Help with Hitachi 7200 DVI port

[AnthonyHewitt]

Can anybody help with this. I'm probably being really stupid. I bought a dvi to dvi cable today. Its fits into my laptop perfectly but i cannot for the life of me get it to fit into the port on the screen.

 

[lofty29]

Hi,

You probably got the wrong end, I think perhaps you might need a male or female end, but I'm not sure which is which, so one end you have a male, and the other end you have a female.

Hope this helps

Lofty

 

[AnthonyHewitt]

OK, both ends of the cable seem to be male ends. The connectors on the computer and the tv are both female sockets. I can get the end of the cable into the socket but I just can't get it in far enough for it to make a connection. Is it possible that the port is misshapen. The tv is only two weeks old and this is the first time i've tried to use the dvi port.

 

[wonderloaf]

Can anybody help with this. I'm probably being really stupid. I bought a dvi to dvi cable today. Its fits into my laptop perfectly but i cannot for the life of me get it to fit into the port on the screen.

I had the same problem with my PC. Think you need a DVI plug with a few of the pins removed, see link below:

http://www.lindy.com/uk/tips/uk/Digital_Monitor_Connections_Explained_/index.php

I think the one you need is the DVI-D, from memory the 7200 socket doesn't have holes to accept the pins above and below the horizontal blade section. This is why the plug won't fit. Don't take my word for it though, check for yourself!

I bet you didn't know there were so many types of DVI types, I didn't!

Of course, you could always remove the offending pins, although you won't be able to take the cable back.

Let me know how you get on.

 

[wonderloaf]

Just thought of another way of getting the laptop on to the 7200...try a DVI to VGA converter, I remember this was how I achieved it in the end.

 

[swanny78]

yr probably not using a DVI-D plug...I have a 7200 and mine is ok.

 

[AnthonyHewitt]

You're 100% spot on wonderloaf.

My cable is DVI-I single link at both ends but the 7200 requires DVI-D.

This stuff is so confusing. I had no idea that there were different flavours of DVI. The packaging simply said DVI to DVI.

Is it easy to remove the offending pins from the cable?

 

[wonderloaf]

No idea mate, the cable I was using was borrowed from work, didn't want to break it as it runs my monitor!. Even if the pins are removed don't know if the connections are correct. As I said in previous post, I ended up using a DVI to VGA adaptor which came with my PC graphics card.

Can you ask for an exchange?

 

[AnthonyHewitt]

I'll try to exchange it tomorrow. I had to totally destroy the packageing to get into it but its worth a try. If you don't ask you don't get.

 

[wonderloaf]

I had a quick look for a DVI-I to DVI-D cable, but this type doesn't seem to exist...maybe they're incompatible.

Good luck with exchange.

 

[AnthonyHewitt]

Well, I've just been to see the top computer guy at work and he has given me the correct dvi cable and a vga cable to try out when i get home.

 

[wonderloaf]

Just wish our IT guys were that generous. Actually, wish I could find our IT guys in the first place!

 

[AnthonyHewitt]

It helps that the IT guy is a good friend and he was as interested as me to see the results. Both the vga and dvi cables worked a treat, i was impressed with the results on both but i'll stick with the dvi as he said I could keep that one.

The results with my powerbook have convinced me to purchase a mac mini to have permanently connected to the screen. No it's just to decide wether to wait and see if apple start shipping front row with the mini.

 

[wonderloaf]

Did you see any discernible difference between DVI and VGA? I ask because I think that some time in the future I may build a media PC, and already have a graphics card that can output in both. When I hooked up my PC in VGA mode I was impressed, but just wondered if the PQ is better with DVI.

 

[AnthonyHewitt]

To be honest I couldn't tell any difference. There were more resolution choices using the vga cable, although I think this could be a mac thing. Using the dvi the screen displayed the whole desktop automatically with no overscan, which was nice. I think the image may have been slightly stretched horizontally but as my primary use will be for selecting tracks on itunes i'm not too bothered by that.

Text was easily readable from my seating position so web browsing should be good. Overall I was very pleased.