DVI or HDMI: which is better for a monitor, features and specifications. Connecting a computer and monitor: all about connectors and interfaces

The choice of video card can also be influenced by the monitor you have or are planning to purchase. Or even monitors (plural). So, for modern LCD monitors with digital inputs, it is very desirable that the video card have a DVI, HDMI or DisplayPort connector. Fortunately, all modern solutions now have such ports, and often all together. Another subtlety is that if you require a resolution higher than 1920x1200 via the digital DVI output, then you must connect the video card to the monitor using a connector and cable that supports Dual-Link DVI. However, now there are no problems with this anymore. Let's look at the main connectors used to connect information display devices.

Analog D-Sub connector (also known as VGA-exit or DB-15F)

This is a long-known and familiar 15-pin connector for connecting analog monitors. The abbreviation VGA stands for video graphics array (pixel array) or video graphics adapter (video adapter). The connector is designed to output an analog signal, the quality of which can be influenced by many different factors, such as the quality of RAMDAC and analog circuits, so the quality of the resulting image may vary on different video cards. In addition, in modern video cards less attention is paid to the quality of the analog output, and to obtain clear images at high resolutions it is better to use a digital connection.

D-Sub connectors were actually the only standard until the widespread use of LCD monitors. Such outputs are still often used to connect LCD monitors, but only budget models that are not well suited for gaming. To connect modern monitors and projectors, it is recommended to use digital interfaces, one of the most common of which is DVI.

Connector DVI(variations: DVI-I And DVI-D)

DVI is the standard interface most often used to output digital video to all but the cheapest LCD monitors. The photo shows a rather old video card with three connectors: D-Sub, S-Video and DVI. There are three types of DVI connectors: DVI-D (digital), DVI-A (analog) and DVI-I (integrated - combined or universal):

DVI-D- an exclusively digital connection, which avoids losses in quality due to double conversion of the digital signal to analog and from analog to digital. This type of connection provides the highest quality picture, it outputs the signal only in digital form, digital LCD monitors with DVI inputs or professional CRT monitors with built-in RAMDAC and a DVI input can be connected to it (very rare copies, especially now). This connector differs from DVI-I in the physical absence of some contacts, and the DVI-to-D-Sub adapter, which will be discussed later, cannot be plugged into it. Most often, this type of DVI is used in motherboards with an integrated video core; it is less common on video cards.

DVI-A- This is a rather rare type of analog connection via DVI, designed to output analog images to CRT receivers. In this case, the signal is degraded due to dual digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital conversion, its quality is equal to that of a standard VGA connection. Almost never found in nature.

DVI-I is a combination of the two options described above, capable of transmitting both analog and digital signals. This type is used most often in video cards; it is universal and, using special adapters that come with most video cards, you can also connect a regular analog CRT monitor with a DB-15F input to it. This is what these adapters look like:

All modern video cards have at least one DVI output, or even two universal DVI-I connectors. D-Subs are most often absent (but they can be connected using adapters, see above), except, again, for budget models. To transmit digital data, either a single-channel DVI Single-Link solution or a two-channel Dual-Link solution is used. Single-Link transmission format uses one TMDS transmitter (165 MHz) and Dual-Link two, it doubles the bandwidth and allows screen resolutions higher than 1920x1080 and 1920x1200 at 60Hz, supporting very high resolution modes , like 2560x1600. Therefore, for the largest LCD monitors with high resolution, such as 30-inch models, as well as monitors designed to display stereo images, you will definitely need a video card with a dual-channel DVI Dual-Link or HDMI version 1.3 output.

Connector HDMI

Recently, a new consumer interface has become widespread - High Definition Multimedia Interface. This standard provides simultaneous transmission of visual and audio information over a single cable, it is designed for television and cinema, but PC users can also use it to output video data using the HDMI connector.

In the photo on the left is HDMI, on the right is DVI-I. HDMI outputs on video cards are now quite common, and there are more and more such models, especially in the case of video cards intended for creating media centers. Viewing high-definition video on a computer requires a video card and monitor that support HDCP content protection, connected by an HDMI or DVI cable. Video cards do not necessarily have to have an HDMI connector on board; in other cases, the HDMI cable can also be connected via an adapter to DVI:

HDMI is the latest effort to standardize universal connectivity for digital audio and video applications. It immediately received strong support from the giants of the electronics industry (the group of companies involved in developing the standard includes companies such as Sony, Toshiba, Hitachi, Panasonic, Thomson, Philips and Silicon Image), and most modern high-resolution output devices have although There would be one such connector. HDMI allows you to transmit copy-protected audio and video in digital format over a single cable; the first version of the standard was based on a bandwidth of 5 Gbps, and HDMI 1.3 expanded this limit to 10.2 Gbps.

HDMI 1.3 is an updated standard specification with increased interface bandwidth, increased clock frequency to 340 MHz, which allows you to connect high-resolution displays that support more colors (formats with color depths up to 48 bits). The new version of the specification also defines support for new Dolby standards for transmitting compressed audio without loss in quality. In addition, other innovations appeared; specification 1.3 described a new mini-HDMI connector, smaller in size compared to the original. Such connectors are also used on video cards.

HDMI 1.4b is the latest new version of this standard, released not so long ago. HDMI 1.4 introduced the following major innovations: support for stereo display format (also called "3D") with frame-by-frame transmission and active viewing glasses, support for Fast Ethernet connection HDMI Ethernet Channel for data transmission, audio return channel, which allows digital audio to be transmitted in the reverse direction , support for resolution formats 3840x2160 up to 30 Hz and 4096x2160 up to 24 Hz, support for new color spaces and the smallest micro-HDMI connector.

In HDMI 1.4a, stereo display support has been significantly improved, with new Side-by-Side and Top-and-Bottom modes in addition to the 1.4 specification modes. And finally, a very recent update to the HDMI 1.4b standard occurred just a few weeks ago, and the innovations of this version are still unknown to the general public, and there are no devices with its support on the market yet.

Actually, the presence of an HDMI connector on the video card is not necessary; in many cases it can be replaced by an adapter from DVI to HDMI. It is simple and therefore included with most modern video cards. Moreover, modern GPUs have a built-in audio chip necessary to support audio transmission over HDMI. On all modern AMD and NVIDIA video cards, there is no need for an external audio solution and corresponding connecting cables, and there is no need to transfer audio from an external sound card.

Transmission of video and audio signals via one HDMI connector is in demand primarily on mid- and low-end cards, which are installed in small and quiet barebones used as media centers, although HDMI is often used in gaming solutions, largely due to the proliferation of household appliances with these connectors.

Connector

Gradually, in addition to the common video interfaces DVI and HDMI, solutions with the DisplayPort interface are appearing on the market. Single-Link DVI transmits a video signal with a resolution of up to 1920x1080 pixels, a frequency of 60 Hz and 8 bits per color component, Dual-Link allows transmission of 2560x1600 at a frequency of 60 Hz, but already 3840x2400 pixels under the same conditions for Dual-Link Link DVI not available. HDMI has almost the same limitations; version 1.3 supports signal transmission with a resolution of up to 2560x1600 pixels at a frequency of 60 Hz and 8 bits per color component (at lower resolutions - 16 bits). Although DisplayPort's maximum capabilities are slightly higher than Dual-Link DVI's, only 2560x2048 pixels at 60 Hz and 8 bits per color channel, it does have support for 10-bit color per channel at 2560x1600 resolution, as well as 12 bit for 1080p format.

The first version of the DisplayPort digital video interface was adopted by VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association) in the spring of 2006. It defines a new universal digital interface, license-free and royalty-free, designed to connect computers and monitors, as well as other multimedia equipment. The VESA DisplayPort group that promotes the standard includes large electronics manufacturers: AMD, NVIDIA, Dell, HP, Intel, Lenovo, Molex, Philips, Samsung.

DisplayPort's main competitor is the HDMI connector, which supports HDCP write protection, although it is intended more for connecting consumer digital devices such as players and HDTV panels. Another competitor could previously be called the Unified Display Interface - a less expensive alternative to HDMI and DVI connectors, but its main developer, Intel, refused to promote the standard in favor of DisplayPort.

The absence of licensing fees is important for manufacturers, because in order to use the HDMI interface in their products, they are required to pay license fees to HDMI Licensing, which then divides the funds between the holders of rights to the standard: Panasonic, Philips, Hitachi, Silicon Image, Sony, Thomson and Toshiba. Abandoning HDMI in favor of a similar “free” universal interface will save manufacturers of video cards and monitors a lot of money - it’s clear why they liked DisplayPort.

Technically, the DisplayPort connector supports up to four data lines, each of which can transmit 1.3, 2.2 or 4.3 gigabits/s, for a total of up to 17.28 gigabits/s. Modes with color depth from 6 to 16 bits per color channel are supported. An additional bidirectional channel, designed to transmit commands and control information, operates at a speed of 1 megabit/s or 720 megabit/s and is used to service the operation of the main channel, as well as the transmission of VESA EDID and VESA MCCS signals. Also, unlike DVI, the clock signal is transmitted along signal lines, rather than separately, and is decoded by the receiver.

DisplayPort has optional DPCP (DisplayPort Content Protection) copy protection capability developed by AMD and using 128-bit AES encoding. The transmitted video signal is not compatible with DVI and HDMI, but according to the specification their transmission is allowed. Currently, DisplayPort supports a maximum data transfer rate of 17.28 gigabits/s and a resolution of 3840x2160 at 60 Hz.

The main distinctive features of DisplayPort: an open and extensible standard; support for RGB and YCbCr formats; color depth support: 6, 8, 10, 12 and 16 bits per color component; full signal transmission at 3 meters, and 1080p at 15 meters; support for 128-bit AES encoding DisplayPort Content Protection, as well as 40-bit High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP 1.3); greater bandwidth compared to Dual-Link DVI and HDMI; transmission of multiple streams over one connection; compatibility with DVI, HDMI and VGA using adapters; simple expansion of the standard to meet changing market needs; external and internal connections (connecting an LCD panel in a laptop, replacing internal LVDS connections).

The updated version of the standard, 1.1, appeared a year after 1.0. Its innovations include support for HDCP copy protection, important when viewing protected content from Blu-ray discs and HD DVDs, and support for fiber optic cables in addition to conventional copper cables. The latter allows you to transmit a signal over even greater distances without loss of quality.

DisplayPort 1.2, approved in 2009, doubled the interface's throughput to 17.28 gigabits/s, allowing it to support higher resolutions, screen refresh rates, and color depths. Also, it was in 1.2 that support for transmitting multiple streams over one connection for connecting multiple monitors, support for stereo display formats and xvYCC, scRGB and Adobe RGB color spaces appeared. A smaller Mini-DisplayPort connector for portable devices has also appeared.

The full-size external DisplayPort connector has 20 pins, its physical size can be compared to all known USB connectors. A new type of connector can already be seen on many modern video cards and monitors; it looks similar to both HDMI and USB, but can also be equipped with latches on the connectors, similar to those provided in Serial ATA.

Before AMD bought ATI, the latter announced the supply of video cards with DisplayPort connectors at the beginning of 2007, but the merger of companies delayed this appearance for some time. Subsequently, AMD announced DisplayPort as a standard connector within the Fusion platform, which implies a unified architecture of central and graphic processors in one chip, as well as future mobile platforms. NVIDIA is keeping up with its rivals by releasing a wide range of DisplayPort-enabled graphics cards.

Among the monitor manufacturers that announced support and announced DisplayPort products, Samsung and Dell were the first. Naturally, such support was first received by new monitors with a large screen diagonal size and high resolution. There are DisplayPort-to-HDMI and DisplayPort-to-DVI adapters, as well as DisplayPort-to-VGA, which converts a digital signal to analog. That is, even if the video card contains only DisplayPort connectors, they can be connected to any type of monitor.

In addition to the connectors listed above, older video cards also sometimes have a composite connector and S-Video (S-VHS) with four or seven pins. Most often they are used to output a signal to outdated analog television receivers, and even on S-Video the composite signal is often mixed, which negatively affects the picture quality. S-Video is better quality than composite tulip, but both are inferior to YPbPr component output. This connector is found on some monitors and high-definition TVs; the signal is transmitted through it in analog form and is comparable in quality to the D-Sub interface. However, in the case of modern video cards and monitors, paying attention to all analog connectors simply does not make any sense.

Interfaces currently in widespread use:

VGA

(D-Sub)- the only analog interface for connecting monitors still in use today. It is morally obsolete, but will be actively used for a long time. The main disadvantage is associated with the need to use double conversion of the signal to analog format and vice versa, which leads to a loss of quality when connecting digital display devices (LCD monitors, plasma panels, projectors). Compatible with video cards with DVI-I and similar connectors.

DVI-D

- basic type of DVI interface. It implies only a digital connection, so it cannot be used with video cards that only have an analog output. Very widespread.

DVI-I

- an extended version of the DVI-D interface, the most commonly used nowadays. Contains 2 types of signals - digital and analog. Video cards can be connected via both digital and analog connections; a video card with a VGA (D-Sub) output can be connected to it via a simple passive adapter or a special cable.
If the documentation for the monitor indicates that this modification uses the DVI Dual-Link option, then in order to fully support the maximum monitor resolutions (usually 1920*1200 and higher), the video card and the DVI cable used must also support Dual-Link as a full interface option DVD-D. If you use the cable included with the monitor and a relatively modern (at the time of writing the FAQ) video card, then no additional purchases are required.

HDMI

- adaptation of DVI-D for household equipment, supplemented by a digital interface for multi-channel audio transmission. Present in virtually all modern LCD TVs, plasma panels and projectors. To connect a video card with a DVI-D or DVI-I interface to the HDMI connector, a simple passive adapter or cable with appropriate connectors is sufficient. It is impossible to connect a video card with only a VGA (D-Sub) connector to HDMI!

Legacy and exotic interfaces:

Quite often there is a need to determine the DVI type on a video card. It is often quite difficult to find technical specifications for a video card, because you need to know its model and manufacturer.

Types of DVI connectors and their compatibility

DVI-I Single Link– the connector is designed to use one analog signal or one digital signal. Most modern video cards are equipped with this connector.
DVI-D Dual Link– the connector is equipped with two digital data transmission channels. The maximum possible resolution that can be obtained using this connection is 2560x1600 (60Hz) or 1920x1080 (120Hz) (for nVidia 3D Vision). Let me remind you that it is not possible to connect to an analog monitor through this connection.
DVI-D Single Link– the connector is designed to use one digital channel.
DVI-I Dual Link– the most complete implementation of DVI. Includes all DVI connectivity options.
DVI-A– analog connector, identical to VGA and differs from it only in appearance.

How to determine the type of DVI connector?

If we are lucky, then on the bar we will find DVI type markings:

The picture shows that one connector is DVI-I, the other is DVI-D. But which connector is it: Single Link or Dual Link? In this case, to determine the throughput of the connector, you should refer to the specification for the video card.

The second option for marking the DVI type:

The sign indicates that the DVI output is equipped with a digital data transmission channel, that is, its type is DVI-I or DVI-D. This means that through this type of connector you can connect to a monitor equipped with a DVI digital input. The ability to connect to an analog monitor should be checked according to the specifications for the video card. The same goes for the presence of Dual Link mode.

Please note that the appearance of the connectors is different! We'll talk more about this below.

Another option for marking DVI on a video card:

The VGA sign and marking indicates that the DVI connector has the ability to transmit images via both digital and analog channels (DVI-I). In this case, to connect to an analog monitor, you should use a special DVI-VGA adapter, or a cable with a DVI connector on one side and a VGA connector on the other.

We determine the DVI type by the appearance of the connector on the video card

Take a close look at your video card from the back of the computer system unit. Try to find similarities with the pictures below.

DVI-I appearance:

It should be noted that this type of connector is also used for DVI-D.

Hello, dear readers! Today I would like to talk about ways to connect a monitor to a video card - about video card connectors. Modern video cards have not one, but several ports for connection, so that it is possible to connect more than one monitor at the same time. Among these ports there are both outdated and now rarely used, and modern ones.

The abbreviation VGA stands for video graphics array (an array of pixels) or video graphics adapter (video adapter). Appearing back in 1987, the 15-pin and, as a rule, blue color, is designed to output a strictly analog signal, the quality of which, as is known, can be affected by many different factors (wire length, for example), including on the video card itself, Therefore, the picture quality through this port on different video cards may vary slightly.

Before the widespread use of LCD monitors, this connector was almost the only possible option for connecting a monitor to a computer. It is still used today, but only in budget models of low-resolution monitors, as well as in projectors and some game consoles, such as the latest generation xbox consoles from Microsoft. It is not recommended to connect a Full HD monitor through it, as the picture will be blurry and unclear. The maximum VGA cable length at 1600 x 1200 resolution is 5 meters.

DVI (variations: DVI-I, DVI-A and DVI-D)

Used to transmit a digital signal, replacing VGA. Used to connect high-resolution monitors, televisions, as well as modern digital projectors and plasma panels. The maximum cable length is 10 meters.

The higher the resolution of the image, the shorter the distance it can be transmitted without loss of quality (without the use of special equipment).

There are three types of DVI ports: DVI-D (digital), DVI-A (analog) and DVI-I (combo):

To transmit digital data, either Single-Link or Dual-Link format is used. Single-Link DVI uses a single TMDS transmitter, while Dual-Link doubles the bandwidth and allows screen resolutions higher than 1920 x 1200, such as 2560 x 1600. Therefore, for large monitors with high resolution, or intended for stereo image output, you definitely need at least DVI Dual-Link, or HDMI version 1.3 (more on this below).

HDMI

Also digital output. Its main difference from DVI is that HDMI, in addition to transmitting a video signal, is capable of transmitting a multi-channel digital audio signal. Audio and visual information are transmitted over one cable at the same time. Initially developed for television and cinema, and later gained wide popularity among PC users. It is backward compatible with DVI using a special adapter. The maximum length of a regular HDMI cable is up to 5 meters.

HDMI is another attempt to standardize universal connectivity for digital audio and video applications, so it immediately received strong support from electronics giants (companies such as Sony, Hitachi, Panasonic, Toshiba, Thomson, Philips) contributed to the development, and as a result, most modern devices for outputting high-resolution images have at least one HDMI output.

Among other things, HDMI, like DVI, allows you to transmit copy-pasted sound and image in digital form over one cable using HDCP. True, to implement this technology you will need a video card and a monitor, attention! - supporting this technology, oh how. Again, there are currently several versions of HDMI, here's a short summary of them:

DisplayPort

Appeared in addition to DVI and HDMI, since Single-Link DVI can transmit a signal with a resolution of up to 1920 × 1080, and Dual-Link a maximum of 2560 × 1600, then a resolution of 3840 × 2400 is not available for DVI. The maximum resolution capabilities of DisplayPort are no different from the same HDMI - 3840 x 2160, however, it still has unobvious advantages. One of these is, for example, that companies will not have to pay tax for using DisplayPort in their devices - which, by the way, is mandatory when it comes to HDMI.

In the photo, red arrows indicate latches that prevent the connector from accidentally falling out of the connector. HDMI, even version 2.0, does not provide any clamps.

As you already understood, DisplayPort's main competitor is HDMI. DisplayPort has an alternative technology to protect transmitted data from theft, only it is called a little differently - DPCP (DisplayPort Content Protection). DisplayPort, like HDMI, supports 3D images and audio content transmission. However, audio transmission via DisplayPort is only available one-way. And transmitting Ethernet data via DisplayPort is generally impossible.

DisplayPort also benefits from the fact that it has adapters for all popular outputs, such as DVI, HDMI, VGA (which is important). For example, with HDMI there is only one adapter - to DVI. That is, having only one DisplayPort connector on the video card, you can connect an old monitor with only one VGA input.

By the way, this is what is happening - now more and more video cards are being released without a VGA output at all. The maximum length of a regular DisplayPort cable can be up to 15 meters. But DisplayPort can transmit its maximum resolution at a distance of no more than 3 meters - often this is enough to connect the monitor and video card.

S-Video (TV/OUT)

On older video cards, you sometimes find an S-Video connector, or, as it is also called, S-VHS. It is usually used to output an analog signal to outdated TVs, however, in terms of the quality of the transmitted image it is inferior to the more common VGA. When using a high-quality cable via S-Video, the image is transmitted without interference at a distance of up to 20 meters. Currently extremely rare (on video cards).

To ensure video signal transmission in digital format, DVI is used. The interface was developed during the period when DVDs began to be produced. At that time, there was a need to transfer video from a PC to a monitor.

The methods of transmitting analogue broadcasting known at that time were not conducive to transmitting high-quality images to the monitor. Since it is physically impossible to physically carry out such a high-resolution transmission at a distance.

Distortion can form in the channel at any time, this can be especially observed at higher frequencies. HD is precisely the owner of high frequencies. To avoid this kind of interference and distortion, manufacturers of modern technology have set a goal to abandon the analogue broadcast option and switch to a digital type of signal in the process of processing and transmitting video to the monitor.

In the 90s, manufacturers joined forces, as a result of which DVI technology appeared.

The DVI connector is considered one of the most popular methods for connecting monitors and projects. The presence of a DVI interface on a device does not guarantee that the user will be able to realize all the capabilities available in this port. In this article we will look at DVI I and DVI D, the differences and similarities between these ports.

DVI Connector Features

Ports are responsible for transmitting images to the monitor. There are several modifications of the connector in question. Both digital and analog signals are transmitted. This type of port is most often represented by two options: DVI-I and DVI-D.

Is there a difference between them? DVI-D or DVI-I, which is better? More on this later.

DVI-I interface

This interface is considered the most used in video cards. “I” speaks of unification from the translation “integrated”. The port uses 2 channels for data transmission - analog and digital. Functioning separately, they have various modifications of DVI-I:

Single Link. This device includes independent digital and analog channels. The type of connection on the video adapter and how the connection occurs determines which one will function.

This type of interface is not used by professionals because it does not transmit to 30″ and LCD monitors.

Dual Link– this is a modernized port, which contains: 2 digital and 1 analog channel. The channels operate independently of each other.

The difference is that most video cards have at least 2 DVI-I connectors.

DVI-D interface

This port looks different from the first DVI-I. The interface can accept a couple of channels. The first Single Link type contains only 1 channel, and it is not enough to connect to 3D monitors.

Dual Link is the second type. There are no analog channels, but the interface has wide options for transmitting information. Dual - indicates two channels, which makes it possible to send images to the monitor in three-dimensional format, since 2 channels have 120 Hz and are capable of transmitting high resolution.

The main differences between DVI-I and DVI-D

Most modern video card models are available with a DVI interface instead of the classic, but outdated VGA. Of course, you shouldn't forget about HDMI. From what was said earlier, it is clear that DVI is available in two types. What's the difference between DVI-I and DVI-D?

The differences boil down to the following: I can transmit both analog and digital signals, while D can only transmit digital signals. Thus, DVI-D is not suitable for connecting an analog monitor.

DVI is a digital video connector that replaced VGA. DVI-I is responsible for transmitting digital and analog signals. As for the analog signal, it is required for compatibility of older monitors with the beam tube. Time passed, and this option was no longer required; video cards began to use exclusively digital signals. As a result, DVI-D took over these tasks.

You need to understand that inserting a DVI-I adapter or the same type of cable into DVI-D will not work. Because the connector connectors are different. The DVI-D interface can be connected to “i” without any problems. This option allows you to receive an exclusively digital signal. Analog signals are not read in this situation, since the DVI-D connector does not have an “i” pin, which is responsible for transmitting an analog signal.

What do they have in common?

The differences between DVI-I and DVI-D have been examined, and we can begin to consider their combined characteristics.

DVI-I is universal and has the option of transmitting two types of signals: digital and analog. Due to the use of special additional elements in the form of adapters, and connection with other devices, “I” is capable of efficiently transmitting different formats. The use of this type for an analog signal has practically no striking distinctive features from “D”.