Any 'Digital Visual Interface Connector' Guru's out there?
I'm at wit's end trying to find a more conclusive answer to my question than "..Maybe?" "uh, Possibly?..," and "I dunno dude."
I'm thinking I'm proby ready to hurl this DVI-D Plat Panel out the window if I can't find an answer soon... Probly not a good idea, probly end up killing someone that way... But nevertheless very-much necessary if the DVI-D display I bought is outdated or worthless, heaven forbid...
If you think you can help me (or help save a person's life before I hurl this display out the window) then here's the rundown of my quandary...
Last week, I was one of many winners for an auction of Gateway 15.1 inch 1500 Series Flat Panel Displays (Grade A) sold by the people over at:
http://www.WholesaleAuction.com
which is where I get 90% of everything I buy for the various computer builds and what not and this great little Gateway unit I got for something like $92.00, was a pretty good deal I think, especially since they only broke up one pallet that day and all 30 units got snapped up at $92.00 or less.
Anyway, the FPD came in today in relative mint condition, and when I checked the supplied cable (and end user's manual, which does not answer my question BTW), the end that plugs into the rear of the monitor is a Digital-Only HPCN-20 Pin Male (early display-side DVI-V standard), and the other end (what troubles me) is a standard Male DVI-D Single-Link connector that is supposed to plug into an AGP/PCI video card...
(GoTo:
http://www.pacificcable.com/DVI_Tutorial.htm - and scroll to the bottom of the page for a photo of the "DVI-D Video Card Connector" I'm talking about, and immediately below that is the "DFP Connector" that goes to my TFT Display).
My main question is whether or not I can plug this DVI-D Single-Link Male cable into a DVI-I Single-Link video card? Are the two standards compatible? They are in the exact same category and listed together under the Digital Video Interface 1.0 specification, with no warnings separating the two. But they are STILL different?!
Since it appears to me that 95% of all the video cards manufactured (see: eBay, Pricewatch.com, etc.) are DVI-I (having the Female DVI-I connector), and only a tiny fragment of video cards (Quadro FX, ATI , etc) are DVI-D (having the Female DVI-D cable end, which is one I need) why two standards, I'm lost...
Bottom line is that I'm wondering if Female DVI-I interface-based video cards work with DVI-D based cables since the ends are almost identical except for a few pins on one end of each connector.
Perhaps I am making this out to be more than it is, but I am having a real tough time finding any conclusive data (including previous TechMIO threads) that says whether or not I can buy, say... an ATI Radion or a GeForce FX with DVI-I and get it to work on a DVI-D connector.
I am fully aware that there are DVI-D Female to DVI-I Male 2 inch adaptors (some with cables too!) out there, but I read somewhere (can't remember where) that said TFT/LCD Monitors that come standard with 20Pin to DVI-D (digital single-link-only) CANNOT be made to work on Digital/Analog aka "Dual-Link" video cards that have only the DVI-I video card port through the use of a DVI-D to DVI-I ADAPTOR.
The article alleges that the use of Single-Link Digital-Only LCD's do not work on Dual-Link Digital-Analog video cards, while at the same time -- beyond that message -- everyone seems to be giving me conflicting info saying that the beauty of "DVI-I" video cards is that they are DUAL-LINK compatible, since they can support ANY FLAVOR OF THE DVI FORMAT, both DIGITAL SINGLE LINK and ANALOG DUAL LINK. What gives?!! Am I losing my mind?! How is it so complicated a question nobody has a solid answer? Perhaps it is a complex question then? I dunno...
But can anyone see why I am getting so confused here?
Even the good folks at Wholesale Auction aren't sure whether DVI-I videocards work with DVI-D plat panel monitors, or vice-versa.
So then, If nobody tells me diffrent, I guess I will have to assume the two specs are separate, because they... err... wait a second.. but they not, they come from the same spec sheet?! Arrrrrgh! This is insanity.
But then again, both standards are actually SEPRATE, it's just they BOTH come from the same SPEC. But rather than being lumped together like they do by the ISO standards people (falling under the same general "DVI 1.0 Compliance Specification") they should be seprated, since one takes one kind of data and another does not. Then hopw can they be totally interchangeable?
An Asian-based website I found gives its own (conflicting-mind you!) 'technical definition' of the DVI specification (as cut & pasted directly from thier website) make sure to read the last sentence in particular, the person writing this (in broken-English) ends up explaining that both formats of the DVI spec are totally compatible, but-only-some-of-the-time.. Whaaaat the heck?:
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Posted GMT 6:31:25 on 03-12-2003 by TaiwaiGoGo@myrice
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"...This is for DVI 1.0 DEFINITION SPECS = Digital Visual Interface = it definition is simple and is this [as you can seeing below what is written] is easiest spec to remember by...
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DVI-D is for Flat Panel Monitor and it contain spec like this:
DVI-D is 24 pin connector accepting digital video input video cards only. And DVI-D (formerly known to be DVI-V) is most common making video card on market. Is also very common for spec customer finds for HDTV, TFT Computer Display and also for Large-Format Video Projection using for display of laptop screen to wall or theatre background for many eyes be able to seeing better presentation.
On other hand, next is same compatible sister format, and is knowingly called DVI-I spec.
DVI-I is for "Flat Panel Display" AND ALSO "Standard VGA Monitor," since it taking both display type. DVI-I contain 29 pin on connector, and accepting connection for both Digital or Analog video input video cards, and is more increasingly favorable DVI type since cable can transport signal for analog audio also for display with built-in speaker -- where is more commonly found today spec DVI-D, it cannot carry such sound signals.
Nice to knowing both spec are compatible totally with each other since both are from same spec classification, because format not usually matters at all for any DVI video card!!
If switch or exchange needed for DVI-I to DVI-D or DVI-D for using with DVI-I, but difference in format does matter only sometimes given serious damaging to device if not paying attention to user's rule book, since not all DVI works all the time for user needs to exchange, only some of time... "
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Is this information starting to get you a little lost too? Or am I the only one who can't get a straight story from anyone? I feel like Jim Carey in that movie the Trueman show, where everyone knew what was going on except himself, yet nobody could tell him a thing because the joke was on him. Only, I don't have time for jokes.
So I figured before I go plunk down a $100 bucks on ANY video card with ANY DVI-whatever-connector, right OR wrong, I thought I would ask you TechMIO guys here about this mess since the users who make this website what it is, have saved my arse many, many times in the past, and it seems so full of knowledgeable computer industry people that surely, there must be somebody out there who can give me a straight answer on this DVI-D / DVI-I compatibility issue, especially where the rest of the internet at-large has failed to do.
I did find this other website just now, which is the best explanation about the differences of DVI-D (Digital Only Single-Link) and DVI-I (Digital+Analog Dual-Link) specifications, but the funny thing about this explanation is at the very tail end of it, somebody asks exactly what I'm asking and the guy's response is this (I don't know why the brands and store name were "xxxed" out:
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"...Reader: I own a video card and a 15" LCD display and both have DVI-I connectors. I would like to purchase a really great 21" LCD display I found at XXXXXX XXXXXXXX, but I don't want to throw away my expensive XXXXXXX XX XXXX video card just yet. The display I am interested in has a DVI-D interface, not the DVI-I that my video card has. Are the two DVI standards compatible?
...Respondent: There are currently three digital video interface standards available:
1) The VESA Plug and Display (P&D) 1.0 specification (orphaned, not available in products with post manufacture dates of 1997)
2) The VESA Digital Flat Panel (DFP) 1.0 specification (largely replaced by the DVI specification).
3) The Digital Visual Interface (DVI) 1.0 specification (The DVI 1.0 specification incorporates either a DVD-I 29-pin combination which is a digital/analog connector virtually identical to the VESA P&D connector, except with fewer pins for the digital portion of the connector or the specification incorporates a DVI-D 22-pin combination, which is the digital-only connector for digital devices.
It appears that the DVI spec. is the one that will win out in the future (mainly because Intel backs it). This means the 29-pin or 22-pin connectors will be the ones found on most video cards and monitors in the future. What Intel wants the world to use, Intel generally gets the world to use.
But as for the display you're looking at buying, it appears that you SHOULD be able to attach a DVI-D LCD panel connector to your existing 256 MB XXXXXXX XX XXXX DVI-I-based video card since the two of them are Digital Video Interface (DVI) compliant, but I am still not 100% sure the two flavors of DVI (dvi-d and dvi-i) are compatible (interchangeably speaking) and I recommend you contact Ingram TechMicro or Unitech Asia to further inquire about your XXXXXXX XX XXXX video card.
Good luck..."
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HELP, I'M IN HELL!!!!!!!!! Does anyone have something better to say than these people's... "Here's the answer to your question, yadda, yeadda... so I dunno, good luck!" <--- That stuff is all I'm getting, and nobody really knows what's going on?! How hard can it be? After all, we're not talking about a thousand diffrent kinds of SCSI adaptors here? We're talking 2 types here... wow... impossible to answer, sorry!...
I really wanted to get this monitor fired up this week, but since I don't know which DVI video card to buy, it's like playing roulette with a loaded gun, 50/50 which standard will work, and those damn Quadro DVI-D Video Cards from nVidia are something like a thousand dollars each!?!
That's a lot of money to pay just to play Tribes multiplayer on a flat panel attached to the footboard of my bed! Please help me clarify, or at least try to help me sort out this mess... Nobody else seems to be able to do that, including myself!
Regards,
Radman
PS: If you don't have enough DVI-Guru-ability yourself, or don't want to bother replying with an answer yourself (per se'), could I pester you for a URL or other weblink you think might be of use?
That way you'll still get kudos for saving my ass if the website specifies the answer I still haven't found yet.. The one I'm tearing my hair out trying to figure out myself!
hardware
prices 
Yay!
Grab a clue, people!!! 
).
aww shucks...tweren't nuthin 
