Much of a difference (VGA v DVI)

daramullally

Hi

I recently bought a 19" LCD screen that can support both VGA and DVI. My video card is an old nVidia MX2 400 with only VGA output. Would I notice any difference if I bought a graphics card with DVI? I don't play games if that makes any difference, mainly surfing and digital photography.

What do you think?

Dara

quazzy

Dara,
From Google Answers and wikipedia:

The main difference is that VGA is an analog standard for computer
monitors that was first marketed in 1987, whereas DVI is a newer and
superior digital technology that has the potential to provide a much
better picture.

Here are two relevant excerpts from Wikipedia for your convenience:

"Existing standards, such as VGA, are analog and designed for CRT
based devices. As the source transmits each horizontal line of the
image, it varies its output voltage to represent the desired
brightness. In a CRT device, this is used to vary the intensity of the
scanning beam as it moves across the screen. However, in digital
displays, instead of a scanning beam there is an array of pixels and a
single brightness value must be chosen for each. The decoder does this
by sampling the voltage of the input signal at regular intervals. When
the source is also a digital device (such as a computer), this can
lead to distortion if the samples are not taken at the centre of each
pixel, and in general the crosstalk between adjacent pixels is high."
SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvi

"DVI takes a different approach. The desired brightness of the pixels
is transmitted as a list of binary numbers. When the display is driven
at its native resolution, all it has to do is read each number and
apply that brightness to the appropriate pixel. In this way, each
pixel in the output buffer of the source device corresponds directly
to one pixel in the display device, whereas with an analog signal the
appearance of each pixel may be affected by its adjacent pixels as
well as by electrical noise and other forms of analog distortion."
SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvi



Or in short "DVI is better for LCD screens"

Hope this sheds some light on the subject

Regards

Q

P.S dont know much about Graphics Cards themselves, but if you post back with your PC specs I'm sure there's a few boards members that can advise on a card with DVI.

or just check out http://www.komplett.ie/k/kc.asp?bn=10412
I think all cards now have DVI and they start at about €50.

daramullally

Thanks quazzy for the technical explanation.

My Pc is a fairly old AMD 2000+ with a Gigabyte GA7vm400m motherboard that support AGP. Can anyone recommend any from here ?http://www.komplett.ie/k/kl.asp?wf=X&bn=10413&minPrice=&maxPrice=60&inStockOnly=on

jor el

Since you're going for the cheap end of things and gaming is not on the cards then it probably doesn't matter which one you choose. I'd probably go for the Radeon 9600 for €59 if it were my choice.

Alun

jor el wrote:

Since you're going for the cheap end of things and gaming is not on the cards then it probably doesn't matter which one you choose. I'd probably go for the Radeon 9600 for €59 if it were my choice.

I have a Creative Radeon 9600 based card with DVI output to my NEC LCD and it's the bees knees, very sharp and crisp and noticeably better than VGA at the same native resulution (1280x1024 in my case).

MunsterCycling

Have a look on www.adverts.ie , you're bound to find something there.

daramullally

Hi

Thanks for all your help. I will take a look at the Radeon 9600 so.

Cheers
Dara

Cuddlesworth

I have 2 pc's here at my desk side by side with the same dell monitor and 2 very similar cards. The same basic windows visual settings on both. But one is connected by Dvi the other Vga. The Dvi is brighter, crisper and the colours look slightly more vibrant.