Ultrabase Displayport vs VGA

Hello,
I am connecting an x200T to an external monitor (Acer AL2216WBD) via the Ultrabase. My monitor came with both VGA and DVI cables, however I only have the DVI cable with me at the moment.
Is there a noticeable difference between using VGA versus a DVI-to-Displayport adapter?

 

yes for most monitors you can discern the difference between vga and dvi connection, there would less flickering and other artifacts associated with analogue signals.

 

You'll also have a different set of resolutions available to you depending on what connector you use.

If your display supports DVI, you should use it (and run the display at it's native/preferred res) if at all possible (even via a DVI/DP dongle).

 

I have a dual-monitor setup. My Ultrasharp 2209WA is hooked up with DVI, using this cable:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10246&cs_id=1024608&p_id=6015&seq=1&format=2

And my Samsung is hooked up with VGA.

In isolation, depending on how sensitive you are, you may or may not notice the inferior quality of VGA. Of course it will also depend on the quality of the analog output of your video card (which, on my Thinkpad X200 is okay but not spectacular).

But if you do a before/after or a side-by-side comparison, you will notice that DVI shows a much more sharp picture. With DVI, text is crisp around the edges. Whereas with VGA it's more blurry (although it's much more obvious with text than it is with other graphics). To me it's really easy to notice... My Dell was connected with VGA for two weeks until I received the cable from monoprice.

This doesn't just go for DVI of course.. any digital video interface (DVI, HDMI, Displayport) will show better quality than an analog interface (VGA, component, etc.) because it is more tolerant towards interference. Analog signals will often be able to travel farther though, because they degrade gradually over larger distances. In contrast, digital signals will work extremely well up to a certain distance, but then at a certain threshold you will see a large and sudden loss of quality.

Maybe what you should do is hook it up with VGA, and see if you like it. If you decide that you would like some sharper text, order yourself a DVI cable

And for a better picture, try auto-adjusting your LCD while viewing this page:
http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/clock_phase.php

You can also use the "sharpness" page to set the appropriate sharpness on your screen.

 

Great! Thanks for the tips
I would have to drive back to Toronto from Waterloo (not that far, but a bit of a hassle) to get the VGA cable, whereas I could pick up a DVI-to-displayport adapter here, which I don't mind spending money on if it will likely provide superior output