DVI vs HDMI Cables Which is Better For You
HDMI (high definition multimedia interface) is the acknowledged connection standard for transferring video and audio digitally from a source to a video display device or other compatible home entertainment devices.
A digital visual interface (DVI) is a port used to connect display devices, such as LCD monitors or projectors, with the output device. DVI only supports connections between digital-to-digital devices.
Industry group Digital Display Working Group (DDWG) developed DVI, which began as a way to get rid of legacy video display systems based on analog technology. Uncompressed data is sent out over DVI for display on specific display devices.
DVI has one benefit that HDMI lacks: an ability to use either analog or digital signals. This allows you to connect a computer with DVI output to a monitor with VGA input. Unfortunately, while the age of DVI allows you to use older technologies, it can create problems with newer ones. Issues may be encountered when attempting to play content that uses HDCP encryption, such as full HD Blu-ray and other HD content. You won’t have a problem with this when using HDMI cables.
Both DVI and HDMI have certain limitations on what they can display, both in terms of an output device’s resolution and its refresh rate. Given that HDMI is newer than DVI, it’s not surprising that it works with better specifications in both cases.
The latest version of HDMI (2.1) can support a maximum data rate of 42.6 Gbit/sec. That means it can support some truly magnificent resolution and refresh rate combinations: up to 4K at 144 Hz natively, or a mind-boggling 8K at 120 Hz using Display Stream Compression. It also works with HDR video output (although its maximum resolutions and refresh rates take a slight hit given the increased bandwidth used by HDR video).
DVI, meanwhile, only has a maximum data rate of 9.9 Gbit/sec. Taking that into account, the maximum resolution and refresh rate it can support is 3840x2400 at 30 Hz, or 2560x1600 at 60 Hz.
As well as its notable visual advantages, HDMI can transfer audio signals, something DVI is unable to do. That means streaming a video from one device to another only requires one cable with HDMI; with DVI, you also need to account for audio cables.