Do the DVI Cables you use make a difference?

[abdm]

Hi,

I'm wondering if the DVI cables you use make a difference. I see on the apple site they have these cables:

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...iMUHR3l5JPPi1cZ8yoNB/1.0.21.1.0.8.25.7.11.7.3

These cables are $64.95 each, I'm just wondering if they are worth the money. I've looked outside of apple, and this cable is just expensive, you might be able to get it for just a few bucks cheaper, but it's around the same.

Now you look at this cable:

http://www.buy.com/prod/Tripp_Lite_10ft_DVI_Dual_Link_TDMS_Cable_DVI_D_M_M/q/loc/101/10362635.html

and that cable is $15.67 each

I'm going to be using these cables with the following monitors:

Gateway FPD2185W (21 inch LCD)
Dell 2407 (24 inch LCD)

I'm just wondering what you get for the extra cost of the cables from apple?

Also I just ordered the Dell 2407, so that will come with its own cable, how does that compare?

Thanks

 

[SpankyPenzaanz]

Apple will generally have third party accesories higher priced than if you did some diggin around on the web

 

[abdm]

Apple will generally have third party accesories higher priced than if you did some diggin around on the web

Well that cable is more no matter where you look, it isn't $15. I'm just wondering if a $50 - $70 cable will make a difference.

 

[The General]

It's digital, it either works or it doesnt work. You won't have a noisy cable, like you might with a VGA cable.

 

[rogersmj]

It's digital, it either works or it doesnt work. You won't have a noisy cable, like you might with a VGA cable.

Right. A quality VGA cable really did make a big difference -- I would often throw away cheap, thin VGA cables because they would make the display look so crappy. But with DVI it really doesn't matter. A DVI cable is a DVI cable. Don't waste your money.

 

[CubeHacker]

It's digital, it either works or it doesnt work. You won't have a noisy cable, like you might with a VGA cable.

Oddly enough, this is not true, although it does make sense that it would. Video cards and monitors use something called TDMS to transmit the image data across the cable. However, this data can become corrupt due to insufficient bandwidth, sometimes caused by cheap or faulty cables. The outcome is "noise" on the screen that usually manifests itself by multicolored specs or lines that flash across the screen randomly, especially at high resolutions and when the picture is moving. Although the quality of the TDMS transmitter is usually more important than the cable, the cable does play a role.

Either way, i'd still pick up the cheaper cable. If you are having problems, then try another.

 

[The General]

Strange, I didn't know that. Thanks for filling me in. 🙂

But I am willing to bet that you'd have to go REALLY REALLY cheap in order to get any sort of artifacts on screen.

 

[abdm]

Strange, I didn't know that. Thanks for filling me in. 🙂

But I am willing to bet that you'd have to go REALLY REALLY cheap in order to get any sort of artifacts on screen.

So basically the cables from apple are a waste of money huh?

Thanks