DVI-I vs DVI-D??

#1 Sat, 30 Jul 2005 - 13:51

Hey guys,

I have been doing a lot of research into DVI KVM boxes lately, and I think I have found the one I am going to get:

http://www.iogear.com/main.php?loc=product&Item=GCS1762

One of the things I am really confused about is DVI-I vs DVI-D. The package says it comes with all the cables I need, which include DVI-I cables, but is my 20 inch cinema display DVI-D? It says it supports both analog and digital DVI...will I need to buy DVI-D cables to hookup to the KVM...? Thanks!

#2 Sat, 30 Jul 2005 - 14:00

The cables are the same, it's just a question of how many/which pins have a signal being sent on them. So it shouldn't be a problem.

#3 Sat, 30 Jul 2005 - 15:30

DVI-D means it's digital only. If you have a graphics card which has a DVI-D port, you can only use digital displays with that port. DVI-I is more common, it offers both, digital and analog output which means you can also drive VGA monitors as well.

Your Cinema Display is purely digital, so it has a DVI-D input. Which means you can connect it to any DVI graphics card.

#4 Sun, 31 Jul 2005 - 11:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mithras

The cables are the same, it's just a question of how many/which pins have a signal being sent on them. So it shouldn't be a problem.

That's not entirely true. A DVI-I jack can accept a DVI-D plug, but a DVI-D jack can't accept a DVI-I plug. (I think you are thinking of single-link vs. dual-link DVI, which for the most part are entirely indistinguishable.)

All Mac graphics cards so far with DVI have had DVI-I, so anything plugs into them. KVMs seem to follow the same philosophy.

tooki