How should one choose from different video interfaces?
April 12, 2013 6:34 AM Subscribe
Starting from scratch (as it were), if I'm going to go out and buy a new cable to connect my laptop to my monitor, what cable should I ideally go looking for?
The manual for my LED monitor (Iiyama Prolite E2773HDS) tells me that it has connectors of the following persuasions:
VGA (D-Sub)
DVI-D
HDMI
HDCP
Why would I pick one of these over another? When I bought the monitor, I just went with the VGA because I happened to have the adapter required to connect it to my MacBook Pro, but I'm currently working on getting all my cables from all the different tech things organised on/behind/under my desk.
I have the VGA to Thunderbolt (also known as MiniDisplayPort?) adapter, but I'm not excited about this big clump of a thing there on my desk. A friend lent me a HDMI to Thunderbolt cable (which is nice and straightforward, no big clumps – not sure how to describe this), but when I connect with that it seems that the image is much darker than with the VGA. I can adjust the monitor's Brightness/Contrast levels, but I wonder if there might be any reasons not to go that way.
I've been able to find descriptions of one or another of these interfaces, but nothing that explains the pros and cons of each. My suspicion is that one will give better audio, the other will have a faster display rate (if that's the right word), and another will give crisper detail, but I don't know which is which.
If I'm going to go out and buy a new cable, what cable should I ideally go looking for?
I use my Mac for basic computing, mostly online, flash movies, but from time to time some fairly complex video editing (iMovie), photo editing (Photoshop), and Graphic design (InDesign).
Thanks very much.
The manual for my LED monitor (Iiyama Prolite E2773HDS) tells me that it has connectors of the following persuasions:
VGA (D-Sub)
DVI-D
HDMI
HDCP
Why would I pick one of these over another? When I bought the monitor, I just went with the VGA because I happened to have the adapter required to connect it to my MacBook Pro, but I'm currently working on getting all my cables from all the different tech things organised on/behind/under my desk.
I have the VGA to Thunderbolt (also known as MiniDisplayPort?) adapter, but I'm not excited about this big clump of a thing there on my desk. A friend lent me a HDMI to Thunderbolt cable (which is nice and straightforward, no big clumps – not sure how to describe this), but when I connect with that it seems that the image is much darker than with the VGA. I can adjust the monitor's Brightness/Contrast levels, but I wonder if there might be any reasons not to go that way.
I've been able to find descriptions of one or another of these interfaces, but nothing that explains the pros and cons of each. My suspicion is that one will give better audio, the other will have a faster display rate (if that's the right word), and another will give crisper detail, but I don't know which is which.
If I'm going to go out and buy a new cable, what cable should I ideally go looking for?
I use my Mac for basic computing, mostly online, flash movies, but from time to time some fairly complex video editing (iMovie), photo editing (Photoshop), and Graphic design (InDesign).
Thanks very much.
DVI and HDMI will have the same result (I think they send the same signal just through different types of cable). VGA is worse quality than DVI/HDMI. Not sure about HDCP, but I would just go with HDMI or DVI, whichever is cheapest.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:43 AM on April 12, 2013
posted by EndsOfInvention at 6:43 AM on April 12, 2013
VGA is analog. It sends one signal for each of Red, Green, and Blue, plus two synchronization signals, for Horizontal and Vertical synchronization. It can give pretty good results, but it has limitations due to the nature of its signals, for instance in terms of resolution and refresh rate.
DVI-D and HDMI are digital. They're similar and mostly compatible. Since they are digital they are less susceptible to the kind of random variations VGA is. They have limits as to resolution, depending exactly on the kind of DVI/HDMI interface your computer and your screen have. For resolutions 1920 x 1080 at 60 Hz or less, these limitations won't matter.
HDCP is a kind of copy protection scheme that is only available on digital interfaces (DVI, HDI, DisplayPort). Your computer's video output and your screen need to be HDCP compatible for it to work. It only matters if you want to play HDCP-encumbered content (Blu-Ray discs).
Since you want a compact connector, and you monitor is 1920x1080 and only displays 60 images per second, HDMI is your best bet. The digital signal means that what your screen displays is what your computer "wants" it to display. Just adjust the brightness if it's too dim.
As for sound, you can send sound over HDMI to your screen, but the gain in quality relative to just plugging a 3.5 mm cable should be negligible. It would be one less cable to plug in, though.
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 7:03 AM on April 12, 2013
DVI-D and HDMI are digital. They're similar and mostly compatible. Since they are digital they are less susceptible to the kind of random variations VGA is. They have limits as to resolution, depending exactly on the kind of DVI/HDMI interface your computer and your screen have. For resolutions 1920 x 1080 at 60 Hz or less, these limitations won't matter.
HDCP is a kind of copy protection scheme that is only available on digital interfaces (DVI, HDI, DisplayPort). Your computer's video output and your screen need to be HDCP compatible for it to work. It only matters if you want to play HDCP-encumbered content (Blu-Ray discs).
Since you want a compact connector, and you monitor is 1920x1080 and only displays 60 images per second, HDMI is your best bet. The digital signal means that what your screen displays is what your computer "wants" it to display. Just adjust the brightness if it's too dim.
As for sound, you can send sound over HDMI to your screen, but the gain in quality relative to just plugging a 3.5 mm cable should be negligible. It would be one less cable to plug in, though.
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 7:03 AM on April 12, 2013
Rule of thumb: if you can use HDMI, you want to use HDMI. It's currently the highest-quality interface on the market, and it will be until someone comes out with a display resolution higher than 3840×2160. As current HD is 1920x1080, that could take a while. It also sends sound at good quality, which gives you one less cable to worry about. A dedicated optical link might be slightly better, but I don't know of a laptop out there that sports one of those.
Also: HDCP isn't actually an interface. It's a copy-protection protocol that rides on top of various interfaces, including DVI and HDMI, and it's generally required to display content from Blu-Ray discs (and some newer DVDs). If your TV is HDCP compliant, that's great and all, but the device on the other end needs to be as well for the content to play. Most newer computers are, but you'll want to check, especially if you're using more than one
posted by valkyryn at 7:33 AM on April 12, 2013
Also: HDCP isn't actually an interface. It's a copy-protection protocol that rides on top of various interfaces, including DVI and HDMI, and it's generally required to display content from Blu-Ray discs (and some newer DVDs). If your TV is HDCP compliant, that's great and all, but the device on the other end needs to be as well for the content to play. Most newer computers are, but you'll want to check, especially if you're using more than one
posted by valkyryn at 7:33 AM on April 12, 2013
HDMI (like usb) will probably be around the longest...i.e. you might use the cable longer than you will use either computer or monitor
posted by sexyrobot at 9:55 AM on April 12, 2013
posted by sexyrobot at 9:55 AM on April 12, 2013
For what it is worth, I have had some weirdness using my Mac with various digtial display interfaces. I bought a mini displayport to displayport cable only to find the image looked horrible. Tweaking some of the monitor settings (sharpness, or something) helped but it was still bad. A mini displayport to DVI cable, on the otherhand, was just fine.
I tracked it down to some weird interaaction between osx and the dell monitor I was using. I found other Mac users with similar problems on different monitors.
posted by Good Brain at 11:09 AM on April 12, 2013
I tracked it down to some weird interaaction between osx and the dell monitor I was using. I found other Mac users with similar problems on different monitors.
posted by Good Brain at 11:09 AM on April 12, 2013
(A big 'clump' on a cable is called a 'dongle' btw)
Also...I did this recently...thunderbolt and mini dvi are two different standards, even tho they use the same plug. I know, confusing. And not all mini dvi cables carry audio and most of the ones that do use a dongle to make the audio work. The hdmi looking 'darker' might actually be a feature. It might be displaying a greater dynamic range (more colors)...just adjust yr settings...not 100% sure tho...I use mine to connect my macbook pro to the tv, not a computer monitor. (Almost all tv uses hdmi these days, so you can use if for that too. )
My vote: hdmi to thunderbolt
posted by sexyrobot at 11:24 AM on April 12, 2013
Also...I did this recently...thunderbolt and mini dvi are two different standards, even tho they use the same plug. I know, confusing. And not all mini dvi cables carry audio and most of the ones that do use a dongle to make the audio work. The hdmi looking 'darker' might actually be a feature. It might be displaying a greater dynamic range (more colors)...just adjust yr settings...not 100% sure tho...I use mine to connect my macbook pro to the tv, not a computer monitor. (Almost all tv uses hdmi these days, so you can use if for that too. )
My vote: hdmi to thunderbolt
posted by sexyrobot at 11:24 AM on April 12, 2013
As others discussed, DVI and HDMI are similar. DVI is more designed for computers, AFAIK, and may support higher resolutions than HDMI, though again, HDMI should support at least 1920x1080.
I use a Monoprice Thunderbolt -> DVI adapter with my 23" Dell UltraSharp connected to a MacBook Pro and it works great. I also have the TB -> HDMI adapter and have briefly tested it with my brother's monitor, seems to work fine as well.
posted by nrobertson at 8:06 PM on April 12, 2013
I use a Monoprice Thunderbolt -> DVI adapter with my 23" Dell UltraSharp connected to a MacBook Pro and it works great. I also have the TB -> HDMI adapter and have briefly tested it with my brother's monitor, seems to work fine as well.
posted by nrobertson at 8:06 PM on April 12, 2013
Trick question. Get an AppleTV and connect your laptop to the TV without wires using AirPlay.
(AirPlay Mirroring is available with MacBook Air (Mid 2011 or newer), and MacBook Pro (Early 2011 or newer) with Mountain Lion.)
posted by Wild_Eep at 7:13 AM on April 13, 2013
(AirPlay Mirroring is available with MacBook Air (Mid 2011 or newer), and MacBook Pro (Early 2011 or newer) with Mountain Lion.)
posted by Wild_Eep at 7:13 AM on April 13, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
The cheapest one. Apologies if you know this already (many, many people don't)...the cable you get for 3 bucks on Newegg is the same one you get at Best Buy for 40 bucks and just as good as the $90 Monster cable. Buy the one on Newegg for 3 bucks.
I use HDMI between my desktop and TV (where the TV is my only monitor), and in the past I've regularly hooked up my laptop to a TV with VGA. Different computer/TV setup in both cases, but I'm much happier with the HDMI for reasons I can't really quantify. It just seems to...look better? More reliable? The laptop/VGA/TV cut out occasionally, but that might have just been because my laptop was a POS.
Whatever you decide, just make sure you don't buy the stupid expensive cable.
posted by phunniemee at 6:42 AM on April 12, 2013