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I have a laptop hooked up a monitor by VGA. The GPU driver is stubborn and thinks my monitor is a 4:3 CRT, and so the picture is stretched because the monitor seems to lack letterboxing. My best option is connecting the HDMI out on the laptop to the DVI in on the monitor, so I bought an adapter. The adapter, however, is HDMI to DVI-I, a counter-intuitive feature that makes it useless for my purpose, since monitors have DVI-D input. (Besides, not all DVI-out ports are DVI-I anyway, like on GPUs/motherboards that also have VGA.)

I know that the five pins off to the side are analog. If I were to remove the four small pins, that still leaves the long pin, which is too long to fit in a DVI-D port. However, the Wikipedia article says that it's used for analog ground, which means it shouldn't be necessary for DVI-D.

My question is simply one of whether I can also remove the long pin and have the adapter function. (I have not touched it, BTW.)

I have already ordered another adapter, but I want to know if the one I have can be used as a spare if I make these modifications.

Edited for clarity.

EDIT: I just got an HDMI to DVI-D cable, and it works fine, so this is a non-issue. A definite answer for my benefit and of others who may need this answer would be appreciated, though.

Jan Doggen
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Roadsguy
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  • ALL DVI monitors are DVI-D, it's the graphics adapters that can do DVI-I to provide VGA vi and adapter. The DVI-I->HDMI adapter you (probably) have is intended to be put on a DVI-I connector on a graphics adapter, to use with an HDMI cable that's plugged into an HDMI port on the monitor. HDMI and DVI are electrically the same, so you can get/use a simple DVI<->HDMI cable. Will cutting down the tab work? Probably not, but you've already destroyed the adapter, why not try it? – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 Mar 05 '14 at 17:47
  • Yes, I know that monitors are DVI-D and that graphics cards have DVI-I (except for dual-port ones which are often one -I and one -D). And I know that HDMI and DVI are compatible; that's why I bought the adapter. And I haven't done anything to the adapter yet. – Roadsguy Mar 05 '14 at 19:06
  • Be safe and save yourself the trouble. Purchase a new adapter fitting exactly what you need. – Kruug Mar 05 '14 at 19:18
  • I've already ordered another one. I just want to see if this can be used as a spare. (This information was lost in my first edit of the question.) – Roadsguy Mar 05 '14 at 19:26

1 Answers1

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Depending on the actual adapter, you should be able to do that.

As stated above, the 4 pins are used for Analog, which is not used at all in HDMI. I believe they may have put those in by mistake, but you should not need to buy another one. I have not personally removed the pins, but considering that you would need a powered adapter to go from Analog to Digital, there should be no reason for that.

Canadian Luke
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