Displays Whats the "best" way to connect a monitor?

Now that my rig is complete I have turned my gaze toward the myriad display options out there. Currently I'm using HDMI to display on a 32" HDTV but I'm not liking how much fine detail I'm losing in the way of small text and icons when having to resize the screen. The screens native res cuts the edges off so I've had to scale it to some very strange resolutions for both the desktop and various games.

So havin trawled through the many options and reading all the info on here I've settled on getting a Dell U2412M. Which should suit (correct me if I'm wrong) the games I play. Predominantly BF3, EVE online, Diablo 3, The Witcher, Anno 2070 etc.

Thing is, to get the "best" quality picture, which of the available connections should I use? As far as I can remember the 560ti only has HDMI DVI or display port (I'm out, I can't remember)

So which one of these is the better one to use? Which one when paired with the U2412M give me the best quality?

 

All digital outputs will give you the same quality as all they do is push 0s and 1s down them.

 

Well what an anticlimactic response haha. With so many options of connector I was expecting there to be some marginal difference between them.

In that case I'll just go with whatever.

 

DVI is the best, the 32" will always looks **** when used with a PC as the pixel pitch is so big.

Running PC's through TV's for anything other than media is usually a bad idea.

 

Yeah I just dont own a monitor as yet so TV is what I got

 

Although I'd certainly recommend replacing the TV with the U2412M, you can probably improve the image quality quite a bit by running it at its native resolution and disabling overscan - it's often a difficult setting to find in the graphics drivers, but it's probably the reason the edges are being cut off. As for the output, the video output from HDMI and DVI is identical so either would be fine.

 

HDMI can have copy protection issues with Blu Ray that complicates things unnecessarily, also sends the signal at 23.9xxx fps which doesn't always sync up well to a TV's input rate so you may end up with slight tearing and sync issues when playing movies.

If you have your audio routed separately to video then it's probably best to avoid HDMI although issues can vary from system to system.

 

DVI and a Dell U panel

You can't go wrong

 

HDMI was originally designed to work up to 1080, so anything over that is easier to do over DVI.
New HDMI standards like: 1.3 and 1.4 would work as well. the dell has DCHP which is the copy protection needed to display Blu-rays. most all monitors have it. As long as GPU and monitor have it DVI will display Blu-rays. there are a few minor exceptions (read cheap ass monitors).

 

For LCD screens, you want to use a digital connector. The reason why small text appears unreadable on your TV is because TV are too big for their screen resolution. And in your case, you seam to have another problem displaying content to your TV.

In sum here is the difference between each connectors:
DVI
* Max resolution: 2560 x 1600 @ 60Hz
* Error correction bit are sent to ensure correct signal is sent from point A to B, this means also colors for every frame sent is always correct.
* Only video is sent
* Limited plug-in/out's
* Max Length 15ft if resolution is 1920x1200. Higher the resolution, shorter the cable needs to be.
* Support up to 12-bit colors, but at lower resolutions. 8-bit colors per channel for 2560x1600 resolution.
* Support stereoscopic 3D.
* No royalty fees

HDMI
* Max resolution in practice: 1920x1200
* Screw-less design
* Limited plug-in and out, but more than DVI
* Used in most consumer laptops
* Video and Audio is sent. And with version 1.4, Ethernet too.
* Does not pass error correcting bits
* Limited cable length: 15ft max
* Small plug and takes less room than DVI on a circuit board.
* Consumes less power than DVI
* 8-bit colors per channel max.
* High royalty fees. (newer the version of HDMI used, the more expensive it is)

High-Speed HDMI
* Like HDMI
* Supported resolutions are 1080p, 4K
* Support stereoscopic 3D.
* Support up to 10-bit colors
* Consumes more power than HDMI

DisplayPort
* Support up to 100ft (special uni direction cable needed)
* Support 4K resolution
* Support more plug-in and out's than any other connector
* Consumes less power than HDMI and DVI
* Internal laptop display connector version of it exists and consumes less power than the current offering.
* Error correction bits
* Support up to 16-bit colors per channel, at high resolutions
* Can be Daisy Chained (extended desktop) up to 4x 1920x1200 (or less with higher resolution, and vise-versa)
* Carries Video, Audio and Aux (practically anything the device want.. Thunderbolt, USB, Ethernet, etc.)
* Lock latch system to hold well
* Found on most business class laptops, and slowly entering the consumer market.
* Can be backward compatible with a simple passive adapter to: DVI (1920x1200 max resolution), or HDMI. (for higher DVI resolution, you need a more expensive active converter)
* Support stereoscopic 3D.
* No royalty fees, so cheaper cable

All connectors mentioned have all they needs to play digital right management content properly.

So as term of "best cable" . Display Port is the clear winner.

 

I got a U2412M and Displayport as connector: one of the best thing I've never seen.

 

Digital connection and then in order of importance DisplayPort, (dual-link) DVI and HDMI. I do like the DVI _connector_ best, though.

 

And that ladies and gentlemen is why Goodbytes is awesome.

Thanks everyone for the replies looks like I'll be going with display port (if I get a cable with the monitor) or DVI if I don't. Or even using HDMI if it comes sans cables.

 

Thanks

Sadly the U2412M does not come with DisplayPort cable (only the U2410, U2711 and U3011). If you ordering it with Dell, request the cable over the phone, they might be able to give it to you for free. If you are not ordering it directly with Dell, just get the cable from the same place you order, the cable is cheap. You can get it here (assuming 6ft) for about 5$ at cable store, or about 30$ at rip-off price.

 

Very much so!

 

I prefer DP over DVI as the connecter is way easier to use, no screws, not as big, ect. Go for that as it's the way forwards...

 

So out of VGA, DVI and HDMI, what would you guys recommend for a 1920x1080 LED monitor?

 

DVI or HDMI, whichever you find more convenient.

Both will show the exact same image in practice.

 

That's what I thought, I guess since I'll soon be sharing that monitor with a Pi I'll switch over to DVI.

 

I personally would try to use DVI in that situation because then I can just hook up other HDMI only devices more easily