DVI and It's Confusion

Technologies were made to help humanity. However, sometimes it can also brings confusion to the users. DVI is an example where the technology keeps on improving, gave birth to loads of standards and finally might give problems to end users.

There are a lot of DVI's, basically there are 5 types of them. These are the info about them.

• DVI-I (Single Link) = Digital & Analog, up to 1920x1080.
• DVI-I (Dual Link) = Digital & Analog, up to 2048x1536
• DVI-D (Single Link) = Digital, up to 1920x1080.
• DVI-D (Dual Link) = Digital, up to 2048x1536.
• DVI-A = Analog

Well, that looks a little bit simpler. Now, what you have to do is make sure the display can accept the link and the kind of signal that you wanted to send. 

Even though there are reports saying that you can have a high resolution (2048x1536) using a single link with 85Hz, that is usually using a DVI-I cable where the display uses some support from the analog signal to fill in some blank spaces. Well, that's good engineering, but the easiest way to overcome this uncertainty is to go for dual link if your computer and monitor supports one.

With all the confusion in the air, the ones that come out with DVI came out with another present to add to the lack of certainty. Here comes DVI M1-DA (Dual Link + USB). 

The new one is basically the DVI answer to the new HDMI 1.4. Where HDMI 1.4 can support network signal, the DVI can support USB. They don't put network on DVI because you won't need a network-enabled monitor, but having extra USB on the monitor might help. However, by the looks of things, the connector for DVI M1-DA couldn't be connected to a normal DVI. 

Well, the DVI is a confusing technology. People doing DVI should've made their connection future proof before trying to make it as standard. Even so, DVI is still the best for a computer monitor environment. However, do opt for HDMI if it is for connecting TV, it is more hassle free and has cheaper connectors. We'll talk about HDMI later in the future.