Are you confused by the barrage of video cables available today? Let’s take a look at the most important video cables today, HDMI and DVI, and see what’s the differences between the two.
DVI
DVI Cable is one of the most common digital video cables you’ll see on desktops and LCD monitors today. It’s the most similar to VGA connectors, with up to 24 pins and support for analog as well as digital video. DVI can stream up to 1920×1200 HD video, or with dual-link DVI connectors you can support up to 2560×1600 pixels. Some DVI cables or ports may include fewer pins if they are designed for lower resolution devices, so you’ll need to watch for this. If your port contains all the pins, however, it can support the max resolution with no problem. The biggest problem with DVI is that it doesn’t support HDCP encryption by default, so if your hardware only includes DVI ports, you may not be able to playback full HD Blu-rays and other HD content.
You can connect DVI to an HDMI port on a newer monitor with a small digital convertor. However, since DVI doesn’t support audio, you’ll need to use a separate cable for audio when connecting to an HDMI port.This makes DVI one of the more versatile newer connectors. It’s both backwards and forward compatible, though at the loss of some convenience. You can also connect an older monitor that only includes a VGA port with a DVI port easily via a similar DVI to VGA converter if your video output supports analog video.
HDMI
HDMI is the default cable on newer HDTVs, Blu-ray players, Apple TV, many new computers and video cards, and a multitude of other video devices. HDMI cables and ports are very easy to use, and are almost as easy to connect as USB devices. No more bent pins; just push and play. HDMI cables can stream digital video and audio simultaneously over the same cable. HDMI cables support up to 1920×1200 HD video and 8 channel audio. They also support HDCP encryption for the newest HD content. For almost all purposes, a single HDMI cable is all you’ll need to connect your computer or video device to your monitor or TV, and it’s almost the absolute standard digital cable.
Back in the days of VHS tapes and analog TV, a higher quality cable could definitely mean the difference between a clear and a fuzzy picture. But with digital video and audio, a cable is a cable. Your cable will just be transferring bits like your Ethernet or other computer cables, and a cheap HDMI cable from Amazon will serve you as well as a Monster cable. Standard HDMI Cables wholesale today can be up to 49’ long without any signal loss, so just look for the cheapest cable, plug in your equipment, and enjoy.