What is the compatibility like for VGA/HDMI/DVI

[pixelguy]

I often watch movies on my PC but like to stream them to my old lg television which has no HDMI port, just a 9 pin male VGA port and DVI port, I used to be able to stream movies from my PC out the back of the graphics card using a HDMI cable and a HDMI to DVI adapter for the TV but this randomly stopped working.

I can't seem to find any 9 pin female to 15 pin male cables to connect them both through VGA so my last resort is to try and go from VGA on the pc of graphics card and then to DVI on the TV

Does anybody know if I would run across any VGA to DVI compatibility issues?

Much thanks.

 

[Mellon Head]

That nine pin male connector on your TV is not a VGA port, it is a serial port. They're used to do diagnostics and reprogramming/setup on some TVs.

Shame the HDMI to DVI cable doesn't work any more. You shouldn't have any issues with a VGA to DVI converter like this one:

StarTech DVIVGAMFBK DVI to VGA Cable Adapter - M/F - Newegg.ca

but the resolution on the TV will be lower than with the HDMI to DVI connection that you used to have.

 

[pixelguy]

Shame the HDMI to DVI cable doesn't work any more. You shouldn't have any issues with a VGA to DVI converter like this one:

StarTech DVIVGAMFBK DVI to VGA Cable Adapter - M/F - Newegg.ca

but the resolution on the TV will be lower than with the HDMI to DVI connection that you used to have.

Thank you for the information! Argh I don't suppose you have any clue as the why my old method stopped working? The LG TV just says its going into dpm mode and cannot be found on my PC :huh:

 

[wasnotwas]

That adapter connects a DVI-I output on pc to VGA cable for monitor. DVI-I carries analog + digital video. That gizmo is just a pin assignment device and only works for DVI outputs that have the analog signal. It can't convert a VGA analog signal into a DVI digital signal - that would need some electronics ie a converter.

 

[Mellon Head]

You're right. That is the backwards way of doing it and it won't work. The OP would need a converter in order for it to work, and in that case it's better to buy a graphics card with a DVI or HDMI output.

 

[wasnotwas]

Without 'testing by substitution' it's hard to say where the fault in the HDMI > DVI chain lies, ie -

1. test with monitor with known working DVI input (TV DVI in might be faulty)
2. test with new HDMI - DVI cable (adapter and/or cable poss kaput)
3. test with pc with known working HDMI output (ditto gfx card)

There is a school of thought that says it's possible to cause circuit damage when hot-plugging an HDMI, but the jury's still out on that one.