Blu-ray On PC With HDTV

[Wadeyboy]

I've just bought a new computer and an HDTV to put the computer through, rather than a monitor. I was thinking of buying a Blu Ray drive to play movies, games, etc. My brother set it all up for me as I'm disabled but connected the PC to the HDTV with a VGA lead. I was told to be able to display Blu Ray movies in 1080 high def, I needed an HDMI to DVI lead. However, my brother said that an HDMI lead would be "a waste of money as you would barely notice the difference." Is he right? PC World wanted £75 for an HDMI lead and this is a lot of money to pay if I would "barely notice the difference." I would be grateful for any advice.

[walwalka]

Umm no, VGA is an analog connection with the DVI to HDMI you get I think noticeably crisper image and better looking colors. DVI is a straight Digital to Digital link so the Data is reproduced better because nothing needs to be converted to analog.

[SeanMF]

Well if you have dvi out on your computer I'd definitely use it to dvi on your tv (or dvi/hdmi adaptor). It will be a better picture overall. For blu-ray...you want the best picture you can get and vga doesn't do blu-ray justice imo. Go with the dvi.

[Wadeyboy]

OK thanks for your help guys

[Branden]

it seems your brother is implying that even though DVI is superior to VGA you may or may not notice the difference , so why bother.
but he isn't taking HDCP (High Definition Content Protection) into account. to enjoy all blu-rays you will need an HDCP compliant monitor/HDTV, an HDCP compliant graphics card, and an HDMI or DVI connection. VGA does not support HDCP.

[banyaker]

You can find much cheaper DVI-HDMI or HDMI-HDMI (with adaptor) with a little trolling around the internet .I personally dont believe the hype surrounding cable quality and for a short cable(1m-1.5m) you should be able to find a decent cable for around £20 ..good look but dont use VGA

[banyaker]

tryScrewfix.com

[prerich]

Originally Posted by Branden

it seems your brother is implying that even though DVI is superior to VGA you may or may not notice the difference , so why bother.
but he isn't taking HDCP (High Definition Content Protection) into account. to enjoy all blu-rays you will need an HDCP compliant monitor/HDTV, an HDCP compliant graphics card, and an HDMI or DVI connection. VGA does not support HDCP.

HDCP is not an issue with VGA...yet. If your monitor is capable of displaying 1920x1080 wxga you can indeed carry this signal (albeit analog) over vga cable (vga cable has a bigger bandwidth than most people know, its capable of much more than 1920x1080) this however will not be at 24fps but 60fps. All of the BD software (PDVD,TMT, WINDVD) takes VGA monitors into account and displays the image at the videocard/monitor combos set resolutions - this is without the aid of questionable software.

Now when the token flag is enabled - then VGA will have downres problems.