The only benefit to HDMI is that you don't need a second cable for audio. HDMI essentially combines a DVI connection with audio. Actually, because of this, you can acutally get converters that go from HDMI to DVI for a few bucks.
Because it already has a DVI connection in it, the quality over the HDMI connection would be identical. The only reason you'd want to use HDMI is if you'd like to run sound through the monitor--but it's not going to improve the video quality.
That being said, there's a ton of other factors that affect "video quality". Variations in display coatings, backlights, and LCD panels can make the same "red" icon look very, very different on two different displays. However, since DVI and HDMI use the same digital link, there's effectively no signal loss, so one wouldn't look any different than the other on the same display.
Answer from Vishal Kotcherlakota on Stack ExchangeOn my PC setup I am currently using only one monitor, but I would like to set up my second monitor. The reason I haven't set it up yet is due to the lack of correct cables to plug the 2nd monitor into my graphics card. Here are the ports that each of these components have:
Graphics card has 1 hdmi port as well as 1 DVI-D port
Monitor I currently use has 1 DVI-D port as well as 1 VGA port
The monitor I want as my 2nd monitor has 1 VGA port as well as 2 HDMI ports
On my current setup I have a DVI-D to HDMI cord connecting my monitor to the graphics card (DVI-D side is on the monitor, HDMI is on the card). To set up my 2nd monitor, I will either have to change this so my current monitor is connected DVI-D to DVI-D and have my 2nd monitor run HDMI to HDMI, or I will have to keep my monitor the way it is and get a converter to run the VGA from my secondary monitor into the DVI-D port on the graphics card.
So, down to the reason for the post. I am wondering what the advantages and disadvantages to using HDMI or DVI-D in terms of quality. I think the easiest thing for me to do would be to get a DVI-D cable to connect my current monitor to the graphics card, and then connect my 2nd monitor via HDMI. Will there be any consequences to doing this? I still intend for my current monitor to be my primary monitor (I use this rig for gaming) and I would probably prefer to just keep a 1 monitor setup if I have to sacrifice quality to get to the 2 monitor setup. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!
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144hz monitor better performance with HDMI or DVI-D?
HDMI vs DVI vs VGA?
Dvi to hdmi vs Displayport?
DVI vs HDMI vs DisplayPort, which should I choose?
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Videos
The only benefit to HDMI is that you don't need a second cable for audio. HDMI essentially combines a DVI connection with audio. Actually, because of this, you can acutally get converters that go from HDMI to DVI for a few bucks.
Because it already has a DVI connection in it, the quality over the HDMI connection would be identical. The only reason you'd want to use HDMI is if you'd like to run sound through the monitor--but it's not going to improve the video quality.
That being said, there's a ton of other factors that affect "video quality". Variations in display coatings, backlights, and LCD panels can make the same "red" icon look very, very different on two different displays. However, since DVI and HDMI use the same digital link, there's effectively no signal loss, so one wouldn't look any different than the other on the same display.
HDMI shouldn't cause a difference in image quality vs DVI. However, you will have to worry about bandwidth issues. These issues really only occur if you're intending on playing computer games. Over HDMI, I found that some games I tried to play would cap the refresh rate at an abysmal 24 Hz, which translated into a lot of image tearing and headaches. However, I found that it was perfectly fine for typical desktop/office tasks and movie watching.
If that's all you're doing, then you're perfectly fine using HDMI. If you plan on gaming, though, I'd recommend keeping an eye out for performance issues. They should be readily apparent.
*Note that these issues that I described can also depend on the software you're running and the drivers you have. My experience may not directly translate to yours. Ultimately, the best way to find out is to try it yourself and see what happens.
There may be a difference in color range as HDMI is typically used for TV, but you can change that in your graphic card settings.
Newer HDMI versions support higher bitrates which in turn allow higher colour depths (10 bit per colour) and HDR, so again can look better.
But for the same resolution, bit depth and so on, they will be identical. They are both digital signalling methods so the cable should not matter, but lower quality cables can cause noise and interference.
The cable has nothing to do with the picture quality, it's the interface and protocol over it.
DVI only supports 8-bit RGB colors, but it comes with single and dual link varieties.
HDMI supports faster speeds larger resolutions, up to 12-bit colors, and other colorspaces than RGB, but if your monitor or video card only supports say 1920x1200 at 60 Hz and 8-bit over HDMI, then that is the best you can get anyway and it does not matter if you use DVI or HDMI interface.
And, it depends on your monitor, if it allows for same resolutions to be used over HDMI and DVI. Some will, some won't, as DVI is primarily meant for computer monitor connection, and HDMI is primarily meant as a television connection.