VGA or DVI to HDMI or DisplayPort

[tiveyuk]

Hi,

I've just got a Dell U2414H monitor which annoyingly only has DisplayPort and HDMI connections. The monitor is great apart from that but I am a bit concerned about the lack DVI so I'm considering sending it back.

The problem is I do a lot of work on machines that aren't mine so sometimes have to plug in a VGA or DVI PC or laptop. Does anyone know if there are adapters that can convert DVI or VGA from a PC/laptop to DisplayPort or HDMI on the monitor? There are loads on the net but I'm not sure if they're meant to be used the other way round.

Thanks

 

[Wamphryi]

DVI to HDMI adapters are very common and HDMI to DVI adapters are easy to obtain if the opposite is required. DVI and HDMI produce the same quality. DVI just lacks the audio capability of HDMI. I would not worry about the lack of DVI. It is a standard that will be seen less and less in the future.

 

[Solandri]

DVI is being phased out because it's a raw digital signal. It doesn't support content protection, so the movie studios are paranoid that you'll be able to play a movie on your computer and capture the raw digital video output to make a "perfect" recording. HDMI and Displayport both support content protection (HDCP, DPCP) and have the movie studios' blessing.

DVI to HDMI adapters are cheap and plentiful.
http://www.monoprice.com/Search/Index?keyword=dvi+to+hdmi

You do lose content protection, so you may have problems playing 720p and 1080p movies over such a connection (it may be degraded to 480p). Pirated videos don't have this problem, just playback from blu-ray or authorized digital movies. So great job by the studios there - screwing over their legit customers while pirates are unaffected.

VGA to HDMI is trickier since you're converting an analog signal to digital. Nevertheless, they are available, albeit much more expensive.
http://www.monoprice.com/Search/Index?keyword=vga+to+hdmi