(no subject)

[tamakun]

Oh yeah, can I complain about something else technical?

I used to think that I was the techie. I was bested by a freakin' cable today.

Since my new LCD Monitor didn't come with a DVI cable, I stopped by Canada Computers tonight to pick one up. I found the cable section and brought up a DVI-I cable to the front.

I can't remember how the discussion managed to go, but it was revealed to me that there are a few different DVI cables - DVD-D ("Digital"), DVI-A ("Analog") and DVI-I ("Integrated", essentially both in one cable). I had to make sure that the cable was the correct cable, as the cable is nonreturnable once it's been opened. I'm certain that my videocard is DVI-I (I remember looking at the connector, and I double-checked it online at the store). But I wasn't certain about the monitor. Thankfully, the one I bought was on display, so I looked at it - lo and behold, it's a DVI-D, which meant that I couldn't use a DVI-I cable (and I wouldn't have realized this until after I opened the package).

Now, here's where I got a little confused. DVI-I has 28 pins, of which includes a set of 4 pins arranged around a metal "blade" of sorts. DVI-D, Digital-only, has 24 pins and doesn't have those 4 pins surrounding the blade. Why it has fewer pins but provides a better picture, I don't know. (Then again, now there's HDMI, which looks about as big as a USB port and it really powerful.)

Ah geez, after finding an article, I've now found out there's Single Link and Dual Link. Not that I'm going to need that insane resolution that Dual-Link provides, but still...

I'm still pretty technical. But when it's starting to get so complex to the point that you need to be sure what cable you want, I think the technology is getting a little out-of-hand.

Plug-And-Play this ain't.

Comments

[kinnonyee.livejournal.com]

But Monitor looks good? Hahaha.

[tamakun.livejournal.com]

The monitor looks awesome with the VGA cable already - I still have yet to have time to set up the DVI cable, but I'm certain I'll look sweet. :D

[kinnonyee.livejournal.com]

Strange... I'm pretty sure mine is a DVI-D input on my monitor, which is why it came with a VGA cable (for the VGA slot) and a DVI-D cable... But when I bought my monitor, it was about $650, so the cable BETTER have been included.

But I guess most sources will have DVI-I so that it can output to TVs or monitors, and monitors on the whole will be DVI-D because they only accept digital signals...

[scruloose.livejournal.com]

And God help you if you decide to upgrade to Vista and use it to play any "premium content", because Microsoft has decided that DVI doesn't lock the user out of the process securely enough, and won't support any DVI (or S-Video, or component video, etc) devices under their DRM crippleware scheme.

Here's some fun reading on the subject.

[tamakun.livejournal.com]

I haven't even upgraded to XP yet, cause it scares me.

I sure ain't going to the DRM-controlled Vista. I'm quite content on having Windows 2000 as my last Windows system, since a) it's stable and b) it's easy enough for me to keep control of what I run on it.

Still working on getting that Kubuntu running. I need time to set it up...

[kinnonyee.livejournal.com]

XP's been stable like a rock. But I guess just go with what works.