DVI

Digital Visual Interface (DVI) is a video interface standard designed to maximize the visual quality of digital display devices such as flat panel LCD computer displays and digital projectors.

It was developed by an industry consortium, the Digital Display Working Group (DDWG).  It is designed for carrying uncompressed digital video data to a display.  It is partially compatible with the High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) standard in digital mode (DVI-D).

As well as digital signals, the DVI-I connector also includes pins providing the same analog signals found on a VGA connector, allowing a VGA monitor to be connected with a simple adapter.  This feature was included in order to make DVI universal, as it allows either type of monitor (analog or digital) to be operated from the same connector.

The DVI connector on a device is therefore given one of three names, depending on which signals it implements:

• DVI-D (digital only)
• DVI-A (analog only)
• DVI-I (digital and analog)

Single Link DVI describes the standard use of DVI, capable of resolutions up to 1920x1200.

The DVI connector may also includes provision for a second data link for high resolution displays.  In this case, the connector is referred to as DVI-DL (Dual Link).

Dual link DVI describes the use of all 24 pins of the DVI connector to achieve high video resolutions of 2560x1600 @ 60Hz, or mega high video resolutions up to 3840x2400 @ 30Hz.