HDMI Card vs. DVI>HDMI Cable

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unholy89

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 6, 2006
Messages
280
Is there any difference in picture quality between a card with HDMI connection built in like this vs. a DVI>HDMI cable? For the same price of the X1600pro I could get a 7600GT and already have a DVI>HDMI cable so I was wondering would that be better.
 
No, IQ is the same...

unless you throw HDCP into the mix, which WILL happen if you want to watch blu-ray or hd-dvd.

HDMI = DVI + Sound data + HDCP
 
SeetheSeer said:
No, IQ is the same...
...
HDMI = DVI + Sound data + HDCP
Click to expand...

More correctly:
HDMI = DVI + Sound data + digital support for non-RGB colourspaces

HDCP is optional for both DVI and HDMI.

DVI and HDMI both have a fairly chequered history with respect to their implementation on digital TVs. One of the most obvious areas is that a TV that has both DVI and HDMI may work fine with DVI, but overscan the HDMI signal leading to image softening and (for HTPC use) loss of taskbar, window edges, etc. Sometimes this can be corrected, other times it can't. On the other hand, despite the DVI spec mandating support for 1:1 pixel mapping, many TVs won't support native resolution (or widescreen resolutions generally) over DVI; but will support 480/576/720/1080 line widescreen resolutions well.

Basically, the RGB signal for HDMI and DVI are identical, but the resultant IQ can differ due to the display electronics.
 
I guess I'll go with a regular 7600gt since it won't be used for HD or Blu-ray anytime soon and sound would be connected from the sound card to reciever. I guess I'll go with performance, thanks for the info.
 
For PCs (HTPCs) HDMI connectors don't really matter all that much even if you're going with a next gen DVD drive. The problem is that the audio formats used with them don't have enough bandwidth when using SPDIF out to an HDMI port.

So it really doesn't matter but a DVI port with HDCP does.
SeetheSeer said:
No, IQ is the same...

unless you throw HDCP into the mix, which WILL happen if you want to watch blu-ray or hd-dvd.

HDMI = DVI + Sound data + HDCP
Click to expand...
 
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