9 replies to this topic

[Deisel Weisel]

I’ve purchased a used Dell 2209WA monitor off of eBay, and despite the seller stating it came with all cables, the DVI cable is missing. So which cable do I need to purchase, as there’s a DVI-D connector on the monitor and a DVI-I connector on the graphics card?

Both connectors look similar, with a grid of 24 female pin holes, but the DVI-D has an additional single slot (like a minus sign), where as the DVI-I has a plus sign with 4 pin holes within it.

Am I fussing too much, will any DVI cable connect both?

[HawkMan]

Just get a standard DVD cable.

Also he was probably right, the monitor most likely didn't come with a dvi cable to start with.

[Tony.]

Any standard DVI cable will be fine. Some DVI ports can carry audio signals that's why they sometimes vary.

[roadwarrior]

A DVI-D cable is what you need. DVI-I includes both digital and analog signals (the analog signals are on the additional pins). The single blade (minus) of the DVI-D cable will plug into the + part of the DVI-I socket.

[giantpotato]

HawkMan, on 07 April 2012 - 20:46, said:

Just get a standard DVD cable.

Also he was probably right, the monitor most likely didn't come with a dvi cable to start with.

Tony., on 07 April 2012 - 20:49, said:

Any standard DVI cable will be fine. Some DVI ports can carry audio signals that's why they sometimes vary.

And what exactly is a "standard DVI cable"? If OP buys a DVI-I cable he will be SOL since it won't fit into the monitor socket. Happened to me once, I figured any DVI cable would do, then realized DVI-I didn't fit into the monitor.

[JJ_]

Either of the two following cables will work fine for you

DVI-D to DVI-D single link
or
DVI-D to DVI-D dual link

The latter provides more bandwidth and has more pins than the former.

[Deisel Weisel]

Thanks for all the advice.

HawkMan, on 07 April 2012 - 20:46, said:

Also he was probably right, the monitor most likely didn't come with a dvi cable to start with.

According to the Dell owners sheet, a DVI cable was included.

One other thing: been using the 2209WA for a few days now with a VGA cable, but the onscreen colours are washed out, photos being particually bad. Tried adjusting brightness/contrast, but still the same. I'm reluctant to play with the colour balance before I've got the new cable. Do you think the that washed out look might be mostly down to the VGA cable? The 2209WA owners sheet suggests you get better picture quality from the DVI cable.

[HawkMan]

Unlikely that dvi will change much on color saturation and contrast.

[JJ_]

I should imagine the DVI cable should give a slightly better image but it does sound like you have a dud VGA cable

[Site Lab]

DVI-D to DVI-I or DVI-D to DVI-D will work. In my experience a standard DVI cable is more like below: