N00b LCD question and USB question (1 Viewer)

[loquasagacious]

I'm looking at getting an LCD monitor to use on an old PC I have lying around so I can use it media center/server PC.

It occured to me that there may be a problem with connections in that the PC has VGA, and I've heard something about LCDs using DVI. Some of the ones I've looked at say analogue or RGB analogue is this a way of saying VGA or something else entirely? Are there LCDs that use VGA? Are the DVI ones backwards compatible in any way?

Secondly what speeds would I get from a USB2.0 PCI expansion card?

 

[jm1234567890]

Most LCD's use VGA. There isn't any problem wit LCD's using VGA, although it is preferable to use DVI with them.

If the LCD only supports DVI, you can't connect a video card with only VGA to it.

you will get good enough speed with a USB2.0 expansion card. PCI bus supports around 133megs/s (shared) i think. USB2.0 is 480Mbit/s (about 60 megs/s) it will never reach that in normal use anyway.

 

[insert-username]

You should shop around for an LCD monitor that has a VGA input. If all else fails and you can't find one (unlikely, but possible), you can get a DVI to VGA connector like one of these to bridge the connectors.


I_F

 

[Templar]

You won't get near theoretical for USB 2 though. Also depends on what you're using. An external hard disk will probably top out at 20MB/s anyway.

Analog or RBG analog should be VGA.

 

[AntiHyper]

I recommend firewire for high stable data transfer

 

[SashatheMan]

You should shop around for an LCD monitor that has a VGA input. If all else fails and you can't find one (unlikely, but possible), you can get a DVI to VGA connector like one of these to bridge the connectors.


I_F

do these adapters, make the monitor work any worse?

and what does VGA and DVI stand for?

 

[SashatheMan]

I recommend firewire for high stable data transfer

i heard firewire and usb2 have basicaly the same speed

 

[Grizzly]

do these adapters, make the monitor work any worse?

and what does VGA and DVI stand for?

VGA = Video graphics arrary
DVI = Digital video interface

 

[Grizzly]

i heard firewire and usb2 have basicaly the same speed

yeh, USB2.0 is 400mbps , and firewires is 480mbps...i think
But i heard USB3.0 is coming ? :s

 

[SashatheMan]

yeh, USB2.0 is 400mbps , and firewires is 480mbps...i think
But i heard USB3.0 is coming ? :s

really? that would be one spicy meatball.

 

[jm1234567890]

yeh, USB2.0 is 400mbps , and firewires is 480mbps...i think
But i heard USB3.0 is coming ? :s

no, USB is 480, firewire is 400.

but firewire is more stable so it reaches higher average transfer rates.

I haven't heard of USB 3 yet. Wireless USB is comming though.

 

[phizz]

Just some stuff I found on wikipedia.org about the topic:

FireWire 800 (IEEE1394b) goes up to 786.432 Mbit/s with backwards compatibility to the slower rates and 6-pin connectors of FireWire 400.

FireWire 400 tranfers at 98.304, 196.608, or 393.216 Mbit/s.

USB 2.0 has a rate of 480 Mbit (60 MBytes) per second. But not all USB 2.0 devices transfer at this rate (I spose it depends on what they onl require).

PCI has a peak transfer rate of 133MB per second, so a good pci usb expansion card will be adequate for the usb 2 transfer rate. So it can handle two usb 2 connectors at the maximum rate. If theres more connectors, it'll probably be shared.

hope this helps with you purchase. Also a word on lcd monitors, the one we got (Benq) was DVI, but had an adapter included for VGA.

-phizz

 

[Templar]

It really depends a lot more on which interface you choose. Different motherboards, peripherals etc means a lot of variation in which would be faster.

As for video converters, I'm currently using a LCD monitor with a DVI->VGA converter as I don't have a DVI cable yet and my graphics card has no VGA ports. Quality doesn't seem to suffer, at least visibly.

 

[Grizzly]

no, USB is 480, firewire is 400.

but firewire is more stable so it reaches higher average transfer rates.

I haven't heard of USB 3 yet. Wireless USB is comming though.

Ahhh, right.

Wireless USB ? ... hows that work ? ...wait, thats a stupid invention , lol
a USB receiver, and a USB device(mouse)......transmitting via RF ?

Oh, but it would work well with digital cameras and external drives....

 

[Grizzly]

It really depends a lot more on which interface you choose. Different motherboards, peripherals etc means a lot of variation in which would be faster.

As for video converters, I'm currently using a LCD monitor with a VGA->DVI converter as I don't have a DVI cable yet and my graphics card has no VGA ports. Quality doesn't seem to suffer, at least visibly.

If i think right.

Vid card is Digital -> VGA port/cable converts analogue -> LCD moniter converts analogue back to digital.

So, if your using a VGA converter, that plugs into your VGA port on your LCD, that defeats the purpose of having DVI ? (..but since your card doesnt have any VGA ports)

 

[insert-username]

Wireless USB will essentially function like a wireless network - instead of connecting computers with LAN cables, you do it with a wireless router and wireless receivers. There's some more info here about it.

You also shouldn't suffer any noticeable drops in quality when using a VGA/DVI adaptor plug.


I_F

 

[Ghost1788]

Most LCD's use VGA. There isn't any problem wit LCD's using VGA, although it is preferable to use DVI with them.

If the LCD only supports DVI, you can't connect a video card with only VGA to it.

wrong ....
you can get an adapter that allows you to use a DVI LCD and a VGA cord visa versa

i got one with my graphics card so i can see why you shouldnt be able to buy them at dicksmiths or sumthing