My cousin's computer seems to have a bad VGA monitor cable. The problem is that when I turn it on, it seems to be ok, it says auto-configure....then it goes blank (orange light on monitor power button). I looked at the VGA connector pins and see that pins 4 and 11 are missing. Just to be curious, I looked at the end connected to the LCD and it's also missing pins 4 and 11. Is this a coincidence? From what I found, these are what it corresponds to:

4 ID2 Monitor ID Bit 2
11 ID0 Monitor ID Bit 0

Is this responsible for the shot display and then blank screen?

I'm sure it's not the computer itself because I did use another LCD monitor and it worked without any problems. Funny thing is that on that one all the pins are intact. The same exact missing pins on this LCD (the one with the blank screen) is what got me scratching my head. No pins seem to be stuck on the connecting ports...

Can I get any VGA - 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15) type connector? I did a search and found some on eBay but they don't look like the one I have now (black cable with blue VGA connector on both ends). The one I found says it's Male to Male 15 pin D-Sub connector though (whole thing is black color). This is my first time changing these so I don't want to buy the incorrect cable.

This should be the exact monitor they have (only black color) - site

I have one more quickie...question regarding DVI adapters. What is the main advantage of using these as to regular VGA instead? Better resolution?

Thanks.

you want the 15 pin d-sub.

as far as dvi goes:

DVI will give you a crisper resolution when hooked up to an lcd monitor or a DLP setup.
as long as you are not using the vga output, and using an adaptor to convert to dvi.

DVI is a pure digital signal, and today's lcd's look a hell of a lot better on dvi.
I hooked my pc up to my tv about 6 months ago, when i hooked it up to the analog vga, the computer recognised my tv as a monitor, but my max resolution was 1204x768.
I slapped the dvi cable on there, and right away i noticed a huge difference in color and brightness.
and i was able to put my resolution into native 720p (1280x720)

-C

Thanks for the reply. I went to my cousin's house again about a week ago and tried something else (which I should have done earlier ). I bought another vga cable already so that's like $10 down the drain (weird thing was that it says 15 pin when I bought it, but it's actually 14 pins when I took a look at it ). Well, what I did was swapped the LCD monitors between their two computers. Is there a reason why the LCD would work on their other computer and not this one? They have two LCDs...the other one (without the problems - 15 pins intact) will work on BOTH computers. But this 13 pin "problematic" one will only work on the other computer. There was no point of me using the 14 pin cable I got since the issue was resolved by swapping the monitors.

My question is what is the difference between the 13, 14 and 15 pin VGA cables? I guess the one they had was NOT damaged but have no idea why it won't work on that computer.

Was I ripped off getting that 14 pin VGA cable when it was advertised as 15 pin d-sub?

No you were not.
As to why it worked on 1 and not the other? your guess is as good as mine. the missing pins on yours dont sound right honestly.. sure it wasnt 5, 9, 15?
Best way to explain the pins is for you to actually see it yourself:


ok, so you have 15 possible pins.
Here is the pin layout:
1 red
2 green
3 blue
4 ID bit
5 n/c
6 red ground
7 green ground
8 blue ground
9 n/c
10 ground
11 ID bit 11
12 ID bit 12
13 H sync / Composite
14 V sync
15 n/c

note that 5, 9 and 15 are not used. Some cable makers leave the pins in, others pull them alltogether.

The old macs used to use 14 pins, Im not sure about them now honestly though.

Hope that helps.
For more pinouts and where i blatently grabbed the image from: Here you go!



This post has been edited by DjCalvin: May 7 2006, 08:03 PM

Yeah, I'm sure. I got a pin layout image from another site and that's how I got the other information on what they are for. It's definitely not pin 5 since I remember it being near the edge (second to last = 4). Is there such a thing as a 13 pin d-sub cable? It definitely can't be a coincidence that BOTH ends of the cable's pin are missing the exact pins. Anyway, I swapped their LCD's and it's still working now...guess it's just one of those strange things on how they work.

Didn't know that some pins weren't needed...makes no sense to put them there at all then. I checked my new 14 pin cable to make sure...yep, pin #9 missing

Thanks for the info on that.

I have never seen a 13 pin one in my travels, doesnt mean they dont exist though. (you obviously got one )
glad its working though. enjoy your new monitor

This is not true, some manufactures (like Digimate) use all 15 connectors for reasons unknown (I think transferring Plug and Play software).

I have just had a nightmare of a time trying to get a replacement cable that worked for my current monitor (a wide screen Digimate monitor), and would advise anyone to buy a different brand, other than Digimate.

Digimate customer service is useless in the UK and they charge national rates for helplines (0871), even though the problem was with their use of 15pin wired in cables.

I found my Digimate experience problematic and would never use Digimate in the future and will advise all of my friends not to use Digimate but to use Samsung or another reputable brand.

Digimate are not reputable and their UK customer service is useless.

-Robert Noxon

Replying to WeaponX

Your cable is OK for a black/white VGA.

Old monitor-ID standard says it is a monochrome monitor that can't support resolution 1024x768 and higher if
Pin 4 and pin 11 are not connected (your case) and pin 12 is pulled to ground (check it, ground is pin 5)

Syncing Laptop to LCD TV
VGA Monitor Cable Problems

Hi,
I'm having problems tryin to sync my laptop (Lenovo) to my LCD TV, Initially it worked and I could use it no problems, but since I unplugged it for maintenance and then replugged the cable back in I'm getting a 'no signal' display on my TV. Ive tried all the usual combinations of Fn button with F buttons and the Ctrl and Alt keys, but to no avail.. Does anybody have any suggestions?

Thanx

-question by Alan