Mac Mini to DVI, Should I use HDMI or Displayport
I did a forum search, but couldn't find an answer to this.
I just ordered a Mac Mini. When it gets here, I will be connecting it to a monitor through DVI. It comes with an HDMI to DVI adapter, but I also have a Displayport to DVI adapter that I currently use to connect with my Macbook Pro.
I only have one DVI connector on my monitor, so I will be using the Mac Mini through DVI & will use the Displayport/VGA connector for when I need to hook up the Macbook.
Is there any advantage to using one of the DVI Adapters (HDMI or Displayport) over the other with the Mini? I'm not a tech guy, so I don't know if there are any issues, or if one gives a cleaner signal than the other, or anything like that.
Thanks,
Comments
Sometimes they have different quality output but it's dependent on the adaptors, cables and displays, nothing you could say in any absolute sense. They should both work fine but you really just have to try it to see for sure and if you have trouble with one connection, use the other one.
Sometimes they have different quality output but it's dependent on the adaptors, cables and displays, nothing you could say in any absolute sense. They should both work fine but you really just have to try it to see for sure and if you have trouble with one connection, use the other one.
Thanks for the quick reply. I'll give them both a shot then.
For posterity's sake...
I went through this with my 2010 Mac Mini. A Dell 2007WFP was my primary monitor, and it looked like crap via the included HDMI-to-DVI adapter. All kinds of awful dithering, especially in vertical lines (fonts and frame borders).
As a reference, my workplace used these same monitors, hooked up to Dell hardware, so I knew the sharpness they were capable of, and for whatever reason, the HDMI output just wasn't delivering.
After visiting the Genius Bar and A/B'ing a couple of different cable combinations, it was apparent that the Displayport-to-DVI output was much more to my monitor's liking. (As a reference, my workplace used these same monitors, hooked up to Dell hardware, so I knew the sharpness they were capable of.)
I can't say whether this is a hard-and-fast rule for all hardware combinations, but I've used the Displayport happily ever since.
The HDMI audio/video interface standard has become wildly successful. It’s the most common digital connection you’ll find in TVs, set-top boxes, Blu-ray players, A/V receivers, gaming consoles, camcorders, and digital cameras. Heck, it’s even showing up in some smartphones. You’ll also find HDMI implementations in most consumer desktop and laptop computers. No modern all-in-one is complete without an HDMI input that allows you to connect a gaming console or a set-top box to the computer so you can use its display for a second purpose. But given HDMI’s near ubiquity, you might have forgotten the other digital audio/video standard: DisplayPort. Though you’ll find it alongside HDMI in many late-model, add-in video cards, as well as in laptops marketed to business users, it rarely appears in Windows PCs aimed at consumers. Both HDMI and DisplayPort can send high-definition digital video and audio from a source device to a display. So what’s the difference? Is one display interface superior to or more flexible than the other? We’ll try to answer these questions in this head-to-head comparison of their feature sets and typical use scenarios. But first, let's review how the two standards came to be, and what entities control them.