Posts Tagged ‘what does vga stand for’

 Thursday, February 18th, 2010
Cables & Leads

Cables & Leads

Here is the latest in our series of FAQ’s which we have been developing to help you our customers understand a bit more about the technologies which are now all around us.

VGA originally developed by IBM in 1987 and remained the most popular way to connect a computer display for many years. As time has gone by expectations of computer users has grown with the wealth of digital media which is commonplace now in our lives now we are in the digital age has seen a need for new faster and better technologies to be developed. Things like HDMI, DVI and DisplayPort have been developed to fill this need.

What does VGA stand for?
In its original guise it means video graphics array which was developed by IBM originally. It is also used as a term to mean the 15 pin connector used for the connection.

What is better DVI or VGA?
DVI due to it’s higher bandwidth and the quality of the transferred data to the display / screen. Also DVI is able to support higher resolutions.

What is the difference between DVI and VGA?
The two are very different in the way they work and the way that they interact with your display. DVI works on a pixel by pixel basis and interacts with them individually. Where as VGA sends the whole image to the display and it has to work out where to display them. DVI offers far greater image quality and better performance than VGA.

How convert VGA to component?
To be able to convert VGA to a component connection you will need a adapter cable available at cables and leads.

What is VGA resolution?
Technically the original VGA resolution was 640 x 480 although some of the later updates to the VGA display standard claim to be VGA and will support higher resolutions.

What is VGA?
VGA is a display standard that was first released and developed by IBM. Although in recent years many people call the 15 pin connector VGA now.

Are VGA monitor cables and power cords universal?
Yes they are. Although some monitors came with the VGA cable hard wired in to them.

What is a VGA camera?
A digital camera which can take photo’s at the standard VGA resolution 640 x 480. Good enough for email and internet use not so good if you want to print them out.

Which is better VGA or DVI for lcd?
To get the most from a lcd display it is far better to use a DVI connection due it’s increased speed and image quality.

How to connect VGA to HDMI?
You can buy a converter which will allow you to connect the two together. Although the image will not be in HD as VGA is only a analogue signal and not a digital one like HDMI is. Also the VGA interface is not fast enough to transfer the amounts of information needed by a HDMI cable.

What is a VGA monitor?
VGA monitors are the now old and outdated computer displays that were commonly connected to computers in the 90’s and very rarely used nowadays for various reasons.

What is the difference between VGA and megapixel?
VGA’s resolution of 640 x 480 holds 0.3 megapixels of information about the photo. So the more megapixels the camera is rated at the better the outputted image quality and detail. A old school 35 mm camera image will have around 20 million pixels worth of information.

What is a VGA port?
It is a graphics port which passes a analogue signal to a display a rounded rectangle in shape with a 15 pin connection.

How to use VGA laptop to TV?
First you need to make sure that you have the correct cable, connectors and any adapters to suit your equipment. Once you have then it is simply a process of plugging each end in to the respective ports and selecting the correct input channel on your TV. Before turning on your laptop you will also need to alter it’s resolution, it may be necessary to check your help documentation if you are unsure on how to do this.

Do you use both DVI and VGA cables?
No, only use one preferably a DVI connection if you can as they give far superior image quality to the older VGA standard.

What is better VGA or component?
For quality output a good quality component cable will give far better results than a VGA connection.

What is a VGA cable?
VGA cables are used to connect a computer to it’s display although this is now outdated and nowadays you are more likely to see DVI or DisplayPort technologies used for the same purpose. VGA cables have 15 pin connectors on both ends and will vary in length.

How long can a VGA cable be?
There are a number of things that can affect the length of VGA cable that you can use things such as cable quality, resolution, refresh rate of the output and display. As a general rule though with standard retail cabling you will possibly start seeing interference at around 10 feet in length. Over this you would most likely need higher quality cables or take it over a cat5e/6 network cable.

How to convert VGA to s-video?
It is a very simple process to convert VGA to s-video all you need is a adapter cable then plug them in.

Why use a DVI to VGA adapter?
There are number of reasons for this, you may want to use two monitors but have only one DVI output and one VGA output. You may want to use a older display on your DVI only computer and the list goes on..

How to connect VGA to your TV?
This will depend on the TV and what sockets you have spare then you will need a adapter or converter to connect the two together. This can be achieved by using a USB to VGA adapter from a computer.

VGA connector on TV is that good quality?
VGA is a legacy connection type now being outdated by newer and faster technologies which will give far better results.

Can dual monitors work if VGA and DVI are on motherboard?
Yes they can work seamlessly together although you should only connect one to a monitor at a time.

Laptop only has VGA out how do i connect to a TV?
You will need a laptop to TV kit which will include all the cables and connectors you will need to connect them together.

How to use RCA cable with VGA monitor?
To use RCA on your VGA monitor you will need a converter cable or converter plug.

What is a VGA adapter?
VGA adapters are used when you don’t have a VGA input on one of the devices that you want to connect together popular VGA adapters are available for many things like DVI, HDMI, RCA etc..

How do I connect my laptop to my TV using a VGA cable?

There are kits available to suit most laptops that allow you to do this take a look on our site for TV to laptop kits.

Cant get sound from TV when in the VGA mode?
This is because VGA does not transmit sound only images. You will need to connect the sound from your laptop / computer using a phono / RCA lead.

Can VGA be converted to component?
You can convert the connection using a adapter but the signal will be only as good as VGA.

How to fix no VGA detected?
Check the connections are both ok and that they have both been tightened up correctly also check the condition of the cable itself to see if it is in good order.

Is there a real difference between DVI and VGA?
Most people who have looked at a computer display using both connection types that they can see a big difference in image quality and crispness when using DVI.

Can VGA to HDMI converters increase picture quality?
Some people say that they can see a difference but there shouldn’t be any, as you are restricted by the VGA connections limitations.

Can VGA cable carry an HDMI signal to a TV?
Simply put, no. As they are both completely different technologies one HDMI is digital and one is analogue.

Can you covert direct TV signal to VGA monitor?
Yes you can do this conversion but you will need to use a dedicated signal converter.

Can I connect my VGA cable to an RCA input?
Connecting VGA to RCA is possible with the correct converter kit.

Related Articles:
HDMI Frequently Asked Questions


 
 
 
 Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

logo-cables-leads-168-blogMany people have heard of VGA in one form or another has it has been the standard when talking about graphics displays on digital devices for years. VGA stands for Video Graphics Array and was developed by IBM for its early displays. This array contains the information about the colours to display and in what part of the screen to show it.

While this was fine when it was developed it soon became apparent as computer user’s needs grew that it wouldn’t hold enough data to allow the viewing of high quality images. This has lead over the years to the original standard being developed into a number of different styles that allow different amounts of information to be displayed on the users display.

The amount of information that can be carried in the array allows the display of more pixels the more pixels you can display the more clearer and crisper the image will look. As technology has progressed people want more and more from there displays with better looking games and movies at higher resolutions.

Some of the display standards that have evolved over the years are:

XGA: This was the next step and is still used today for displaying images on many digital cameras and other small devices that need crisp and clear images at small resolutions. Things such as mobile phones and hand held gaming devices for example make use of a XGA displays. Allowing the use of more colours than was previously used, and using more pixels, but still nothing like modern computers use nowadays. It allows 800×600 displays at 16bit colour or 1024×768 display with 256 colours.

SVGA: Developed as an extension or update of the original VGA display to allow the use of far better display equipment on their PC’s. Originally to allow the use of true colour 32 bit displays but now the SVGA standard is continually being improved to allow for the fast advancements in display technology.

There are other acronyms used to talk about different displays especially with laptops and other portable devices. But the main ones are the ones that are talked about above.

Other terms used to describe VGA are:

Resolution: used to describe the size of displays in pixels for example a 800×600 display is 800 pixels wide and 600 pixels in height.

Pixel: a small dot on the screen the size of these dots is related to how clear the image appears. It can be any combination of colours.

Colour depth is measured using a number of terms these are normally mentioned as “bits” and describe the amount of colours that a pixel can contain. 16 and 32 bit are common place wit. 16 bit can contain up to 65,536 colours with a true 32 bit display capable of displaying 4.2 billion. Although true 32 bit systems are available they are very rare. Most displays that say 32 bit are actually 24 bit with a couple of extra features. 24 bit displays are capable of showing 16,777,216 and are probably the most common at this time and with over 16million colour combinations are more than enough for the human eye.