PC gaming is quite big in India. As games become more intense and compelling, gamers find themselves wanting the latest and greatest hardware to run these games smoothly. That being said, the majority of gamers wanting to build or upgrade their machines don’t have much of a clue, and are often at the mercy of vendors and salesmen, due to which, more often than not, they end up making the wrong decisions. This is an attempt to address this lack of information, and help all PC gamers make the best of their resources. This is PC GAMING 101.

When building or upgrading a PC, it’s essential to know what kinds of display outputs it supports. The issue here is there’s no single standard display technology and thus it’s easy to get confused due to the different standards. On the back of your PC or Graphics Card you’ll see a host of different connectors. Let’s see the difference between these different connectors and what kind of display technology you should invest in depending on your needs:

1. VGA

The oldest standard in existence, Visual Graphics Array or VGA was first introduced in 1987. This is what usually what comes to mind when someone mentions “display cable”. The standard blue colored 15 pin connector in its typical trapezoid shape, VGA cables carry analog signals and thus the signal quality greatly depends on the quality of the cable. This standard is actually obsolete, and there’s a limit to the resolution VGA cables can support. However, there are a whole lot of Analog monitors and projectors out there, especially in India where VGA is used in most scenarios. If you're

a gamer, and you're rocking a VGA display, it’s probably time for you to invest in a better display, as in the future; higher end Graphics Cards and Gaming PCs will not be compatible. Even today, you'll have to search a lot to find a Graphics card with VGA output. You can always use a VGA adapter, but unless you really can’t upgrade, it’s better to move away from the now seemingly stone-age VGA.

2. DVI

The current reigning champion of display outputs, DVI, or Digital Visual Interface is one of the most ubiquitous successors to VGA. DVI comes in different flavors, Namely DVI-D (digital only), DVI-A (analog only), DVI-I (digital and analog). However, DVI-D is what you’ll most probably find and use. DVI marks the beginning of Digital signals being used in Display technology, and offers good compatibility with the older VGA standard, with DVI to VGA adaptors available very easily (for use with DVI-A and DVI-I ).

Most graphics cards come with multiple DVI connectors, and most modern displays have DVI support out of the box. DVI offers higher data rates, support for higher resolutions, and is found in all competent displays and Graphics cards of today. There are two kinds of DVI connectors- single link and dual link. Single link DVI connectors allow you to support a display of 1920×1200 at 60Hz, whereas dual link allows you to support up to either 2560×1600 at 60 Hz (30 inch monitor resolution) or 1920×1200 at 120Hz (for 3D gaming). The absence of analog technology means you're no longer tied down by the cable quality, and unless you're running monitors at a very long distance, any standard cable can get you optimal image quality using DVI. Also, it’s very easy to convert it into other standards, older or newer- all you need is an adapter. However, it’s also getting old now the race for the next generation of high-resolution display technology has begun, and the time when DVI becomes a thing of the past is not too far away.

3. HDMI

As spoken of before, the next generation of high-resolution display technology is upon us, and HDMI or High Definition Multimedia Interface is at the forefront of it. HDMI is basically designed to be a replacement for existing analog video standards. This standard was put together by a lot of big name companies working together, and it comes in different formats and port sizes as well although the standard type-A HDMI cable is used in most TVs and Monitors. It offers uncompressed digital audio and video data in a TV or PC video format. The rise in prominence of HD Televisions and with the “Full HD” moniker being thrown about a lot these days means HDMI is getting a huge push in terms of marketing, and it surely is a competent standard. It’s not exactly a PC display standard, but If you're investing in an HD monitor for your PC it will definitely have HDMI support. The image quality and signal is at most times identical to DVI. It has backward compatibility with DVI, and the connector is much more compact. Currently in version 2.0, HDMI offers a wide gamut of features including support for good old S-RGB, Ethernet, HD- ready Blu-ray or 3D ready TVs, and even 4K resolution at 60 FPS.

4. DisplayPort

The newest of the standards out there, DisplayPort is royalty free, which means that while there’s a royalty behind every HDMI cable that’s produced, DisplayPort based interfaces are free to manufacture without any such royalties which has made it quite lucrative for manufacturers to use. The DisplayPort connectors are surely the easiest to use of the lot- they do away with the old-school screw locking system in VGA, and aren't as insecure as the non-locking HDMI connectors, which are known to disconnect easily due to it. It also offers support for resolution even higher than HDMI, a maximum of 3840×2160 at 60 Hz. Manufacturers have begun to include DisplayPort interfaces in the latest Graphics Cards, and it surely seems like a promising prospect for the future. However, the main issue with DisplayPort is that it isn't compatible with any other display standard, i.e. there aren't any easy to use adapters available that can convert DisplayPort to any other current standard. DisplayPort has two sizes- the standard and mini DisplayPort. Manufacturers often use mini DisplayPort as it takes up much lesser space on the Output Interface of the card, thus making multi-display structures running off the same video card possible.

HDMI vs DisplayPort

So, you’re looking to be on the absolute bleeding edge of display technology and want the latest and greatest display at the highest possible resolution. That narrows down your search to HDMI and DisplayPort. Which standard should you invest in?

When to use HDMI: If you’re looking at a setup that is basically a single screen, running at 1920*1200, and the display is not at much of a distance from the video output, you’re better off using an HDMI cable system. It’s ubiquitous, easy to use and will offer great image quality. However, the lack of a locking mechanism in the HDMI port means that at longer distances the cable has chances of getting loose or coming off entirely.

When to use DisplayPort: If you're one of those gamers that have multiple displays daisy chained in a single system or you want to run a really high-resolution on a gigantic monitor, you're better off using DisplayPort. Also, at higher distances, the secure locking mechanism of DisplayPort means that you're sure of the cable staying put. You can use an HDMI cable for this too, but it’s much easier to connect monitors in multiple mini DisplayPorts than connecting them through an HDMI interface.

For more information about this often ignored aspect of PC gaming, be sure to check out the Wikipedia page of the respective standards for all the technical specs.

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