[ebacherville]

I just got my Sharp M20x..1024x768 its got a DVI input...


Im using vga out from my 7500 to the PJ through the DVI to vga adapter that was included with the projector.


I was going to buy a new shorter vga cable to connect my HTPC to my PJ ...but my ATI Radeon 7500 is acting funky...and was considering replacing it with a newer Radeon card with DVI out.


Is DVI going to make my picture noticably better, is it worth it?


Right now the image is pretty darn good in my opinion.


And one more thing, I need a DVI-D cable right?


Thanks

Jason

 

[ebacherville]

hmmmm, I thought this would get somthing for a responce?

 

[Namlemez]

The picture is much more stable with DVI and you don't have to worry about fiddling with the clock frequency and phase settings on your projector as it warms up.


Getting simple XGA working over it is relatively easy as well. My personal opinion is that the upgrade would be worth the cost of a cable, unless you need a really long run to the projector.

 

[bvstone]

But what is a "really long run". Some say 10'. Others say 15'. Yet others claim no problems with 20-25'. I've even seen 75' DVI cables.


That's the question!


Given that your PJ is mounted on the ceiling, you've already got a min of 5 feet just to the adjacent wall. Then to your PC, well, that could be anoter 5-20'.


VGA cables seem to have the same limitation. Yet, there are those who have said they have had no problems.


Before I spend $50 on a 20' DVI cable, I'd like to know if it's going to cause any signal degredation problems.

 

[ebacherville]

I have seen a that 15' is the max reccomended length... if it truly is digital then you will know when it is to long... it wont work, kind of like cell phones , analog gets staticy and if your on digital it will switch to analog when the digital signal isnt enough.


I would think that 20' you could get away with... but dont know from experiance... My experiance with XGA Analog is you can go quite a long distance.. I have done 150' from a laptop to a projector, with very little loss.


IM not worried about distance as my run would be under 10'... but will it improve my image, noticably... like would the improvement be big or small?

 

[Mouw]

the simple answer....YES


You will probably see the Difference in the Skin Tone & Back Ground Clarity

the ATI card is a DVI connector if your PJ is the same DVI

then yes U need a DVI-D cable (3 meters is good)(single link is OK)


PS...I am using the ati7500 card myself...try it out first with DVI

 

[Michael Grant]

The maximum length that DVI can handle depends on a lot of factors. The cable quality is one of them, for sure---I've had a 6 foot piece of junk that couldn't hold a decent signal. But once you get a competent cable, the biggest determining factor is the resolution and refresh rate (that is, total bandwidth). The higher the bandwidth, the lower the maximum distance.


The next time someone tells you how long a DVI cable they run, make sure to ask them what their resolution and refresh rate is.


Now, the big question: will it make a difference. I wish I could give you conclusive results. I would say that the majority of people see a positive improvement. I have seen on this forum posts from people who say they see no difference, and even an occasional post that says RGB was better for them.


I personally find DVI looks better than RGB in my application, but I never bothered to try to tweak RGB to see if it could be as good. As other people have mentioned, part of the real advantage of DVI is that it just works (again assuming the cable isn't causing problems). In other words, the image is perfectly aligned with your projector's panel, pixel for pixel razor-sharp. In many cases you can achieve this pixel perfection with RGB as well, but it can require a bit of fine tuning---tuning which might vary with time and/or temperature. DVI doesn't vary, it starts out solid, and stays that way.


One final wrinkle. Now with the advent of true 10-bit color, things might change. When I say true 10-bit color, I'm not talking about cards with just 10-bit DACs and gamma correction, rather, the newer cards (Radeon 9700, Matrox Perhelia) with the true ability to store more than 8 bits per R, G, and B. For those cards, and with a DVD player specifically designed to take advantage of this ability, RGB might be slightly better than DVI. But I definitely think it's a "might", and at the moment I don't believe you can get DVD software that works with more than 8 bits per R/G/B yet, so it's a moot point.


My suggestion to you is to try it. Buy a good DVI cable at a store with a good return policy, and try it.

 

[ebacherville]

Well I guess i will have to try the DVI thing and get a new Video card with DVI out... it make sence that since im driving the DLP directly pixel by pixel it should be better....


Since there is a digital to analog to digital convesion going through a vga cable thats three less steps that are elimineted..


Now what card to get for my HTPC, I have a Radeon 7500 now.


Jason