DVI-D Dual Link vs. Single Link

[Atar3on]

I've been reading up on the two, yet I'm still not sure what I've read has really given me the answer I'm looking for.

At the moment I have my 22" Samsung 225BW LCD connected to my Scientific Atlanta 8300 HD/DVR. Since the 8300 has HDMI I had to purchase a DVI to HDMI cable, but the DVI end is DVI-D Single Link and the monitor supports both Single and Dual Link. Will I get better image quality if I were to use a Dual Link cable or is there any difference in this case?

Any input would be appreciated since I'm new to DVI and HDMI. Thanks!

 

[PCMusicGuy]

No difference in the two cables as far as you'd be concerned. Watch HD and be happy.

 

[SentToSchool]

No difference at all because dual link is for super high resolution monitors which yours is not.

 

[Atar3on]

lol, yeah I know it supports a max of 1680x1050 and wont do 1080i or p, but will do 720p. So I'll stick with this cable then. Thanks for the input!

 

[NoxTek]

Single link DVI is basically a lower bandwidth data cable capped at ~165mhz bandwidth across the cable. 1680x1050 @ 60hz is just under that limit and that's probably why your monitor only came with a single-link DVI cable.

The only reason to get a dual link DVI cable would be if your monitor happened to support refresh rates higher than 60hz at it's native resolution - and most current LCD monitors do not have this feature. (unfortunately)

My Viewsonic VX2025WM is actually supposed to support 75hz @ 1680x1050, but you can't do it with the single-link DVI connection. One of these days I need to try a dual link DVI cable and see if it will work.

 

[artmonkey]

lol, yeah I know it supports a max of 1680x1050 and wont do 1080i or p, but will do 720p. So I'll stick with this cable then. Thanks for the input!

I'm sure this is not right. The highest resolution/refresh for a single link DVI is 1920x1200@60Hz. Also it will support 1080i and 1080p but @1080p the absolute highest refresh at this resolution is 60Hz.

 

[Askanison]

My Viewsonic VX2025WM is actually supposed to support 75hz @ 1680x1050, but you can't do it with the single-link DVI connection. One of these days I need to try a dual link DVI cable and see if it will work.

Sigle-link dvi is capable to push 1680x1050x75Hz which actually use slightly less bandwidth than 1920z1200x60Hz.. What DL-DVI differs from SL-DVI cable is the extra 6 pins/wiring for which your monitor will not utilize at all (as well as the digital processing chip)..even thou the input have holes for them (for compatibility issue).

 

[Atar3on]

I'm sure this is not right. The highest resolution/refresh for a single link DVI is 1920x1200@60Hz. Also it will support 1080i and 1080p but @1080p the absolute highest refresh at this resolution is 60Hz.

No, I think you misunderstood my response. I was referring to what my monitor is capable of, not the cable. In this statement that is -

lol, yeah I know it supports a max of 1680x1050 and wont do 1080i or p, but will do 720p. So I'll stick with this cable then. Thanks for the input!

 

[Atar3on]

Single link DVI is basically a lower bandwidth data cable capped at ~165mhz bandwidth across the cable. 1680x1050 @ 60hz is just under that limit and that's probably why your monitor only came with a single-link DVI cable.

The only reason to get a dual link DVI cable would be if your monitor happened to support refresh rates higher than 60hz at it's native resolution - and most current LCD monitors do not have this feature. (unfortunately)

My Viewsonic VX2025WM is actually supposed to support 75hz @ 1680x1050, but you can't do it with the single-link DVI connection. One of these days I need to try a dual link DVI cable and see if it will work.

My Samsung actually does support 70Hz which is what I have it set to via drivers on the PC. Wish I had that same option for my 360 though which is connected to it via the VGA port.