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VGA and DVI Ports To Be Phased Out Over Next 5 Years

Posted by Soulskill on from the think-of-the-connectors dept.

angry tapir writes "Legacy VGA and DVI display ports are likely to be phased out in PCs over the next five years, according to a study by NPD In-Stat. Intel and Advanced Micro Devices are ending chipset support for VGA by 2015. The VGA interface was originally introduced in 1986 and DVI was introduced in 1999."

12 of 704 comments (clear)

  1. why phase out DVI? by Spy+Handler · · Score: 5, Insightful

    it gives me crystal-clear digital connection to my monitor, and unlike HDMI, it works every time without fail.

    1. Re:why phase out DVI? by godrik · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Trying to close the analog hole I guess. Using "smart" HDMI can more easily be used with DRMs. Coupled with machine you can not choose the OS of, and you might have quite annoying copy protection schemes.

    2. Re:why phase out DVI? by Ynot_82 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The "Analogue Hole" is unaffected by digital restrictions
      It's the illegitimate* analogue re-capturing of a legitimately decoded digital stream
      Think TV-capture card

      * From "their" POV

    3. Re:why phase out DVI? by SuricouRaven · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Indeed. Or you can use various unlicenced decryption methods, in which case you don't need an HDCP compliant anything. Pirates win again.

    4. Re:why phase out DVI? by Anrego · · Score: 5, Insightful

      DVI was confusing to non-geeks.

      You had, what..

      DVI-D, DVI-A, and DVI-I .. plus "single link" and "dual link" thrown in for good measure, and different cables supporing subsets of those and adapters and a variety of "this works with that, but not this other thing".

      HDMI is HDMI .. you plug it in and not worry about whether you are using the right mode / cable for your setup.

    5. Re:why phase out DVI? by eobanb · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Then again there's HDMI 1.0, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, then for cables there's Standard, Standard with Ethernet, High Speed, plus converter cables to/from DVI, DisplayPort, VGA, and then of course there's HDCP...

      ...It's always going to be confusing to 90% of people no matter what.

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    6. Re:why phase out DVI? by GrumpySteen · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Using an unlicensed decryption program to decrypt a Blu-Ray DVD that you own, rented or borrowed in order to watch it on a non HDCP compliant system it is not piracy, no matter what the MPAA tells you. It may or may not violate the DMCA, but it is absolutely not piracy.

    7. Re:why phase out DVI? by Fallingcow · · Score: 5, Insightful

      As best I can tell the problem is that they created a "smart" spec for the cable then didn't force manufacturers to only put them on "smart" devices, or didn't make a certain degree of smartness and sensible fallbacks part of the spec. Consequently, we've got a bunch of idiot devices that think they're smart and do all kinds of dumb things that a "dumb" connection like VGA wouldn't allow.

      Instead of "just work" we've got "just work IF your devices like each other and IF you turn them on in the correct order (note, not always the best or most intuitive order) and IF you have a shaman do the HDMI dance first." My guess is a bit tighter spec and better testing requirements tied to using the HDMI name/logo would have reduced these problem from nearly universal to occasional, at least.

      If nothing else the devices all ought to have a "stop trying to be smart and FUCKING DO EXACTLY WHAT I TELL YOU TO DO" mode. You think your source isn't 5.1? BULLSHIT, yes it is. You think you ought to defer to another device for audio out? NO, you're the goddamn audio receiver and I want you to NEVER do that. You went to sleep, woke back up, and now you think there's no capable audio device connected to your HDMI port and you'll continue to think that until I restart you? NO, just send the goddamn bits, because you're wrong.

      Actually, that's what the override mode should be called: "Just send the goddamn bits"

  2. All about HDCP by TankSpanker04 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I suspect the driving force toward HDMI-only is anti piracy efforts in the form of mandatory HDCP on any new display hardware.

  3. Ain't happening by DesScorp · · Score: 5, Insightful

    We've still got serial ports. There are still motherboards with a parallel port, for goodness sake. VGA ain't going away anytime soon.

    --
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  4. Deep breath everyone. DVI==HDMI by slimjim8094 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    While I like DVI and have a monitor that uses it, going HDMI only is not a big deal. HDMI is just DVI plus a little extra, for audio, and the cost of that "little extra" is already negligible.

    This means that a DVI-DVI, HDMI-HDMI, and DVI-HDMI cable are the same price. I spent $5 on one a few years back.

    No difference! Unbunch your panties

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  5. 30 Years of VGA by scorp1us · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Lets hope that whatever follows has the same longevity as VGA. In a world where we've invented USB 3 times (USB, mini USB and micro USB) with non-compatible connectors in just 11 years, the future does not look as good.

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