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It's been a long time since I've last played with VGA but I know that the standard doesn't just do every resolution out there - I was wondering if the graphics card can support it (computer is an iMac, not an issue) - if a VGA connection can actually handle a resolution of 1920x1080 or if DVI is simply just required.

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VGA can handle almost any resolution that your monitor can support. The difference between DVI and VGA is that VGA does not send the support resolutions to the port, thus you must select a supported resolution yourself, and could pick an unsupported resolution. There are differences but there is very little technical reason VGA cannot support even higher resolutions then 1920x1080. Of course that already is HD so your typical monitor won't get much better then that picture wise. –  Ramhound Jul 5 '12 at 18:16
Wow, I always thought there was a steeper difference between the two. The more ya know! –  kylehotchkiss Jul 5 '12 at 18:42
@Ramhound: VGA supports DDC - is this not what you mean by "send support resolutions to the port" –  RedGrittyBrick Jul 5 '12 at 18:43
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2 Answers

I am going to assume that with 'VGA' you mean the cable with 15 pins connectors. In which case the answer is yes.

There are three cave eats though:

  1. Used a good cable. Lower quality cables and high resolution will result in ghosting and other problems
  2. Does the monitor support it? It needs to support both the resolution and it needs to support it via the DB15 input. Some devices might not expect such a high resolution via that old port, and if manufacturers can make thing cheaper by catering to the most used stuff then they will do so,
  3. The graphics card needs to support this. But you already wrote that this was not a problem. (Mentioned for the sake of completeness)
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Yeah :) Didn't mean the tiny resolution! –  kylehotchkiss Jul 5 '12 at 18:12
Those "cave eats" are important. My television for instance doesn't support anything higher than 800x600 on VGA. HDMI is a must for higher res. –  Josh Jul 5 '12 at 18:58
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It can handle 1920X1080. I am using it as I type this

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as long as your display and graphics card supports it.. –  tumchaaditya Jul 10 '12 at 4:46
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