You are expected to have a good command of what female DVI plugs you are using in order to choose the right kind of cables. Only when you have chosen the appropriate cables which are compatible with your female DVI plugs can you make the fullest use of the female DVI plugs in your practice. Otherwise, you will waste a large amount of money, time and energy with your digital resources dealt with poorly.
If cables are mismatched, then your pins will be broken off. Fortunately, manufactures have noticed such problems and improved their products. The female plugs have been designed to be compatible with all available pins. You may think that the majority of the female DVI plug will be similar to a DVI-I in appearance, but chances are that you are wrong. Make sure that you have checked the label or the product documentation and figured out the type of the plug. If you have a DVI-D plug, then you can buy a DVI-D or DVI-I cable for they are both compatible with digital signals.If you have a DVI-A plug, you can buy either DVI-A or DVI-I cable for they both support analog signals. On the other hand, if you have mismatched plugs, then you can choose either a DVI-I cable or the cable that matches the other plug. As a matter of fact, a DVI-I cable is compatible with both digital and analog signals. For instance, you can use a DVI-D cable on a DVI-I to DVI-D connection, but not a DVI-A cable.
Last but not least, keep in mind that the maximum signal length is 5 meters when you need to extend the DVI cables in existence by using DVI-I extension and DVI-D Extension cables. Otherwise, the image and video may suffer quality loss.
