Connecting PC to 37" LCD HDTV - what cable is the best?

[googler]

I have been reading a lot how to connect my Desktop PC to my LCD HDTV (720p) and what cable should give me the best picture possible.

I own 7600gt with 2xDVI output. TV has 3xHDMI, VGA, Component, etc. Now, naturaly you think it would be the DVI-D to HDMI cable. Now, I was reading that that would not give me the best picture due to difference in DVI / HDMI range of frequency.

I was advised so far to go with VGA to VGA cable since it gives the best possible picture. I would go with 1366x768 resolution (LCD HDTV native resolution) and 7600GT is able to give that output. My question is:

Since I have seen different VGA to VGA cables on the internet with description of the letters XGA, SXGA, UXGA - it stands for UXGA to go up to 1600x1200. It's not limited by resolution but actually range of frequency.

Question: Is UXGA VGA to VGA cable the best option to get the best possible picture on my LCD TV?

Thank you!

[agentkay]

Best possible picture is a digital connection and the native resolution of the LCD TV. I´m not sure why the frequency should be any different between DVI and HDMI (both are 60Hz IIRC) but I think you should try the digital connection first and only if you encounter problems go for the VGA connection.

Cables are not that expensive and you might actually need a HDMI-DVI cable (or seperate HDMI-DVI adapter) one day anyway. Just don´t fall for the $100 HDMI cables, any $10 cable will do just fine and you won´t notice a PQ difference unless maybe the cable is really really long.

[googler]

Thank you very much for your help - I will be testing this out as soon as I can (in a couple of days) and I will let you know what happens.

PS. Do you know does HDCP thing has anything to do with compatibility of this cable with my PC and TV?

thanks

[Bman212121]

Originally Posted by googler

Thank you very much for your help - I will be testing this out as soon as I can (in a couple of days) and I will let you know what happens.

PS. Do you know does HDCP thing has anything to do with compatibility of this cable with my PC and TV?

thanks

The cable itself won't make a difference for HDCP protection, as it just passes the signal along. However, as far as I know you cannot pass HDCP over a VGA cable, so if you had content that required HDCP, it wouldn't be able to play correctly over vga. I've used a VGA and DVI to HDMI cable between a pc and a Westinghouse 32w6 which is also a native 1366 x 768. It has no problems passing 720p (1280 x 720) over the digital cable and looking good. IMO the quality of both is about the same, but digital just makes more sense since you have digital at both ends, and you have to convert the signal to analog just to go over a cable if your using a VGA cable.

[googler]

Were you able to get 1366x768 resolution from DVI to HDMI connection from PC to TV?

Thanks!

[Bman212121]

Originally Posted by googler

Were you able to get 1366x768 resolution from DVI to HDMI connection from PC to TV?

Thanks!

I believe it will, but I honestly can't remember. If not, you should be able to set in a custom resolution. Usually when your using the DVI to HDMI it picks up the display as a tv so your choices are 480p, 720p, or 1080i. It was about 6 months ago since I've tried it and I currently don't have a way to test it again. I don't think there will be a noticeable difference between 1280 x 720 (720p) and its native res since anything besides the computer like a PS3, HD player, etc won't give you other options, so it ought to be able to support 720p just fine or anything you use besides the computer would look bad.

[Jon]

Were you able to get 1366x768 resolution from DVI to HDMI connection from PC to TV?

Don't know if its specific to my setup but if I force 1366x768 on my HDTV, the picture shakes slightly and its really annoying. In the end I set it to 1280x720 (720p) and this works fine. I did compare the quality even though it was shaking at the higher res and I couldn't see any quality difference at all.

Also, I originally used component to connect the tv but wasn't happy with it as I had to position/resize the picture myself so in the end went for a dvi connection and not only does it size/position correctly, I believe the PQ is noticeably better. For reference the tv hated 1366x768 using component or dvi.