As mentioned earlier the pin configuration of three types is different and you have to match the appropriate cable connection or the port will be damaged permanently. Do not assume all DVI cables are exchangeable and connect a DVI-A plug to DVI-D port and vice versa. You need to connectDVI-A plug to DVI-A port only and similarly DVI-D connectors. As for DVI-I it can take both DVI-A and DVI-D cable. DVI-I is the integrated format connector. It works with digital and analog equipment, acting as a DVI-D or DVI-A cable, but it won't convert pure DVI-D output to analog. DVI-I has two variations—single-link and dual-link—and has a 29-pin layout to accommodate multiple connections. DVI-A is the analog format connector. This is the type used to connect a DVI card to a CRT monitor (an analog display device). Although the signal does undergo a digital-to-analog conversion, the result is of higher quality than when using a standard VGA cable.

In some cases, DVI can carry over audio when connected to a physical HDMI adapter. For more information about that, take a look at this article. If you have the option to use HDMI or another port liked Display Port, use those instead, DVI and VGA should only be used as a last resort because the quality isn’t the best. People are often constrained by the ports available on their computers. Older PCs may only have a VGA port and new monitors may only have a DVI port. In such cases you may need a VGA to DVI adapter to connect this PC and monitor. From a user's point of view, both connectors work in the same way: devices have female ports and the connector cables have male endpoints. The signal is transmitted from the source device via the port to the connector cable and the destination, which is a display device. It should be noted that you cannot get DVI quality by using a VGA to DVI adapter. While some quality issues like signal degradation in longer VGA cables can be avoided by using an adapter near the video source, the digital-to-analog conversion necessitated by the VGA port does degrade signal quality. The maximum resolution on a DVI-D dual link is 2560×1440 at 60 Hz, the same as the DVI-I dual link resolution.

DVI-D is the digital format connector. It comes in both single-link and dual-link formats, the difference being that the dual-link connector provides more power and twice the data transmission rate compared to the single-link connector. DVI-D is the most popular type of connector for hooking up DVI cards to LCD monitors. For large screens, the dual-link connector is often a better choice than the single-link connector. However, DVI-I and DVI-D are still found on monitors and computers. I won’t be talking about DVI-A in this article because it’s rarely used today. As I mentioned earlier, DVI and VGA are dying standards, but they still have some practical uses. DVI-I is good because it can support modern resolutions (1080P at 60Hz) and you can easily convert it to other connector types. Most analog connectors, such as VGA, require active adapters to convert to HDMI, but you don’t need that with DVI.

DVI stands for Digital Audio Interface and it was an attempt to create an industry standard for video connectors, a seat which HDMI has now filled. The technology is a little dated, but like VGA, it’s still common on computers, monitors, TVs, and other displays. Today's video technology is moving away from analog ( VGA (video graphics array)) for digital connection formats ( HDMI, DVI (digital visual interface), DisplayPort). However, you still need to change the display technologies, usually due to differing ports on a computer and display. Video signals may be adapted in either direction (from DVI to VGA and VGA to DVI), but there are certain limitations and expense differences. DVI to VGA DVI-D single link has the same bandwidth as DVI-I single link, so the maximum resolution is the same at 1920×1200 at 60 Hz.So you can use it to connect to a secondary old monitor or TV that only has DVI or VGA inputs. The output resolution will be good enough for documents and watching movies but it won’t be true-HD and I definitely do not recommend it for games. DVI stands for Digital Visual Interface. It is a video display interface developed by Digital Display Working Group (DDWG). The interface is used for connecting display devices to PC or smart unit and it was developed with the intention of creating a standard for transferring digital video content. The DVI connector is used to establish this interface. Most modern graphics cards have abandoned VGA ports but they still have one or more DVI ports. It’s rumored these connectors will be abandoned soon too. DVI connectors use digital signals, and the DVI-I version has a couple of pins for analog signals, so you can easily convert to VGA with a simple port converter (more on that later). VGA and DVI connectors are used to transmit video from a source (like a computer) to a display device (like a monitor, TV or projector). The main difference between VGA and DVI is in picture quality and the way the video signals travel.

To convert DVI to HDMI you’ll need a passive physical adapter. The good news is both DVI-I and DVI-D can be converted to HDMI because they both use digital signals. There are three types of cables:- DVI-A: Analog only DVI-D: Digital only DVI-I: Digital and Analog. DVI-I Dual Link has a maximum resolution of 2560×1440 at 60 Hz. You can push it higher but you’ll have to lower the Hz rate to 30 which is a little clunky.You can also convert VGA to DVI because DVI supports analog signals too. Do remember that only DVI-I supports both analog and digital, DVI-D only works with digital, so you’ll need an active adapter to convert that to another type of connector. DVI-D (Digital Video Interface - Digital): This port only carries digital signals and hence the name DVI- DIGITAL. It has higher number of pins than DVI-A. The digital signals sent out cannot be received by analog monitors. You need a converter for connecting analog display devices. There are two types in DVI-D. They are Single Link DVI-D and Dual Link DVI-D. The pin configuration for both is given below. DVI-D (Single Link) supports a video stream at 1920X1200 @ 60 Hz. DVI-D (Dual Link) supports a video stream at 2560X1600 @ 60 Hz. Although DVI is present in most modern day graphic cards and HD monitors it is gradually being phased out. At present HDMI is preferred over DVI and HDMI is also being preceded by USB-C. But for few years we will see DVI in our life. DVI-I port is the most popular one of all the three types of DVI connectors and is used for connecting High Definition displays to the PC. Since it can run video stream at 2560X1600 pixel (with refresh rate of 60Hz), the user can experience high definition gaming and movie experience.

VGA connectors and cables carry analog signals while DVI can carry both analog and digital. DVI is newer and offers better, sharper display compared to VGA. You can easily tell them apart because VGA connectors (and ports) are blue while DVI connectors are white.Video signals transmitted over DVI need no such conversion because they are digital-only. Consequently, picture quality is better. The difference may not be noticeable for text or even SD (standard definition) video but can be seen for HD videos and hi-resolution images or on hi-res displays.