HDMI or DVI?

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BTR

1527 posts

Uber Geek

#189016 14-Dec-2015 10:39

Apologies if this has already been answered, I did a search but couldn't find anything.

I am wanting to upgrade my monitors and looking at displays most gaming displays have both HDMI and DVI or display port the same as most graphics cards.

Which provides the best quality.

Currently I have a 32" TV that I have my main computer that I use for all of my editing and daily use plugged into the 1st HDMI input and my gaming PC plugged into the second input.

I then have a second 22" monitor that my main computer is connected to using DVI which allows me to have a second monitor and a 3rd computer is plugged into the second monitor using the VGA port. The second monitor is old and doesn't have HDMI.

I would like to replace both of these with two identical monitors to make better use of the space.

But before I do that I would like to know which gives a better picture? HDMI or DVI?

Thanks in advance for any help!

roobarb

653 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#1450057 14-Dec-2015 10:43

HDMI is digital, VGA is analogue. HDMI should be better and have sharper edges.

BTR

1527 posts

Uber Geek

#1450060 14-Dec-2015 10:51

roobarb: HDMI is digital, VGA is analogue. HDMI should be better and have sharper edges.

Hey sorry I mistyped, I meant HDMI vs DVI.

Jaxson

8044 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1450061 14-Dec-2015 10:52

They're essentially the same in most instances, just DVI is video only.

rav4chch

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1450069 14-Dec-2015 11:18

DisplayPort, HDMI and DVI are all digital interfaces, whereas VGA is analogue. There is no difference in "quality" between the digital interfaces, but analogue VGA is certainly lesser quality (and quite noticeably so on some monitors) so it should be your last choice.

HDMI and DVI are electrically identical in terms of the video signal (HDMI can include sound and Ethernet, but for your standard computer monitor these aren't generally relevant) it is just the connector that is different, so there isn't anything between these, i.e. use whichever is convenient. You can even have HDMI on one end and DVI on the other using a simple passive adapter or HDMI to DVI cable.

DisplayPort can drive higher resolutions and even multiple monitors (where supported by the video card and/or monitor, obviously). However, in my experience there are some poor implementations of DisplayPort out there, so it wouldn't be my first pick unless I knew exactly what hardware I was dealing with, or needed something only DisplayPort could provide.