Monitor connections, DSUB, HDMI or DVI

[cotswoldcs]

I'm looking at purchasing a new Dell PC with a Core i5 CPU and 20" monitor. The standard 20" monitor is an analog only affair, whilst for £20 extra I can upgrade to an ST2010 which also supports HDMI. Is there an advantage in connecting a PC with an HDMI cable? What happened to DVI connections - have they been superseded by HDMI or are they still the cable of choice for a digital connection to a PC monitor?

I would be grateful of your input (or should that be output?).

[shaithis]

HDMI is just DVI + audio. If the monitor has speakers, then HDMI can be helpful, also the cable is thinner usually - which could be a plus point for some people.

I would expect any monitor with HDMI to also have DVI, although I guess they may just be bundling them with DVI>HDMI dongles which are nothing other then a wire junction box.

[sadbuttrue]

If you plan to use a ps3 or play blurays you'll need a monitor with HDMI and HDCP, which the ST2010 has.

[cotswoldcs]

Thanks for this. Dell monitors used to have an excellent reputation but have they lost their edge recently. They seem to be launching a wave of cheaper panels and the entry level monitor is analog only which is disappointing.

How much difference does a digital connection make. Would you notice much difference these days between a DVI/HDMI cable and an analog DSUB cable? I've always thought so but never tested the theory...

[jim]

I wouldn't dream of buying a new monitor with analogue only input - for first things you won't buy a new graphics card with an analogue output, so you'll always need an adapter in the mix which is just another point of interference and failure. And obviously you're much more likely to suffer from interference with an analogue cable.

[pp05]

I'm looking at purchasing a new Dell PC with a Core i5 CPU and 20" monitor. The standard 20" monitor is an analog only affair, whilst for £20 extra I can upgrade to an ST2010 which also supports HDMI. Is there an advantage in connecting a PC with an HDMI cable? What happened to DVI connections - have they been superseded by HDMI or are they still the cable of choice for a digital connection to a PC monitor?

I would be grateful of your input (or should that be output?).

Look at your gfx card/pc connection. Does it have a hdmi port? a DVI connection?

Ideally DVI for PC monitor if you can - where possible have two connections types just in case. Hdmi has been added recently to take advantage of the 'HD' marketing.

[watercooled]

What others have said really - I'd go for the DVI one. A picture on a VGA connection should be indistinguishable (unless you're at a very high resolution) but VGA is more susceptible to interference and you can get blurring/ghosting and the quality of the cable is more important with an analogue interface for these reasons. Also calibrating a DVI monitor has less steps and isn't as tricky...

[cantthinkof1]

In the normal run of the mill pc applications there will be no difference in pic quality. I have a dell 20" Model number:2007FPb
It has vga/dvi/s-video/video inputs and I have used vga & dvi but never noticed a difference. That said I never watched dvd's or played really demanding games.

Monitor is good though also has usb hub built in