Real quick cable question... Samsung 245t

[Eihli]

I have a pair of old Samsung 245ts that are still doing great and I'm not ready to replace them. They both came with some very short 6' DVI cables that have pissed me off for just about ever and since I'm doing a new build, I've decided to replace the cables with something longer.

The monitor does have HDMI support but I remember trying... and failing with my 560gtx to use HDMI because of something - I don't remember, but I think it was because the 560gtx didn't have enough HDMI ports (or any at all).

I want some longer cables, the monitor does support HDMI but they're 4+ years old... so I want it to display everything at the correct times.

Can't I just buy some longer 12' DVI cables? If I do, which do I buy... male + male straight DVI? DVI-D? DVI-I? Like what the fuck there's so many different kinds of DVI now I'm not sure which to buy.

I also think the monitor supports HDCP or something but I'm not even sure what that is. Please help me oh people of the [h].

 

[ToastyX]

Most DVI cables on the market are male to male DVI-D. I'm not even sure what you would use the other types for.

DVI-A is just VGA in disguise, so a straight DVI-A cable wouldn't be useful for anything. DVI-A is normally used for DVI to VGA adapters or cables where the DVI end plugs into a DVI-I port on the video card and the VGA end plugs into a monitor.

DVI-I is both DVI-D and DVI-A in one, but I'm not sure what a straight DVI-I cable would be useful for. The DVI-A pins can get in the way of plugs that only accept DVI-D, so you definitely don't want a DVI-I cable unless you want to use an adapter on one end. DVI-I is normally used on video cards so they can accept both DVI and VGA signals.

The only important consideration is single-link vs. dual-link DVI. 2560x1600 and 2560x1440 monitors need dual-link DVI, but single-link DVI monitors like the 245T can be used with dual-link DVI cables, so it doesn't hurt to get a dual-link DVI cable that works with everything.

Just get this: http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?p_id=2759

HDCP is High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection. The cable doesn't matter with regards to HDCP.