DVI is a video interface standard created by the DDWG to maximize resolution of digital displays. It eliminates analog conversion for optimal image quality and has replaced VGA. DVI has since been replaced by UDI and DisplayPort.
Digital Visual Interface or Digital Video Interface, better known as DVI, is a video interface standard. It was established by the Digital Display Working Group (DDWG) to maximize the resolution of flat panel digital displays. Visual Graphics Array (VGA), the predecessor standard to DVI, is an analog technology designed for cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors.
Why the switch to DVI? Graphics cards generate digital signals which then pass through a random access memory digital-to-analog converter (RAMDAC), where they are converted into analog signals to match CRT monitors. Digital-to-analog conversion “ties up” the signal in tiny ways that result in an image that isn’t as sharp as it should or would be if purely digital. This explains why, as analog CRT monitors got larger and the resolution increased, text wasn’t as sharp as it should be and very small fonts became blurry. A natural progression was to move into the field of digital displays with digital interfaces.
DVI eliminates the unnecessary analog interpreter from translating digital signals between digital components. Digital flat panel displays use a method whereby each pixel is mapped to a numerical value that establishes its level of brightness each time the frame is painted, which occurs many times per second. Intrinsically this is more demanding than CRT technology. When analog conversion is eliminated, the result is optimal. If the digit “1” is transmitted, the receiver will receive “1” and nothing else. When sent via analog, the “1″ might look more like .0952 or 1.002.
Intel, IBM, NEC, Compaq, Fujitsu, Hewlett Packard and Silicon Image formed the DDWG consortium which developed DVI. The market has moved from the older VGA standard to the DVI standard with many flat panel displays and graphics cards featuring both VGA and DVI interfaces to accommodate mixed components. There are different types of DVI cable formats for different hardware standards. DVI has since been replaced by two new digital standards: Unified Display Interface (UDI) and DisplayPort.
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