VGA, DVI, and Cintiqs

Ghostscape

I've got a Cintiq. I recently got a new videocard, and didn't realize that it had a DVI and a VGA output on the back.

My Cintiq and my regular monitor both use DVI connections.

I bought a DVI/VGA connector but its DVI-Male/VGA-Female, and I need the opposite.

Except I can't find any of those on newegg and I'm not sure they even exist.

Cintiqs have some magic box that powers everything that the video cable gets plugged into - its a male/male DVI cable.

If I get a male/male VGA cable, plug one end into my PC, and the other end into the VGA->DVI converter, and plug that into the Cintiq, will that work?

Has anyone else done this?

EarthQuake

return the video card! =D
VGA has noticeably worse image quality and i wouldn't want to run a cintique on it.

Ghostscape

I'm running a 12" cintiq so hopefully it won't be too bad.

I've had the videocard for about a month so I'm probably a bit late on returning it. Might sell it and get a new one, though, but I'm not exactly flush bucks at the moment and it was an emergency replacement since my previous card shat the bed.

DarthNater

EarthQuake wrote: »

return the video card! =D
VGA has noticeably worse image quality and i wouldn't want to run a cintique on it.

+1

Also, it's usually best to keep your connections to a minimum. I know signal loss isn't much of an issue with digital connections anymore, but 1 more cable/component = 1 more thing that can break.

Edit: What card is it? I have an 8500GTS and if you have something better, I'll trade ya AND give you the cable you need. HA

BradMyers82

Yeah, you can get a really good video card cheap which has 2 dvi connection points. (8800 gt for 100). It seems sort of silly to have a cintiq which costs a 1,000 and not have the proper hook ups for it.

Ghostscape

It's this card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121333

Am I really going to see that big a difference on a 12" Cintiq if I'm running it through VGA? I know digital connections are nicer and all that, but ditching this card and getting a new one is a hassle. I don't know that I've actually had the opportunity to compare VGA vs DVI side by side.

DarthNater

You'll be able to see a difference. I mean, VGA will get you by, but why use the junk connection when you can use the best! HA I didn't look at the specs, is that an HDMI port on the end of that card? If so, get an HDMI to DVI cable.

EDIT: Link to cable

EarthQuake

It surely will not kill you to use VGA. I had a identical monitors hooked up on my work machine a couple years ago, one with DVI and one with VGA, and the DVI was noticeably sharper, very obvious on text, i'm not sure if that would be a huge concern for you but as others have noted it seems sort of silly to use a crappy connection on a $1000 piece of hardware.

Back to the original problem of the thread, can you post some images of what sort of connection the cintique has and what cables/adapters you currently have? My mind goes sort of numb when i try and figure it out.

[edit] Yes a HDMI to DVI converter would be a better solution, as HDMI is the same signal as DVI, just with the added audio. So outputting HDMI from your card and routing that to the display should work, all you should need is A. the cable that came with the display, and a converter from the card to the standard end of the cable, which newegg sells for like $5-15.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&Description=hdmi%20to%20dvi&bop=And&Order=PRICE

Ghostscape

I completely forgot that this thing had an HDMI port back there, for some reason it had slipped my mind that I would even have one of those on a video card.

I can probably get an HDMI cable for my main monitor and run the cintiq through the now-free DVI slot.

Thanks for the help guys!