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Author Topic: DVI or HDMI ?  (Read 2329 times)

Rand47

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DVI or HDMI ?
« on: October 11, 2012, 08:08:07 am »

My new computer build will be ready on Saturday!

The video card has both DVI (that's what I'm currently using) and HDMI.
My monitor is NEC PA27W.

I obviously already have the DVI cable, but is there any advantage in using HDMI?

As an aside I'm really excited about the new computer, as my old one w/ 8 gigs RAM, an older AMD CPU, and a painfully slow 5400 rmp 2 TB HDD is being replaced with an i7 3770 Ivy Bridge, 32  gigs RAM, two SSD (one for OS/Programs, the second for scratch disk etc.) and a third 2 TB 10K HDD for data and "current catalogs."  Should work with LR4!

Rand
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Doug Fisher

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Re: DVI or HDMI ?
« Reply #1 on: October 11, 2012, 10:51:27 am »

Do you mean a PA271W instead of the "PA27W" you typed?  If so, I don't believe that it has an HDMI port.  It does have a Displayport port though.  Displayport is preferable to DVI IF IF you have a good quality Displayport cable plus your video card is 10 bit capable AND it allows the 10 bit to be streamed out (some cards actually have the hardware but the drivers aren't capable/don't allow 10 bit to be streamed out).  A PA271W is able to take advantage of 10 bit to give you smoother gradients via more colors/shades so you ought to take advantage of that.  Since you are building a PC now, you might want to check the specifications of the video card to make sure it can actually output 10 bit.  Usually this means you have to have a workstation-type graphics card.  Check carefully because I thought I was in good shape with a fairly recent  ATI card that had a Displayport port but I found out that even though my card has the hardware for 10 bit the ATI driver only allows 8 bit out!  It is ATI's way of getting you to pay a lot more money for a workstation card.

Doug
« Last Edit: October 11, 2012, 11:01:37 am by Doug Fisher »
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Rand47

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Re: DVI or HDMI ?
« Reply #2 on: October 11, 2012, 03:09:58 pm »

Doug,

Many thanks.  Yes PA271W & I was able to confirm w/ builder that the card we chose supports 10 bit out at the hardware & software level, so I'm good.

Thanks much for the valuable information, much appreciated.

Rand
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Sareesh Sudhakaran

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Re: DVI or HDMI ?
« Reply #3 on: October 19, 2012, 05:11:16 am »

As a general rule DisplayPort first, HDMI next, and DVI last and only if unavoidable.
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Eak.in

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Re: DVI or HDMI ?
« Reply #4 on: October 26, 2012, 03:55:17 pm »

Just know DVI and HDMI carry the same digital signal, so no real gain in using DVI or HDMI.

If your DVI cable is long enough, then you are good to go.  I like using HDMI as you can get inexpensive long cables.  Makes cord organization and computer placement easy.

In fact, I use cables that have DVI on one end and HDMI on the other.  Easy to route the cable through cable management and a 15' cable can be had for <$15.  A 25' is not much more.

The differences between DVI and HDMI:

- HDMI can carry both digital video and sound.  I don't think your monitor has sound capabilities, so no gain by using an HDMI cable.
- DVI can only carry video. 

DisplayPort also carries the same digital signal, but be careful.  You can connect a DisplayPort source to a DVI monitor.  But, you cannot connect a DVI source to a DisplayPort only monitor.

Hope that helps.

Chris.
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