What is DVI Cable, and What are its Uses?

DVI stands for Digital Video Interface.

DVI is a prevalent form of video interface technology used to improve the quality of modern flat-panel LCD monitors and graphics cards. It replaced the short-lived P&D Plug & Display standard and advancement of the digital-only DFP format for older flat screens. DVI cables are very popular with graphics card manufacturers, and most cards these days have one or two DVI output connectors.

In the calculation of being used as a standard computer interface, DVI was, for a short time, the preferred digital transmission method for HDTVs and other high-end video displays for television, movies, and DVDs. Likewise, some high-end DVD players have DVI outputs in addition to high-quality analog component video. The digital market is now committed to the HDMI interface for the delivery of high-resolution media, with DVI being more exclusive for the computer market.

Table of Contents

Types of DVI cable connectors

There are mainly three types, some of which also contain a single link and double link. The dual-link DVI connector includes six more pins compared to a single-link DVI connector so that another broadcaster can increase the bandwidth to support a resolution of up to 2560 × 1600 compared to the resolution of 1920 × 1200 obtained with the single-link connection.

What are the DVI formats?

DVI-D – True digital video

DVI-D cables are used to make direct digital connections between source video (that is, graphics cards) and LCD monitors. Due to the nature of the digital presentation, this provides a faster and better picture quality than analog. All graphics cards first generate a digital video signal which converts to analog at the VGA output. The analog signal reaches the monitor and convert to a digital signal. DVI-D removes the analog conversion process and improves the connection between source and display.

Single link DVI-A cable

DVI-A – High Definition Correspondent

If you are joining a DVI computer to a VGA monitor, this is the cable you want. DVI-A is used to carry a DVI signal to an analog display such as a CRT monitor or a budget LCD. The most common use of DVI-A is to connect to a VGA device because DVI-A and VGA carry the same signal. During digital-to-analog conversion, quality losses occur, so a digital signal recommends whenever possible.

Dual-Link DVI-I Cable for Panel Mount

DVI-I – The best of both worlds

DVI-I cables are integrated cables that can transmit either a digital-to-digital signal or an analog-to-analog signal. This makes it a more versatile cable that can use in digital or analogy situations.

Like any other format, digital and analogy DVI formats are not interchangeable. These resources that a DVI-D cable will not work in an analog system or a digital system with DVI-A. To join an analog source to a digital display, you need a VGA-DVI-D electronic converter. If you connect a digital output to an analog monitor, you must use a DVI-D-VGA converter.

Also Read: How do I connect my Smart phone to my Smart TV?

Advantage

DVI carries digital signals, and therefore the information in digital form does not need to be converted. This considerably reduced the processing effort, which led to higher transmission speeds.
It can carry digital and analogy signals, while VGA can only carry analog signals.
It has a remarkably clearer and sharper picture quality than VGA.
DVI connections support resolutions of up to 1920 x 1200 pixels for the single-link format and a resolution of 2560 x 1600 for the dual-link format.
DVI connections are plug and play and do not require a system reboot as with VGA.