Max resolution out of DVI-D port.

[clearchris]

I have an older pc that I'm putting kodi on. It has a native video card that's passable, and I'd like to use if possible. It has an "Integrated AMD Radeon HD 4200" with a vga port and dvi-d port. It would simplify things if I could use the DVI-D (and audio) to convert to HDMI for use on a 4k tv.

Max digital resolution for the Radeon HD 4200 is listed as 2560 x 1600. All the adapter cables from DVI-D to HDMI say that they have a max resolution of 1,920 x 1,080. Further, they all say "no sound".

The sound issue is a bit tricky, as the DVI spec does not provide for audio, but both nvidia and ati have added sound in on all their DVI video cards for over 10 years, so functionally, it should work so long as these cables aren't explicitly leaving off pins that are needed. Is this just a CYA measure on behalf of the cable makers?

Also, a "dual link" dvi-d to hdmi converter is needed to get over 1080p resolution, but I can't find any. Does such a converter/cable exist?

Thanks, I haven't built a PC in a while, I have been laptop only for years, so any help is appreciated.

[Topcat]

Re: Max resolution out of DVI-D port.

Dual link DVI is 2560x1600 for 16:10 or 2560x1440 for 16:9 at its highest. You can not get an 'adapter' perse, the cable itself has to be compatible, which are not hard to come by. Just be careful with ones you find on ebay....sometimes they'll be cheap knockoffs or fakes; pinned for dual link, but unable to achieve their resolutions....I've seen this more than a few times when troubleshooting this for customers that bought cheap cables....

To my knowledge, DVI can not pass sound through the cable nor have I ever seen a display (PC monitor or TV that was set up for that). If it can, it's not something I have experience with....you need a HDMI for that. However, for DVI with a HTPC, you can use the SPDIF or lineout for audio, works fine.

[clearchris]

Re: Max resolution out of DVI-D port.

Yeah, DVI can't pass sound to DVI, but when dvi converts to hdmi, they (ati and nvidea cards) can pass sound. It's unofficial, but works. Alas, the machine I was looking at may not be sufficient to run kodi, but we'll see.

[momaka]

Re: Max resolution out of DVI-D port.

I bought a cheap DVI-D to HDMI cable from Newegg a few years ago. A lot of user reviews mentioned that they could get sound through the cable. However, I have not been able to confirm this with mine. Not sure if it was the TV I was using that was at fault, or if I got a crummy cable, or if the PC I was using (HP tower with A4-5300 APU) had audio pass-through on the DVI-D ports. But from what I know, discrete AMD/ATI video cards starting with the Radeon HD3k series and up support audio pass-through on the DVI-D plugs. In fact, many of these cards came with a passive DVI-D to HDMI adapter that could pass audio through it to the HDMI cable. So it is possible, yes. However, when it comes to integrated / onboard GPUs, that implementation may be dependent on the motherboard manufacturer possibly. All I can tell you is that the onboard HD4200 video on a Dell tower I have set up for my parents to use as an HTPC box does have audio pass-through on its HDMI port, so no need for individual audio cables on that PC.

And as far as nVidia goes... I'm not sure which GPU generation they added audio pass-through on the DVI-D port, though I'm thinking either the GTX 200 series or GTS/GTX 400 series.

[clearchris]

Re: Max resolution out of DVI-D port.

To follow up, I swapped a cable from another machine, which I replaced with a displaylink cable. The cable I had (pretty sure it was just a generic monoprice dvi-d to hdmi cable) passed audio over dvi to hdmi just fine. Sounds great really.

It's unfortunate that nearly no desktop video adapters handle CEC though, I'm going to have to dig up one of my old infrared remotes.

[ratdude747]

Re: Max resolution out of DVI-D port.

The dual GeForce GTX250's in my dual-940 rig don't list a GPU sound device, so at least on them, the dual DVIs don't have audio. Then again, they're technically die shrunken 9800's; higher 200's with new chip designs *might* have the feature?

[clearchris]

Re: Max resolution out of DVI-D port.

The dual GeForce GTX250's in my dual-940 rig don't list a GPU sound device, so at least on them, the dual DVIs don't have audio. Then again, they're technically die shrunken 9800's; higher 200's with new chip designs *might* have the feature?

I don't know all the details, but check the BIOS. My BIOS has an option to send digital sound to the on board video card or to an external video card.

I just checked, both your cards and mine were released in 2009. I'd say you have a pretty good shot at having sound through them. Everything I have found says the 200 series supports it.

Maybe this applies?
https://www.nvidia.com/content/Contr...phics_card.htm

[ratdude747]

Re: Max resolution out of DVI-D port.

I don't know all the details, but check the BIOS. My BIOS has an option to send digital sound to the on board video card or to an external video card.

I just checked, both your cards and mine were released in 2009. I'd say you have a pretty good shot at having sound through them. Everything I have found says the 200 series supports it.

Maybe this applies?
https://www.nvidia.com/content/Contr...phics_card.htm

The board is from 2005 (Supermicro H8DCI, Nvidia Nforce Pro 2000 chipset)... not an option. Heck, the sound chip on board is AC '97... but I run a creative X-FI card to get around that limitation.