HDMI vs Display port

[ebfd11]

OK i have a question on display ports vs HDMI.

Right now I am currently running dual GTX 570's on triple 24's, what I was wondering is, what is the difference between running the HDMI to the monitors vs using a displayport splitter on 2 of them and single display on 3rd. Right now my current setup is 2 of my monitors are running off the HDMI slots and 1 monitor of the DVI to HDMI adaptor.

All help would be helpful.

LawnDart

[Skuzzy]

With "displayport" you do not need multiple connections from the video card to support multiple monitors.  In a "displayport" configuration, you daisy chain all the devices together.

Using HDMI/DVI, you would need each monitor to have a direct connection to the video card.

"Displayport" also supports higher resolutions (bandwidth) than HDMI/DVI does.
"Displayport" can carry audio or video or both.  HDMI can carry both or video.  DVI carries only video.

[ebfd11]

Skuzzy what would you recommend for an adapter to do this?  The only ones I can find is a single adapters.

Lawndart

[Skuzzy]

What adapter are you talking about?  If your video card does not support "displayport", then you would not want use that as a connection.  Any adapter (if there are any) that goes from HDMI/DVI to Displayport is not going to work very well.

The HDMI/DVI bus speeds are too slow to match up with Displayport.

[ebfd11]

OK Skuzzy this is the card I have, but times 2.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130620

It has a full sized display port on the back and from what I read it is active, and I want to go from display port to HDMI. I was looking at this adapter to use on 1 card..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812500001
and a second single display port to HDMI adapter to the 3rd monitor, unless you can point me in a good direction to go.


LawnDart

[Skuzzy]

What is the end goal here?
What ports do your monitors have?
How many monitors are you trying to connect?
Is this an SLI configuration?

[ebfd11]

What is the end goal here?
I want to get a better resoulution to the monitors
What ports do your monitors have?
HDMI VGA and DVI ports
How many monitors are you trying to connect?
3 24" monitors
Is this an SLI configuration?
Currently in sli configuration and active

Basically what I am trying to do is get more detail out of the video cards and use them to their full potential. Right now I am using 1 DVI to HDMI cable on 1 monitor then 2 HDMI to HDMI cables tot eh other 2 monitors.

LawnDart

[Skuzzy]

Ok, first off, LCD panel resolution is fixed.  The best you can get is the native resolution of the monitor.

Second, there is no difference between DVI and HDMI which is going to make any difference in your configuration.  DVI is video only, where HDMI is DVI with audio as an option.

[zack1234]

Is a display port connection going to give you a better picture?

i use HDMI on my HD6970, is this display port used for multiple displays?

[Skuzzy]

Displayport is a higher bandwidth packetized connection, much like an Ethernet connection.  With Displayport, you daisy chain multiple monitors together to one port on the video card.  Displayport can allow much higher resolutions than HDMI/DVI can carry, but the gating factor is the monitor itself.

The only benefit you get from Displayport occurs when you want to use multiple monitors and/or your monitor has a native resolution higher than 1920x1200.  NOTE:  The computer video card DVI connection allows for slightly higher resolutions than the television based HDMI/DVI port does due to the timing being different for that port.

[zack1234]

My samsung sychmaster TV/monitor gives a very nice image, be nice to see what a dedicated monitor image is like

I am sure my old Dell LCD monitor has a display port 

Mulitiple displays are not a option due to wife ack

[ebfd11]

OK Skuzzy it may be a stupid question but how do you "Daisy chain" monitor's using the displayport.  My current monitors are 1920 X 1080 and combined they run at 5760 X 1080.

Also if I use the display port will it tax the video card less?

Sorry for the dumb questions butbi just am curious.

Lawndart

[Skuzzy]

Most (if not all) monitors supporting "Displayport" have an in and out connection.  Connect the video Displayport to the "in" port of a monitor, then run a cable from the "out" port and connect it to the next monitors "in" port.  Repeat.

The load for the physical connection does not make any difference to the video card.

[Charge]

"Is a display port connection going to give you a better picture?"

Just to make it clear: back in the old days when the signal went to CRT monitors in analog mode the quality of the signal could have an impact how good picture you got. Nowadays as the signal is purely digital the signal quality is not really an issue, if the data gets through there will be a picture, if the data is corrupted there will be no picture. You won't notice any difference in picture if the resolution and color depth stay the same, no matter which of these digital display connections you use. The picture quality is set by the quality of you display panel or the quality of the signal feeding device, not by their digital connection.

It's just about the bandwidth that the port characteristics and cabling can support that sets the limits in supported resolutions and content, such as audio.

DVI max. 2,098 × 1,311 @ 60Hz
HDMI max. HDMI    2560×1600 @ 60Hz (+HDCP)
Displayport max. 3840 × 2160 @ 60Hz(+HDCP,+DPCP)

Just a very simplified summary.

-C+

[ebfd11]

Thank you Charge you answered what I was looking for. To basically sum it up the picture in th game will remain the same even when using display port off of the video card.

Thanks Skuzzy for your help also.

LawnDart