Brian Shannon

Not sure if this belongs here or in PC talk but here goes.

I have added a pc to my theater and I am trying to connect my vga video card to my dvi cable.

I am confused by the various dvi standards and cannot get the pc to pass a signal. I have a DVI cable going to my HDMI switch.

I tried a vga to dvi-i adapter to my cable end but that did not work.

Question, should I continue to try and make this conversion or simply replace the video card with a dvi out. I am not concerned with outstanding quality, just want something better than the S-Video connection I have now.

Thanks.

X

VGA is an analog signal. You can't just use an adapter to turn it into a digital signal.

Generally VGA is converted to component (another analog signal) via a transcoder. Transcoders are generally $150+.

You should get a new video card that has DVI-out. Any converter box that can convert VGA to DVI will be expensive and look far worse than using a purely digital signal from video card to display.

Brian Shannon

That is the conclusion that I have come to.

I wonder why they make adapters for these types of connectors? The adapter would carry the vga (analog) to the DVI connector but to what purpose?

I had some other options to try such as making the only display the projector and using another port on my hdmi switcher. Based on the hassle I am thinking that I should just replace the video card too. Real shame since it is 6 months old and I have another card at home that will not fit the pc that would work.

X

The converters are meant to connect to a DVI-I port on a video card to be able to use the analog signal that is output on same the DVI-IA pin configuration along with the digital signal. That way you can get VGA out of a dual-purpose DVI connector. It's kind of a two-in-one connector for some people to be able to use the video card's port for DVI, some for VGA.

It doesn't convert any signals, just the shape of the connector so that a VGA cable can plug into it. You're trying to use it in reverse.

http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/DVI_info.html
http://www.datapro.net/techinfo/dvi_info.html

Brian Shannon

Thanks, I went ahead and ordered a new video card