VGA inputs on HDTVs

[bmcraig]

Unfortunately for me, the new TV I bought does not have a VGA input and I cannot get my computer to recognize it through is HDMI input.

Question: if you did have a TV with VGA PC input, would the quality be HD quality assuming you had a good video card? (If so, maybe I can work out an exchange for a different TV with my retailer).

Brent

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by bmcraig

Unfortunately for me, the new TV I bought does not have a VGA input and I cannot get my computer to recognize it through is HDMI input.

Question: if you did have a TV with VGA PC input, would the quality be HD quality assuming you had a good video card? (If so, maybe I can work out an exchange for a different TV with my retailer).

Brent

VGA can go higher than HD. 1920 x 1080 is attainable by most mid- to high end cards. It will all depend on your video card for the most part.

Gerry

[paulbeers]

What vid card are you running? My geforce 6600 recognized my tv right up (using a dvi to hdmi cable of course).

[malore]

Does your video card have component output? I believe the image quality of vga and component are supposed to be similar, though vga might have the advantage of not having to compensate for overscan.

Some HDTVs also support VGA resolutions over DVI or HDMI, which would indicate somewhat offical support for using them with a PC.

[jmiddleton]

I tested several DLP and LCD panels before making my purchase and the digital DVI signal looked MUCH better than the analog VGA signal on all of them. If you want to watch HD movies buy one of the new video cards with HDMI output. HDCP protected content will not play through a DVI connection. It will work through analog vga or component but I believe the resolution is cut to 480p (852x480).

[kpsmith]

VGA is an analog signal from what I understand but should be better than S-Video or component.

DVI / HDMI - is a digital signal so it should be better quality than any analog signal.

[DArthur]

The nice thing about the VGA connection is that you (generally) can get dot-for-dot resolution, so the TV does not do any scaling (just the PC). I've had both a Visio 50" and now a Panasonic 50" plasma (bothe 1366x768 panels) and the vga connections were noticably better than the HDMI/DVI hookups. The digital connection was more vibrant, but the VGA was sharper (with standard Sage recordings and DVD Playback). Plus the SageTV interface was sharper.

Darryl

[sleonard]

I just got back from my dad's where I helped set up a computer I built for him. He got a new 47" Sony 1080p LCD set (really sweet!) and I found that using the VGA input was far superior than the HDMI with a DVI > HDMI cable.

The picture via VGA was perfect but via HDMI it lost a lot of sharpness, had a strange sheen to all the icons and also overscanned past the edges of the screen. I was really puzzled since I "knew" that a digital connection should be noticably better and is on my Sammy DLP.

Scott

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by jmiddleton

If you want to watch HD movies buy one of the new video cards with HDMI output.

There's nothing special with regard to current HDMI cards vs DVI cards other than the plug.

HDCP protected content will not play through a DVI connection.

Whoa, back the truck up, that's not right at all. HD DVD and Blu-ray (the only content requiring HDCP at the moment) work perfectly well over DVI, provided the DVI output supports HDCP.

You can have DVI with HDCP, which will work for HD DVD/BD.

You can also have HDMI without HDCP, which will not work for HD DVD/BD.

HDCP is the important "feature" to look for, not HDMI. Having an HDMI output does not guarantee HD DVD/BD capability (there are a couple non-HDCP HDMI cards out there).

It will work through analog vga or component but I believe the resolution is cut to 480p (852x480).

Not curently. With PowerDVD Ultra you get full resolution over either HDCP DVI/HDMI or analog. ICT is not currently being used on either HD DVD or BD. WinDVD 8 (Japanese) is busted and downconverts everything. When/if ICT is used, it will required downconverting to 960x540.

[bmcraig]

GeForce 7300 LE, but my TV a Toshiba 62HMsomething (I am not at home) says in its manual its HDMI input will not support PC playback (and the TV has no VGA input). I have tried getting it going, but without any luck so far.

I have ordered a gadget that should work, if I cannot find a less expensive way to go.

Brent

Originally Posted by paulbeers

What vid card are you running? My geforce 6600 recognized my tv right up (using a dvi to hdmi cable of course).

[jmiddleton]

Originally Posted by stanger89

Whoa, back the truck up, that's not right at all. HD DVD and Blu-ray (the only content requiring HDCP at the moment) work perfectly well over DVI, provided the DVI output supports HDCP.

While HDCP over DVI is possible it cannot be assumed - at least with computer equipment. I wasn't aware that non HDCP compliant HDMI cards existed. Why spend the money for an HDMI license without an HDCP license? Where's the market? HDMI should still be a safer investment if you're buying a new card today.

Not curently. With PowerDVD Ultra you get full resolution over either HDCP DVI/HDMI or analog. ICT is not currently being used on either HD DVD or BD

ICT is at the sole discression of the content provider - that includes cable/satellite companies who can control it on their set top boxes. They can turn it on or off as they see fit. The HDCP licensee MUST support it or their keys can be revoked. For the time being I don't think any cable/satellite provider is using it; Sony and Universal intend to leave it off. Warner is planning to turn it on. Everybody has the right to change their mind. I wouldn't count on full resolution analog if I was building a new rig. I'd enjoy it as long as it lasts with old equipment.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by jmiddleton

While HDCP over DVI is possible it cannot be assumed - at least with computer equipment.

Yup, HDCP in general cannot be assumed.

I wasn't aware that non HDCP compliant HDMI cards existed. Why spend the money for an HDMI license without an HDCP license? Where's the market?

No idea, but I'm pretty sure one of the really early ATI based cards with HDMI doesn't support HDCP.

HDMI should still be a safer investment if you're buying a new card today.

Not really, because the cards do nothing different with HDMI than with DVI. The only difference is the plug, and that can be easilly remedied with an adapter.

That's what I'm doing now, I'm using a DVI-HDMI adapter on my 6800.

Now once cards come out that support multichannel audio over HDMI, then there will be a reason to choose HDMI over DVI. There just isn't a reason today, because there's nothing functionally different between the HDMI and DVI outputs on cards today.

ICT is at the sole discression of the content provider - that includes cable/satellite companies who can control it on their set top boxes.

Well first off, ICT is part of AACS, which is not used on cable or sat, and I'm not aware of anything akin to that on those systems.

They can turn it on or off as they see fit.

True, but, as of today at least, content owners have stated they won't be using ICT. How long that will last, who knows.

The HDCP licensee MUST support it or their keys can be revoked.

You're confusing HDCP with AACS. HDCP is encryption for DVI/HDMI, nothing more. It has nothing to do with ICT. It is true that AACS licensees must support ICT for analog connections, they also must use HDCP over digital connections.

For the time being I don't think any cable/satellite provider is using it;

I don't think there's an ICT for cable/sat systems. I've heard of nothing at least.

Sony and Universal intend to leave it off. Warner is planning to turn it on. Everybody has the right to change their mind.

True.

I wouldn't count on full resolution analog if I was building a new rig. I'd enjoy it as long as it lasts with old equipment.

True.

[mrcandu]

The nice thing about the VGA connection is that you (generally) can get dot-for-dot resolution, so the TV does not do any scaling (just the PC). I've had both a Visio 50" and now a Panasonic 50" plasma (bothe 1366x768 panels) and the vga connections were noticably better than the HDMI/DVI hookups. The digital connection was more vibrant, but the VGA was sharper (with standard Sage recordings and DVD Playback). Plus the SageTV interface was sharper.

Darryl

Same Here..... I recently purchased an HD Samsung 23inch, and tried hooking it up with a HDMI/DVI connection. Although the vibrancy and sharpness was great, I had many an issue trying to achieve the correct amount of overscan with resolution and refresh rate. After switching to the VGA input I also found the 1:1 pixel resolution makes an amazing difference. Although I initially thought the vibrancy was not as great as if I was using the digital input, I checked back, and it turns out it was all in my head..... the VGA looked even better! ........... Analog wins the day this time round.