DVI Dual Link Cable

eschu97611

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Mar 4, 2004
573
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L.A. CA
Just replaced my DVI single link cable with a dual link-seems to be a bit better in the area of pq-hard to tell for sure-does dual link really make a difference? Should I leave it hooked up with dual and store my single link?-Also, curious, is the DVI cable that comes with Voom now single or dual? When I installed back in Feb. the Voom system did not come with a dvi cable-I was using the one that came with my D* HD receiver.
 
eschu97611 said:
Just replaced my DVI single link cable with a dual link-seems to be a bit better in the area of pq-hard to tell for sure-does dual link really make a difference? Should I leave it hooked up with dual and store my single link?-Also, curious, is the DVI cable that comes with Voom now single or dual? When I installed back in Feb. the Voom system did not come with a dvi cable-I was using the one that came with my D* HD receiver.
February? I thought you were an early adopter who knew of the tremendous ultra stupendous picture quality back in November of 2003? LMAO
 
vurbano said:
February? I thought you were an early adopter who knew of the tremendous ultra stupendous picture quality back in November of 2003? LMAO
Early enough to have seen what Voom cannot seem to deliver presently-now stick to the topic of the thread please sparky-LMAO
 
cmslick3 said:
It's pretty easy to tell which type of DVI cable you have by looking at the pins and counting. Look at this of instance: http://www.networkcable.com/pages/dvi.html

I do believe that DVI-D dual link is what the cable that voom supplies is, but I am not in the mood to pull it off and check right now.
Thanks for the link-interesting that when I went to BB to pick-up a dual link cable, I noticed that Monster Cable's 100.00 and 129.00 cables were both single link-went over to computer section and grabbed a dual link made by Bilikin for only 49.99-strange that if dual link displays higher rez. that Monster would not produce a cable with dual????
 
the monster one is probably 200. Even more ridiculous since we are dealing with digital (DVI) signals of lower power. But Im sure monster will have some explaination of how their cables get better 1's and 0's than everyone elses. LMAO
 
I posted this before, but the facts:

Dual Link? Single Link? Which do I need?

Dual Link: Dual T.D.M.S. (transition minimized differential signaling) "links". DVI can have up to two TMDS links. Each link has three data channels for RGB information with a maximum bandwidth of 165 MHz, which is equal to 165 million pixels per second. Dual-link connections provide bandwidth for resolutions up to 2048 x 1536p.

Single Link: Single T.D.M.S. link. Each link has three data channels for RGB information with a maximum bandwidth of 165 MHz, which is equal to 165 million pixels per second.
Bandwidth for a single-link connection supports resolutions of over 1920 x 1080 at 60 Hz (HDTV).

Dual link vs Single Link: Don't believe the "hype" some websites are using about dual link cables being superior to single link cables. A single link cable is 100% as good as a dual link cable for single link equipment which covers about 99.5% of current equipment, including HDTV's, Projectors, Plasma Screens, and High Definition Set top Boxes. If your equipment does not specifically state it is Dual link in its specifications, it almost certainly is not. A better quality cable is a better quality cable, and single and dual link has nothing to do with quality. On the other hand, if both devices being connected support Dual links, then a dual link cable is the proper cable for the application, and you will have the capability of much greater resolutions and refresh rates. A properly designed Dual link cable should have no negative effects when used with single link equipment.

"Since it is Digital, Quality does not make a difference": This is false. DVI does not have any error correction. While you can get away with lower quality cables for short lengths, lower quality cables will have an increasing amount of errors with increasing length. Since the quality of implementation of DVI transmitters and receivers varies widely in equipment, the best reasonably priced cable should be used to ensure the best possible video quality.
 
Since it is digital, there is a much wider selection of acceptable DVI cables and most of us dont need them very long at all. It is far less critical than component or speaker cables. Many computer DVI cables work just fine.
 
Mr. Biggles said:
I posted this before, but the facts:

Dual Link? Single Link? Which do I need?

Dual Link: Dual T.D.M.S. (transition minimized differential signaling) "links". DVI can have up to two TMDS links. Each link has three data channels for RGB information with a maximum bandwidth of 165 MHz, which is equal to 165 million pixels per second. Dual-link connections provide bandwidth for resolutions up to 2048 x 1536p.

Single Link: Single T.D.M.S. link. Each link has three data channels for RGB information with a maximum bandwidth of 165 MHz, which is equal to 165 million pixels per second.
Bandwidth for a single-link connection supports resolutions of over 1920 x 1080 at 60 Hz (HDTV).

Dual link vs Single Link: Don't believe the "hype" some websites are using about dual link cables being superior to single link cables. A single link cable is 100% as good as a dual link cable for single link equipment which covers about 99.5% of current equipment, including HDTV's, Projectors, Plasma Screens, and High Definition Set top Boxes. If your equipment does not specifically state it is Dual link in its specifications, it almost certainly is not. A better quality cable is a better quality cable, and single and dual link has nothing to do with quality. On the other hand, if both devices being connected support Dual links, then a dual link cable is the proper cable for the application, and you will have the capability of much greater resolutions and refresh rates. A properly designed Dual link cable should have no negative effects when used with single link equipment.

"Since it is Digital, Quality does not make a difference": This is false. DVI does not have any error correction. While you can get away with lower quality cables for short lengths, lower quality cables will have an increasing amount of errors with increasing length. Since the quality of implementation of DVI transmitters and receivers varies widely in equipment, the best reasonably priced cable should be used to ensure the best possible video quality.
So, it sounds like I made the right choice in switching to a 10' Dual link cable made by Belikin, if my t.v. supports dual link and the Voom stb supports dual link rather than spend double to go with a 6' single link from Monster-right?
 
One thing to keep in mind: I've read that DVI interface has problems with long distances. It is advised to keep the DVI cable as short as possible. I don't think 10' would be a problem, though.
 
eschu97611 said:
So, it sounds like I made the right choice in switching to a 10' Dual link cable made by Belikin, if my t.v. supports dual link and the Voom stb supports dual link rather than spend double to go with a 6' single link from Monster-right?

Not wasting money on over hyped and over priced DVI cables was indeed a smart decision.

Crappy DVI cable equates to no synch or 'sparklies'.
 
And if you're connecting it to a crt-based display, like an RPTV...doubtful that you'll see any difference in PQ anyway.

Lob
 
Mr. Biggles said:
Not wasting money on over hyped and over priced DVI cables was indeed a smart decision.

Crappy DVI cable equates to no synch or 'sparklies'.
No sparklies here-thanks for the feedback
 
Lobstah said:
And if you're connecting it to a crt-based display, like an RPTV...doubtful that you'll see any difference in PQ anyway.

Lob
Disagree-tried Voom with comp. cables and dvi does look "sharper"(dependent of course on the pq of the signal transmission from Voom and/or the source).
 
The information posted by Mr. Biggles is really useful and contains good info on the subject. I read this same info at Ram Electronic's website which contains some other good info on related topics. I believe the DVI cable that came with my Voom setup is single link. It seems to work fine for me.
 
eschu97611 said:
Disagree-tried Voom with comp. cables and dvi does look "sharper"(dependent of course on the pq of the signal transmission from Voom and/or the source).


Yes...but has your set been calibrated? Have both inputs been set up for color balance/greyscale?

Lob
 
I'm sick of the myth of the crt not being a better picture with dvi. Here is link explaning why you get a better picture quality by making crt digital.

http://www.siimage.com/documents/SiI-WP-001-A.pdf

Not only that most people don't know that modern crt projection televisions with dvi are digital.

Here is another link

http://www.intel.com/update/archive/psn/psn07996.pdf

DVI for LCDs…and CRTs
Although a DVI is often thought of as a flat-panel interface, significant cost savings can be realized when DVI is
coupled with a digital-input CRT (see Table 1 below). Even with recent drops in the prices of flat-panel displays, LCDs
are likely to remain at least 50 percent to 65 percent more expensive than a CRT. The DVI standard presents the
industry a significant opportunity to re-energize the CRT market by "going digital" and making the digital-input CRT a
lower-cost alternative to the current generation of LCD panels
 
Back to Dual Link vs. Single Link question

Based on the detailed explanation provided by Mr. Biggles, and based on everything else I've read on the Internet about DVI, I conclude that Single Link DVI cable is more than sufficient for the HD resolution modes supported by VOOM STB. Some people are buying Dual Link cables, because they don't cost much more than Single Link and they are backward compatible. But there is really no benefit in using Dual Link DVI cable with VOOM. If someone has any facts that prove otherwise, please post them in this thread.

Also, it's been stated that VOOM STB offers Dual Link DVI. Does anyone have any proof? I know the DVI connector looks like it is Dual Link, but most of the female DVI connectors are made this way for DVI cable compatibility. Does anyone have any facts supporting the Dual Link interface in VOOM STB? Is the Broadcom BCM7501 chip Dual Link capable at all? And if so, what exactly this Dual Link connection can be used for in case of VOOM?

I am updating the STB FAQ on this subject...
 
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