it is.

 

[HornEEE]

HI

I was wondering, do you manage to change your refresh rates normally?
Because I got a BNC cable to use the BNC input on my Samsung 900NF and it seems it won't change the refresh rates and will remain at 60 Hz for some reason.

I am using Win 98 SE, radeon 9700 regular based videocard, catalist 3.0 drivers.

Any hints?

Thanks

 

[eklass]

uncheck "use DDC" in radeon's control panel

edit: display properties > settings > advanced > displays > monitor > Use DDC information

 

[Iron Woode]

Originally posted by: jliechty
Good. Now upgrade from that GF2 (many of those were notorious for bad 2D IQ at higher resolutions) and get at least a well-made brand of GF4, or better yet, a built-by-ATI Radeon 9700 Pro.

I have heard that before. Mine isn't half bad at high resolutions. I use the Asus 7700.

I will be upgrading the video card soon. I just haven't decided which card I want yet.

 

[HornEEE]

I appreciate your help, eklass.

Unfortunately, there was no such option to be seen.

I then decided to tweak the settings on Powerstrip, and guess what; I fiddled with the settings and managed to change the frequency, so now that darned expensive is being used after sitting there catching dust for over 2 months.

I guess I am going to register now and buy a key for Powerstrip. It has helped me a great deal, and so it is well worth the money.

Not that anyone really has to waste much time over it, but can anyone explain why that "use DDC information" option is missing? Or did I oversee something?

 

[ingenuiti]

Using BNC requires you to sacrifice the use of DDC, b/c it only allows for data to go upstream to the monitor. BNC wasn't designed send information back to the pc.

 

[oldfart]

Right. BNC has no DDC info.

To fix it on the 9700, go to the displays tab in you ATi control panel, click on monitor and set the max refresh rate to 120 or whatever.

 

[glugglug]

BNC cables won't normally have the wires all exactly the same length like a normal VGA cable will.
This means increased chance of convergence issues and/or anomalies on the left/right edge of the picture. 3-BNC is especially bad since green & sync are on the same wire. 5-BNC is a lot better.

On the plus side you probably are noticing the colors are truer since there is less likely to be crosstalk between the wires. Other than that factor I'd expect a better picture from a decent 15-pin cable than you get from BNC. You aren't by any chance eliminating a switchbox in this cable change? THAT would explain the difference.

 

[Iron Woode]

Originally posted by: glugglug
BNC cables won't normally have the wires all exactly the same length like a normal VGA cable will.
This means increased chance of convergence issues and/or anomalies on the left/right edge of the picture. 3-BNC is especially bad since green & sync are on the same wire. 5-BNC is a lot better.

On the plus side you probably are noticing the colors are truer since there is less likely to be crosstalk between the wires. Other than that factor I'd expect a better picture from a decent 15-pin cable than you get from BNC. You aren't by any chance eliminating a switchbox in this cable change? THAT would explain the difference.

Nope. I just use a cable. The picture quality is definitely better using BNC. I see no weirdness on either side.

 

[Shade4ever]

I've been using 5-connection BNC since I got my refurb Nanao 17" a few years ago, and never had any issues as far as IQ on it. My only beef is that it doesn't officially do 1280x1024, although it will operate at that res if Windows treats it as a generic. Although that's just due to its age, I guess.

 

[Mem]

Wow! What a difference. Everything is much clearer and sharper than before.

My video card is a GForce2 GTS and my monitor is a Dell D2026T (20 inch trinitron).

I have heard that some people get an improvement in video quality when they switch to BNC and others say there is no change.

I was just wondering if others have tried it and what were the results.

I`m using a 5 BNC lead between my Leadtek GF2 Ti and LG Flatron 915FT plus monitor,to me the image is slightly sharper and crisper,was noticable for me .

As for refreash rates they change fine for me,even without the LG monitor driver(which I do now have installed),I use NVrefreshTool for the 60Hz OpenGL fix which is for Nvidia cards only.