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Dual-link, IBM T221

A dual-link cannot be split into 2 single-links to drive 2 monitors. The reason is that, with dual-link, the pixel data is divided into even and odd portions and transmitted on separate links.

The latest revision of T221, the DG5, comes with an external box that splits a dual-link into two single-links. These 2 single-links contain even and odd pixels separately and cannot be used to drive other monitors. The T221DG5 recombines these 2 streams internally. Using the Quadro FX 3000, which has 1 dual-link and 1 single-link ports, one should connect the dual-link port to the external box which then connects to DVI 1&2 on the monitor. The single-link port on the QFX3K should be connected to DVI 3 on the monitor, leaving DVI 4 unconnected. The dual-link is responsible for the 2624x2400 portion of the screen and the single-link is responsible for the remaining 1216x2400 portion. This hack is necessary because the dual-link effective bandwidth of 330MHz is not enough to drive the monitor at 3840x2400@48Hz.

I did try my older T221DG3 on my friends G4 and it looked great. But at 13Hz, the lag time is too much to bear. Now that I have a DG5, I want him to get the 6800DDL with his G5 so we can try it at 24Hz. I'm not sure if the Apple driver contains the 3-link hack to do 48Hz.

EDIT: 2560x1600@60Hz requires 348MHz using the VESA GTF 1.0 timing. So technically, you do need reduced blanking interval when using a dual-link DVI. GTF timing contains a lot of blanking time for CRTs; LCDs certainly don't need it.
 
It drive them

Brent Turbo said:
You're 100% correct! Dual Link DVI is ONE port. The video card in question has TWO dual link DVI ports. Each dual link DVI port can support a resolution UP TO 2048x1536. That is far below the advertised resolution of 2560 x 1600. In order to display that resolution on ONE 30" display, a cable must be plugged into BOTH dual link DVI ports. Plugging in two monitors requires a lower resolution on both displays.

Get it?
Driving Force


The 30-inch Cinema HD Display is so big, it requires the next level of graphics technology. The NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL graphics card delivers, with the most advanced graphics engine available for Mac. This card includes dual link DVI connectors to deliver up to 2560 by 1600 resolution over each port. Even better, with two connectors, or Dual Dual Link (DDL), you can drive two 30-inch displays, for the ultimate creative canvas. This $599 card will be available as a built to order option and as a standalone kit in August 2004. That's a copy and paste from Apples site,
end of that disccussion right.

B
 
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