Computers can be connected to HDTV sets over DVI, but the graphics card must support HDCP to play content protected by digital rights management (DRM). If a depth greater than 24 bits per pixel is desired, the least significant bits are sent on the second link.

In single link mode each set of three 10-bit symbols represents one 24-bit pixel, while in dual link mode each set of six 10-bit symbols either represents two 24-bit pixels or one pixel of up to 48-bit color depth. Because HDMI is a more recent technology than VGA, an HDMI to VGA converter is a great addition you can use to connect a newer laptop or desktop PC to a more dated monitor or display. The dummy plugs are used to keep the inside of fiber optic SFP ports clean, dust-free, and undamaged. By any standards, VGA had good innings, being the go-to video connector from its invention in 1987 to the start of the millennium. The difference in picture quality between DVI and VGA may not be substantial in text or standard definition video but it’s more obvious in HD videos and hi-resolution displays.

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A DVI cable is used to transfer a digital video signal from a device like a computer or DVD player to a display device such as a monitor, TV or projector. Longer cables reaching up to 15 meters or 49 feet are used for display resolutions of 1280 × 1024 or lower. If you are unsure of what it is and what it does, all you need to know about it and more can be found in this article.But it’s not always a straightforward process, especially if you need a cable that converts different signals. HDMI is a newer digital audio/video interface developed and promoted by the consumer electronics industry. This is because dual-link DVI doubles the number of TMDS pairs (that high-speed serial link mentioned earlier), which in turn doubles the bandwidth of the video. However, DVI can pass resolutions up to 4K for certain PC applications using a different pin configuration. In many instances, you can simply use the same type of HDMI-to-DVI connection or cable adapter you would use to connect a device with a DVI interface to an HDMI TV.

To promote interoperability between DVI-D and HDMI devices, HDMI source components and displays support DVI-D signalling. VGA ports are being phased out but you can still find them in some projectors, as well as older monitors and TVs. The signal from this cable is converted from digital to analog but still produces higher image quality than VGA. However, if you have a device with a DVI connection rather than HDMI, you should use this to send the video signal. The motivation for including analog is to keep compatibility with the previous VGA cables and connectors.

DVI-I connectors do not convert analog and digital signals but can accept digital or analog signals – just not both at the same time. If you have a home theater receiver in your setup, you also have the option of connecting the DVI video output of your source device to an HDMI-equipped TV using a DVI-to-HDMI adapter. If you need to connect an HDMI source device (such as a Blu-ray Disc player) to an older TV that only has DVI ports, you can use the same type of HDMI-to-DVI adapter used when connecting a DVI source to an HDMI TV. When DVI was designed, most computer monitors were still of the cathode ray tube type that require analog video synchronization signals.