Hi all.. please bear with me and let me ask a stupid question. I guess I was under a wrong assumption and am now finding out. Ok I bought an 8800 GT video card recently and I noticed on the back of the card that it ha a DVI connection.. I currently use a CRT monitor. So I figured. Ok let me go out and buy an LCD. That should take care of it. Well I went out and bought as 20 inch Acer Wide screen LCD monitor and when I got home and went to hook it up. It has the same connector as my old CRT. So I am guessing it is an analog monitor?? . so in fact will there really be any difference between using this and my old CRT monitor? I mean I am kind of disillusioned over this. Stupid me figured an LCD is digital. So will having and analog LCD take away from the digital card of the 8800GT?? Thanks.

I think the situation with VGA, DVI, HDMI etc is crazy. Its so confusing. Some say DVI is best, while others HDMI. I know HDMI can transfer both video and sound (so good for HDTV), but DVI apparently offers the same visual quality.
Whats the quality difference between DVI-I and DVI-D?

Also apparently you shouldnt worry about a new moniter having VGA, as the image quality difference with DVI is minimal according to most I've asked on forums.

But all of this is just 'apparently' and none seems to be fact.

And your 8800GT wil be fine using a VGA LCD. Just use the supplied DVI to VGA adapter.

Ive got a LCD screen with both DVI and VGA ports, I use the DVI, but I couldnt tell the difference between that and the vga cable with a DVI adapter...

It will make a difference in games like Crysis. So, if you are an extreme gamer, then go and return this monitor. But it doesn't sound like you are. You got scammed on this monitor. Most modern LCDs come with a DVI connection, especially a 20 inch. Where did you find this thing?

The biggest difference I can find on my 24" monitor between it's d-sub/vga and the DVI and HDMI is fairly simple. It doesn't handle the analog signal correctly if I go over 60Hz. I get screen tearing in direct X games unless I use V-sync to cap it at the 60Hz. The HDMI and DVI handle the same resolution up to 75Hz without any screen tearing issues.

If you do a google search, you can find about 1000 opinions on whether digital is better than analog. Supposedly it is better, about 98% of the opinions you read say they can tell no difference. I have several analog and digital monitors, and I really cannot tell any difference in the picture quality on them. Some I have connected to both analog and digital both, and when I flip the LCD back and forth between the 2, I have not found at anytime that made a difference I could tell.

None. DVI-D is digital only. DVI-I is digital but has 4 additional pins to be backwards-compatible with analog (thus you can send either digital or analog signals on the same cable, depending on the source). The question of quality therefore boils down to the original question: analog vs digital.

On an LCD there is very little difference. Unlike a CRT display, an LCD has pixels of fixed size. When controlling the pixels digitally, you have strings of binary data (at the electronic level, this means two distinct voltages representing 1's or 0's) precisely controlling the color of each pixel. Analog uses a range of voltages and the digital LCD monitor must sample the fluctuating voltage to get an idea of what color the pixel should be. It is not as precise but you really can't detect it.

thanks for the opinions. yes i DO play lots of games on the Pc and well i wanted to start playing the newer games like Crysis. i just put together a new Pc with an e6850 processor and the 8800Gt card. i guess what i am thinking is that.. if both this LCD i bought at staples on sale for 159 is analog and my old CRT which is 19 inches is also analog. then heck i may as well play the same games on my CRT. doesnt seem to make any difference. i mean the LCD is a bit brighter. but other than that. its stil analog right??

You pulled that out of your ass.

It makes no difference; you wouldn't be able to see the difference with the human eye. The difference between DVI and VGA is that one is analog and the other is digital. It's still the same number of pixels, and the same colors.

thats sounds a rip off for the monitor?? Is that £159? My montor cost £125 and is 19" with DVI-D and VGA. I wouldnt worry about having a DVI, but for the price i would expect one.

Also will DVI-D be compatible and as good quality linking up to 8800GT DVI-I? Why cant they just use the same connection >

Yes, if your graphics card is DVD-I and your monitor is DVD-D, then you can use a DVD-D cable to connect them. There won't be any difference.

no the price of 159 is not in pounds. this is in USD.. i dont know what that converts to in pounds. .. but i eman for all practical purposes then. am i right in the assumption that since both the LCD and CRT are analog it will not really make a difference?? and since digital and analog are not really perceptable to the human eye.. then i guess it doesnt matter. am i right in thinking this?? .. FYI. 159 convertd to GBP is about 78 GBP..

Why not use both? Now you have dual monitors! You dont need to do anything more than get a dvi-vga adapter which your gfx card probably came with. http://www.mcbworld.com/mcbworld/i [...] apter2.jpg is a picture of the adapter i'm talking about. Picture quality of the analog imput vs the digital is minimal, and shouldnt affect the picture quality within a detectable margin (what a normal eye can see).

Seriously though, set up some duallies! Once you go duallies you wonder why you never did it before. I can watch tv at the same time i play wc3 or some other game, not to mention i can keep track of im-ing, burn a cd or watch a movie. Right now i'm watching the price is right on one screen and typing this reply on the other. All you need is the adapters, specifically its called a dvi-vga adapter, all gfx cards are capable of sending an analog signal (or the monitors can translate it, one of the two, or both i dont know for sure, just know that it works). Best of luck, enjoy having the duallies!

You watch The Price Is Right?? Is that the old one where he shouts : "blah blah blah (whoever) come on down!!"
If it is, u need help my friend..
Ryan.

LOL yes my 8800 card came with an adapter. so i can use it. i know what you are saying about dual monitors and i know how to set that up. i just am not the usual mutli tasker like that i have a tv in my pc room. but thanks for the input guys. i really appreciate it. i guess i really didnt need to get this LCD. my bad..