# Audio through DVI



## NameonPrime (May 6, 2011)

Guys i need answers, please

now i've been googling this for quite a while now and it sounds pretty interesting

i've found a handful of posts of people saying that they are able to get audio on their tv's/monitors while their only connected to a single dvi cable
from their gpu. in those posts i also saw people saying that later ati and nvidia crads support audio through dvi, and some people say its completely impossible to get audio through a dvi cable.

So, i need an answer from you tomshardware readers and writers, IS IT TRUE THAT TODAYS GPU'S ARE ABLE TO PIPE AUDIO THROUGH THEIR DVI CONNECTORS AND CABLES AND OUTPUT THE AUDIO ONTO A HDTV SPEAKER OR SIMILAR? (e.g, ati/amd - HD 6800/6900 series, nvidia - GeForce 400/500 series)


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## cheesy999 (May 6, 2011)

The dvi port can do sound when you use the supplied hdmi dvi adaptor, a normal,plain dvi cable will not however


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## qubit (May 8, 2011)

The DVI connector only does video.


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## Mussels (May 9, 2011)

DVI connectors do audio as well, on modern sound cards.

its just that you cant get audio from a DVI cable - you need a DVI to HDMI adaptor (if its ATI, then an ATI branded one) and a HDMI cable.


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## qubit (May 9, 2011)

Mussels said:


> DVI connectors do audio as well, on modern sound cards.
> 
> its just that you cant get audio from a DVI cable - you need a DVI to HDMI adaptor (if its ATI, then an ATI branded one) and a HDMI cable.



hmmm... seems to be a mishmash of standards. I was recalling this Wikipedia article on DVI when I answered. If you look at the pinout diagram, there's no sign of audio support, yet looking at it again, I can see that near the top of the article it says "...and some multimedia displays may accept HDMI (including audio) over a DVI input."

Confusing, or what? Which pins are used then?


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## Mussels (May 9, 2011)

qubit said:


> hmmm... seems to be a mishmash of standards. I was recalling this Wikipedia article on DVI when I answered. If you look at the pinout diagram, there's no sign of audio support, yet looking at it again, I can see that near the top of the article it says "...and some multimedia displays may accept HDMI (including audio) over a DVI input."
> 
> Confusing, or what? Which pins are used then?



my guess, is they reused the ones for VGA video.


i was told in another thread that its also likely that since its a digital signal, they dont need more pins. they're just pushing more data in the digital bitstream.


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## theJesus (May 9, 2011)

I'm doing it right now with a DVI->HDMI adapter.  Works perfectly on my card.


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## qubit (May 9, 2011)

theJesus said:


> I'm doing it right now with a DVI->HDMI adapter.  Works perfectly on my card.



See, it can't be done!


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## Mussels (May 9, 2011)

oh and to answer one thing in the OP:

This has been possible since the radeon 2K series and up on the ATI side of the fence, and Nvidia since the second revision 8800GT, via an SPDIF cable from your onboard/soundcard to the GPU. i dont think nvidia had a built in soundcard like ATI, until fermi.


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## qubit (May 9, 2011)

Mussels said:


> oh and to answer one thing in the OP:
> 
> This has been possible since the radeon 2K series and up on the ATI side of the fence, and Nvidia since the second revision 8800GT, via an SPDIF cable from your onboard/soundcard to the GPU. *i dont think nvidia had a built in soundcard like ATI, until fermi.*



You're correct again: My GTX 285 needed the spdif cable and my new GTX 580 doesn't.


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## FordGT90Concept (May 9, 2011)

DVI audio is non-standard.  What they most likely do is place a digital audio signal on pins reserved for analog.  So you must have a card that supports it as well as an adapter that came with the card, or else it won't work.


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## newtekie1 (May 9, 2011)

FordGT90Concept said:


> DVI audio is non-standard.  What they most likely do is place a digital audio signal on pins reserved for analog.  So you must have a card that supports it as well as an adapter that came with the card, or else it won't work.



With ATi you have to have an adapter that specifically supports their cards, but I have yet to come accross one that hasn't work with nVidia's cards.


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## FordGT90Concept (May 9, 2011)

Then those adapters you got were designed for NVIDIA's implementation, not ATIs.  DDWG created the DVI standard and it is still in its original revision.  DVI+USB and DVI+Audio are not standardized.  That is why the adapters aren't unified.


As far as I know, no TV or other input device supports that non-standard DVI implementation of audio so the only way to get any audio through DVI is via a graphics card that supports it, and DVI -> HDMI adapter specifically for the card, and an HDMI input on the TV/monitor.

The people that say they connect a DVI cable to a TV and get audio most likely are confusing DVI with HDMI.


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## newtekie1 (May 9, 2011)

FordGT90Concept said:


> Then those adapters you got were designed for NVIDIA's implementation, not ATIs.



I've used ATi's adapters on nVidia cards, they work perfectly with audio, in fact I'm using one right now.  The graphics card makers have agreed on some kind of standard, even if it isn't official, but ATi went beyond it with their cards, which is why you have to have an ATi adapter with an ATi card, but any adatper will work with nVidia.


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## Mussels (May 9, 2011)

FordGT90Concept said:


> The people that say they connect a DVI cable to a TV and get audio most likely are confusing DVI with HDMI.



or like with my monitor, the screen has a 3.5mm stereo input so that you can get audio with the DVI.


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## theJesus (May 9, 2011)

newtekie1 said:


> I've used ATi's adapters on nVidia cards, they work perfectly with audio, in fact I'm using one right now.


 me too


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## Mussels (May 9, 2011)

theJesus said:


> me too



its the other way around that doesnt work.


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