Hi everyone... I tried posting thiis in the FS Hardware forum with no luck, maybe you lot can help.I'm currently experimenting with different multi monitor setups with a view to eventually buliding my own cockpit (haven't even decided which aircraft yet). I'm confused about VGA and SVGA specifications. In the questions that follow I may use say "VGA" when I should say SVGA - I am confused remember!Q1) I assume that all modern CRT and TFT displays are SVGA, however I have seen some cables advertised as either VGA or SVGA (these are more expensive). Will my choice of VGA or SVGA cable effect the allowable display resolutions or over all image quality?Q2a) What characteristics of a monitor cable make it more resistant to interference (is it as simple as having a think cable)? I ask this since my monitor cables will be surrounded by lots of other electrical equiptment.Q2b) What is roughly the longest length of monitor cable that I can use before I will likely get interference effects?Q3) I have a TFT monitor with a standard 15pin VGA socket. My graphics card has DVI sockets, so is there any advantage to using a DVI to VGA cable rather than a VGA to VGA (indeed can I even use one of these conversion cables - I assumed all TFT's can connect using these)?Q4) Will the VGA signal be transmitted regardless of how many cable gender changes you use?

VGA, from my definition that I've seen, refers to a different thing depending on the Cable or the monitor.The cable is a VGA cable named so due to the monitors that started were only VGA resolution.The monitors can be MANY resolutions, VGA being one of them. The list below will tell you the name, the resolution and the format of the screen pixels.VGA - 640 x 480 4:3 StandardSVGA - 800 x 600 4:3 StandardXGA - 1024 x 768 4:3 StandardQVGA - 1280 x 960 4:3 Non-StandardSXGA - 1280 x 1024 5:4 Non-StandardSXGA+ - 1400 x 1050 4:3 StandardUXGA - 1600 x 1200 4:3 StandardQXGA - 2048 x 1536 4:3 Non-StandardQSXGA+- 2800 x 2100 4:3 Non-StandardQUXGA - 3200 x 2400 4:3 Non-StandardHSXGA - 5120 x 4096 4:3 StandardHUXGA - 6400 x 4800WXGA - 1280 x 800 16:9 StandardWSXGA+- 1680 x 1050 16:9 StandardWUXGA - 1920 x 1200 16:9 StandardWSXGA - 2560 x 2048 5:4 Non-StandardBase NamesVGA = Video Graphics ArrayXGA = Extreme Graphics Array (more colors and pixels than VGA)QuantifiersS = Super (Higher than nothing)U = Ultra (Higher than Super)Q = Quantum (Higher than Ultra)H = Hex (Highest of All)W = WidescreenHopefully this will help you in "seeing the light" had to say it...Most projectors for outside use are suggested to be XGA projectors but turn out to end up being VGA projectors for the budget-minded cockpit builder (or build your own XGA projector from a LCD monitor and an old overhead transparency projector - cheaper, but not easy).I would say 10 feet would be pretty long and succeptable to noise, but you want 1 continuous multi-shielded cable. The heavier the cable, the more sheilding it has. The more shielding, the less noise you'll have.Using the DVI-VGA adapter would be less preferable than using a cable with a DVI cable on one end and VGA on the other. If I remember correctly, the pinout on the DVI socket is placed so certain pins are like certain pins on the DB-15 (VGA) connector. Instead of using all 25 pins on the DVI, they omit 10 and the remaining 15 are standardized. The reason I say the connector would be less prefereble is the more connections you have between your tower and the monitor, the more noise and ghosting of dark/light objects you'll notice. I used a crappy cable one time that the noise from the connection on my tower was enough to make ghosts of my mouse appear on screen.TFTs are actually going to DVI (why newer video cards are having DVI ports instead of VGA) as they get higher and higher resolutions. Smaller (15" and 17") LCD monitors typically only have resoltuions of 1024x768 and 1280x1024 respectively, so a DB-15 connector will suffice them (and is a little cheaper for manufacturing concerns). They figure they can switch a DVI to a VGA for backward compatability, but you can't go the other way. For the high-resolution 1600x1200 and up resolutions of the 19/21/23" LCD monitors, they usually offer the choice of DB-15 for the 1600x1200 res monitors and are forced due to lack of compatability to go with DVI only connectors for resolutions higher than 1600x1200 or the widescreen monitors.DB-15 is only good for standard 4:3 resolutions up to 1600x1200 and is either incompatable with resoltions higher or not as efficient as DVI. This is why there is a good 50/50 mix of hardware and connectors. Usually, a video card now comes with 1 DVI/1 DB-15 or 2 DVI and a DVI-VGA adapter to convert 1 of the DVI ports to an older DB-15 connection.An idea for Q2 is to get a long cable and run the wire AROUND the sim (long long way around, but furthest away from any electronic noise). It will make the cost go up, but should reduce any noise you have along the way by feeding it away from the noise-producing power supplies and circuit boards for your switch/light interfaces.The last questions answer is yes, but you don't want to use gender changers. Due to the mechanical drawbacks, you lose some signal. The signal is analog and the more signal you lose, the grainier the picture becomes. In a simulator, this is the WORST posible outcome.Idealy, you'd want the shortest cable to be the one to the monitor and the long cables carry digital transmissions (like ethernet wire) or power cords.For me, I'm putting the computers in the front of the simulator (where the avionics in the nose would be) and the display projectors just a short distance away from the computer bay. The power supplies for the computers and other electronics will be a little more forward out in the open. The boards for the switches and other cockpit components will be housed in the panels they operate (boards for the MIP will be just behind the display panels for the upper center EICAS. each panel will be wired to a conector or multiple connectors (RJ-45, RS232, gameport or paralell connectors for quick disconnect of a panel and the other side wired to the board. With a label-maker, labelling the wire strands with a description (MIP Ldg Status) on each connector (showing which ones connect to each other). Thinking how the pieces all fit togther is only half the puzzle. The other pieces include disassembling and re-assembling for storage/moving/evacuation/relocation events.Hope this helps....

I have a question regarding "VGA" 15 pin connectors. I have gotten hold of an old "CTX 1565D" 15' CRT display manufactured in 1995.When I connected it to my PC there was no picture but the power seemed to be working. I noticed that the 15 pin connector had a total of 4 pins missing butit did not seem to be damaged.I have tried to reproduce what the connector looks like below. X's are missing pins and the orientation is the connector is shorter side above, longer side below. ...............................|.X.O.O.X.O.|.......|...O.X.O.O.O.|... ..|...X.O.O.O.O...|.............................I have noticed that even modern CTR's sometimes have 1 pin missing but does 4 missing mean that the connector is faulty?

Here's a link explaining the VGA pin-out.http://pinouts.ru/data/VGA15_pinout.shtmlAs youcan see the pin #9 is used as a key and usaually doesn't have a pin. The pin 5 is ground and if it's missing, it's probable that the ground signal is taken on another ground pin (signal gnd).Has for the 12 and 15, those are use by the graphic card to identify the monitor and ajust display setting accordingly. Yous monitor is old and in those years there we're no "plug and play" monitors, so it probably has no "identify circuit" therefore those pin are not used.In conclusion, the connector is probably OK.Did you try lower resolution on your PC, those old monitor doesn't take high resolution, normally max 1024 x 768.Try windows with the lower resolution you can and see what happens.

Thanks for your reply CaptnKebec. Yes I tried lower resolutions including 800X600 and 1024X768 with no luck.Q1) Could the display look blank if the colour depth is not supported (though I think I also tried 16 and 32 bit)?Q2) If it's not plug and play shouldn't a picture still appear when windows starts up?Q3) Might my problems be solve if I find a specific driver for it?Q4) Does it sound like the monitor is defective?

Q1) NO, you should see something.Q2) Yes a picture should appear, windows would use standard VGA and will not optimized the display setting.Q3) No, any monitor should work without drivers, and you have a common brand of monitor who doesn't need drivers.Q4) In my opinion, yes.That may sound stupid, but did you check brightness and contrast settings? I've seen some of my friends bring their monitor to me to repair it, but they had only touch the brightness when they moved it and it we're not showing anything!!