The second format war as if BD & HD-DVD weren't bad enough

[ocnier]

Well folks I have been looking to get a bigger monitor lately and have been doing some research. I am down to two categories. The 27 inch class and the 30 inch class. The 30inch class you'd think would be a obvious winner but if you look closely you'll find some serious problems. The first and foremost (that I didn't know) is the DVI has hit the the max ceiling/brick wall and basically can't handle the the higher resolution at 2560x1600 without splitting the signal. I know you're thinking "well hey that's what HDMI is for right". You're mostly right however there are 2 other competing formats the UDI (from INTEL and which has just recently suspended by INTEL and therefore a non issue) and the displayport interface (which INTEL just suddenly backed along with DELL, Samsung, etc). Each of the 2 main formats: HDMI and Displayport have their merits. What this all means to us is that the consumer is headed for another standards nightmare in terms of computer display technology. My personal inclination is that HDMI is akin to HD-DVD in full capabilities and Displayport is akin to Blue-Ray in full capabilities. Which format will win is anybodies guess. The main thing right now is don't buy any 30 inch monitor because dual link dvi is going to have short life expectancy. Thoughts anybody?

 

[John Kotches]

As an FYI; Dual-Link DVI is delivered across a single cable



Cheers,

 

[rockymtnhigh]

As an FYI; Dual-Link DVI is delivered across a single cable



Cheers,

Hey John -- when do you get to graduate from "Curmudgeon in Training " to a fully qualified Curmudgeon?

 

[John Kotches]

rockymtn:

If you have to ask; you don't aren't there yet

Cheers,

 

[TheForce]

The other day I caught him being nice so that set him back two weeks in training. The good news is he hasn't wrung the bell yet.

 

[ocnier]

As an FYI; Dual-Link DVI is delivered across a single cable



Cheers,

Man, you are totally right. Man, I'm a complete idiot. I went back and reread the maximumpc article pertaining to this and misunderstood the intent. So i guess in a way this is a false alarm. Thanks for the heads up. The 30 inchers do however lack internal scalers and I don't believe the dual link supports HDCP.

 

[Foxbat]

Apple's 30" Cinema LCD was the first I saw with this issue (Dual-Link DVI). I forgot if it was Engadget where I ran across the DVI vs. UDI vs. DP vs. HDMI, but the conclusion was for Home Theater consumer electronics, HDMI will be sufficient as it carries the audio in addition to video, while the UDI/DP are aimed at the desktop computer market and audio support is not as critical.

This article over at the Register (Any port in a storm: the display tech battle | Reg Hardware) seemed to think that UDI had an inherent advantage over DP based on the passive nature of an UDI-HDMI adapter. DP will require an active converter. But, as it appears news from WCES (EETimes.com - UDI dies as Intel, Samsung back DisplayPort) shows that DP has product and UDI only made it far as committee, that's a moot point.

 

[mogera]

I have a vaguely related question...I'm think of running a DVI/Hdmi cable from my PC to my 42 inch Plasma....is that asking for trouble?

 

[ocnier]

I have a vaguely related question...I'm think of running a DVI/Hdmi cable from my PC to my 42 inch Plasma....is that asking for trouble?

It shouldn't be a problem at all. TV's even hd ones still have lower resolution than the computer monitors as a whole. 2560x1200 @60hz or 60 fps is a lot of data but HDMI is capable (but I digress), you have more than enough pipe to route siganal for 1080i. The only issue you might encounter is if your video card does not have HDCP capability. Then if you were to try to play hd movies from the computer you would have a road block. A software solution is available with slysoft.com, but understand you would plant the jolly roger firmly on your computer "aaargh me hearty's".

 

[ocnier]

Apple's 30" Cinema LCD was the first I saw with this issue (Dual-Link DVI). I forgot if it was Engadget where I ran across the DVI vs. UDI vs. DP vs. HDMI, but the conclusion was for Home Theater consumer electronics, HDMI will be sufficient as it carries the audio in addition to video, while the UDI/DP are aimed at the desktop computer market and audio support is not as critical.

This article over at the Register (Any port in a storm: the display tech battle | Reg Hardware) seemed to think that UDI had an inherent advantage over DP based on the passive nature of an UDI-HDMI adapter. DP will require an active converter. But, as it appears news from WCES (EETimes.com - UDI dies as Intel, Samsung back DisplayPort) shows that DP has product and UDI only made it far as committee, that's a moot point.

When I read the article rom EET it seemed like Samsung was carrying forward with Display port and thus past the commitee stage. I have seen where samsung is gearing up for production in future ( TG Daily - Samsung touts development of first Displayport desktop LCD ) this will be a second format war in some ways, just not as pronounced as the BD/HDDVD tribes.

 

[mogera]

I Thank You!!!

It shouldn't be a problem at all. TV's even hd ones still have lower resolution than the computer monitors as a whole. 2560x1200 @60hz or 60 fps is a lot of data but HDMI is capable (but I digress), you have more than enough pipe to route siganal for 1080i. The only issue you might encounter is if your video card does not have HDCP capability. Then if you were to try to play hd movies from the computer you would have a road block. A software solution is available with slysoft.com, but understand you would plant the jolly roger firmly on your computer "aaargh me hearty's".