Experiences with USB/HDMI to VGA/DVI adapters

britechguy

britechguy

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My latest client, the one who has the truly ancient custom build, does not wish to purchase new monitors (or at least not for the ones he has, a couple of new ones will be needed for additional computers), keyboards, etc.

DVI&VGA_Plugs.jpg

[BTW: I know you all know the connector types, I annotated this photo of the owner's old tower connections for his education and still have the photo.]

I've used plenty of adapters of various types in the past, but never one for video. The replacement machines have only HDMI and DisplayPort outputs, and the two monitors I will be hooking up from the old box will be DVI and VGA respectively.

I'm thinking of going with 1080P HDMI Male to VGA Female adapters (as there are at least 3 VGA monitors across existing machines) and a USB 3.0 to DVI adapter for that monitor, which is the only one.

Have these been truly "plug n' play" for those who have used them in the past? If not, what are the likely tweaks that might need to be made?
 
timeshifter said:
I would avoid USB for monitors in nearly every situation.
Click to expand...

I would have, too, prior to USB 3, but I ask because everything I see is USB 3 now. That's one of the reasons I'm asking about this, as I won't have any choice for that DVI monitor.

In the current situation I'm definitely primarily using HDMI to VGA, but that one DVI monitor is going to be attached to the new computer and one that doesn't have the graphics card in it, so no DisplayPort ports at all.
 
Just be aware that certain video format converters may not display video until the OS has actually loaded. I use a [urlhttps://www.startech.com/en-us/server-management/notecons01]StarTech Crashcart adapter[/url] which has just the VGA adapter. On some machines with no VGA port I've tried using adapters, say HDMI2VGA, I can't see POST, including the BIOS, due to missing driver components.
 
If you want the best experience, go DisplayLink. Swear by them or at them, that is the best option. There are DisplayLink docks that are around $100 ish and provide both additional USB ports, audio ports and DVI/HDMI.

Now for the machine that won't have a graphics card, as long as it supports headless mode the DisplayLink dock will work fine if you preinstall the drivers before removing the graphics card. Your initial hurdle will be to configure the display as Windows may decide to extend or duplicate displays. Oh, this is a quick moment to mention that Windows 10 does have a headless display driver, otherwise remote desktop wouldn't work. So keep in mind when with DisplayLink even though it will have some abilities, I believe it is still reliant on the host system. An example of this is rendering of videos that normally would be offloaded via GPU. That gets done in software due to the MS Headless Display Driver. So expect some degraded performance. Repair installs and other things like Windows Update can be tricky as they will be sight unseen until Windows reaches the desktop.

I did this for a while back with a Toshiba laptop that had a bad GPU that could be removed. It was an interesting experience, and who knows, a chance like that might show up one day again, but for now...
 
I think its still the case, but there are some adapters that will only convert the signal one way (from digital to analogue for example) so make sure you get one that converts the right way if you use the VGA port on the monitor.
 
I forgot to mention that many analogue adapter are garbage. Make sure you get a high quality one from say Startech or another reputable company.

Also, don't expect that the DP port will provide enough power for the adapter, many adapters fail not because they don't work but they are designed to be bus powered but that doesn't always work. Try to go for an adapter that requires power input. Yes it add extra cables but I've found they have a higher success rate.

Oh. A little addendum for anyone reading this that uses a KVM with these types of adapters or mixed environment with both analogue and digital signal. A KVM does not translate video signals it only passes them through. Many modern monitors have segregated decoders for analogue and digital inputs. So just because your KVM can electrically send a signal doesn't mean your monitor can decode it.
 
My experience has been...."hit, or miss". Too many variables, often, sometimes even usually...they're work OK. Other times...constant complaints from end users. Sometimes monitors won't wake up from sleep mode. Sometimes they won't "connect". Single monitor...maybe better, dual monitor...more prone to issues. It's a gamble...like I said...often or even usually OK....but I've had enough situations where clients had issues and complained, I sorta don't offer it as a solution anymore, usually STRONGLY recommending new monitors that are native HDMI or DP...to go with new computers. When I hear a client say "oh I don't have a monitor, I'll just use my old one..."...I always inquire what that monitor is. (I know your situation is the exact opposite here).
 
My 2¢ - I never cross digital and analog in an adapter. Sure DVI>HDMI or DP>DVI but I've had too much weirdness going VGA to HDMI or DVI to VGA, etc. When I need to use an analog monitor with a system that only has digital then I'll throw in a cheap video card to add VGA to it. Used (read pre-tested) GPUs are dirt cheap (cheaper than an adapter in some cases) and I never charged for them separately anyway.
 
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Thanks to all for your input. It's exactly what I expected it to be: mixed.

In this case I have no choice (at least initially) but to give adapters a whirl because they'd like to keep the monitors they have. For at least two of the machines HDMI to VGA is what I'm trying for the VGA monitors, and a C2G USB 3.0 to DVI for the sole DVI monitor. I'll report back on my own experience afterward. If all goes according to plan, the new computers will arrive this week, probably Wednesday or Thursday. I should have all the adapters by then, too.

At least for the two machines with graphics cards it appears that brand new monitors will be the order of the day for at least one of them, and I'll be looking for a DisplayPort connection on that.

I was surprised to see just how ubiquitous DisplayPort to "everything" adapters, such as this one,

CABLEDECONN Multi-Function Displayport Dp to HDMI/DVI/VGA Male to Female 3-in-1 Adapter Converter Cable​

, are out there "in the wild."
 
YeOldeStonecat said:
I know your situation is the exact opposite here
Click to expand...

Yep. The client has made clear what they'd like to do, and I'm trying to accommodate it. If it works, it works, and if it doesn't, they're still paying for the attempt (as well as replacement monitors). But I feel that I've got to make the attempt at the very least.
 
BTW, for the sake of complete clarity, what I'm talking about here are not headless servers or the like, but plain vanilla desktop boxes. But brand new ones that have only HDMI (single) and USB 3.1 (4 ports on the back) output in the 2 graphics card-less machines and the two that will have PNY GTX 1060 cards that will that have only HDMI (2, one on mobo and one on graphics card) and DisplayPort (3 on card) along with a single DVI (1 on card).

Since both current office machines are using VGA monitors, and one is also using a DVI monitor, that's why the adapters come into play. Neither of the machines with the graphics cards are intended as "office machines" but will be the CAD workstations out on the shop floor. Even if they were, that would solve only the DVI problem for that single monitor, as native VGA is (unsurprisingly) nowhere to be seen.
 
Philippe said:
No, no... DVI -> HDMI is easy.
Click to expand...

OK, that'll be plan B. It would be HDMI male to DVI female cable/adapter.

I simply had to make a choice as to whether I'd try HDMI to VGA on several machines, with a single exception for USB to DVI for that odd monitor, or not.

If I'd had my druthers, everything would be new, but I don't, and I completely understand why I don't. I have a tight budget and so does a small machine shop with under 10 people employed there. They need to pinch every penny they can and I'll try to help them do just that if I can.
 
You know your client and have seen their equipment. Hearing that someone who hasn't upgraded their hardware in years and wants to keep their old monitor conjures up images of fuzzy dull old displays. I remember buying my first LCD, a Dell 19" and it was refurbished. It was $600. I thought it was awesome. Maybe your client thinks monitors are still really expensive.

I wonder how they'd react if you connected any of one of these side by side with their existing screen that they're hanging onto.

Samsung 32" Monitor for $149
- sale price, installed one the other day and was impressed

LG 27" Monitor for $139
- even though the link shows $179 I'm 95% sure I've seen this in the warehouse in person for $139 right now
- I've bought and installed a bunch of these for clients and like them quite a bit

Acer 24" Monitor for $99
- no experience with these but thought I'd throw in the cheapest option

A side rant, not directed at @britechguy 's client specifically. My brother used to be the target of this rant... I'm amazed by how often people cheap out on the things that contribute directly to the experience of the computer - what we see and what we touch.
 
@timeshifter: You're preaching to the choir!

I may end up using the precise examples you've provided if push comes to shove.

Addendum: I actually forwarded this information to the client in case he happens to be under the impression that monitors are still a major expense. It may even influence him to reconsider keeping the old ones, who knows?
 
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I've virtually never had any issues using adapters to change one connector to another. Most problems I've had are with USB video adapters.

Take for instance your picture. I would provide a computer with at least 2x DisplayPort, and use a DisplayPort to VGA and DisplayPort to DVI adapter.

These days most I have to worry about is DisplayPort to HDMI/VGA/DVI. Not really DVI so much anymore. I only deal in business computers so 2 or 3 DisplayPort connections are my standard. Last year at work we deployed 50 Optiplex 3090 SFFs. For virtually all of them used a DP to VGA adapter to use the existing monitors. There were a couple DVI or HDMI out there and in one I replaced with a DP monitor.

Back in the past I've done many DVI-I to VGA adapters. Since DVI-I provided analog signal in addition to digital. DVI to HDMI no problem. Sometimes even used the DVI to HDMI adapter on the monitor to use an HDMI input. Converting analog/digital more tricky. Best I found as mentioned for those is to get a powered adapter.
 
The preference should always be using a monitor's digital input if it has one (DVI, DP, HDMI), unless you're using VGA output from the PC.

Using USB-A monitor output is the absolute last resort and a new monitor should be strongly considered. USB monitor adapters are not connected to the PC's graphics chip in any way, the GPU is purely within the driver software, so they increase load on the CPU and have reduced graphics performance. Might be noticeable on an old PC. As others have said the USB monitor adapter doesn't kick in until after the OS starts completely.

You should only use the PC's HDMI and DP outputs. Adapters from these to VGA & HDMI are easily found and usually work well, so much better than USB monitor adapters.
 
britechguy said:
Thanks to all for your input. It's exactly what I expected it to be: mixed.

In this case I have no choice (at least initially) but to give adapters a whirl because they'd like to keep the monitors they have. For at least two of the machines HDMI to VGA is what I'm trying for the VGA monitors, and a C2G USB 3.0 to DVI for the sole DVI monitor. I'll report back on my own experience afterward. If all goes according to plan, the new computers will arrive this week, probably Wednesday or Thursday. I should have all the adapters by then, too.

At least for the two machines with graphics cards it appears that brand new monitors will be the order of the day for at least one of them, and I'll be looking for a DisplayPort connection on that.

I was surprised to see just how ubiquitous DisplayPort to "everything" adapters, such as this one,

CABLEDECONN Multi-Function Displayport Dp to HDMI/DVI/VGA Male to Female 3-in-1 Adapter Converter Cable​

, are out there "in the wild."
Click to expand...
And I expected a reply from you, with a deep introspective lol.
 
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