Video Adapters Product Selector

Black Box Explains

When to choose an active DisplayPort adapter

When you connect a source with a (mini)DisplayPort interface to one or more DVI or HDMI display(s), you need to know the difference between active and passive video adapters.

PCs and other video sources with dual-mode DisplayPort (also known as DP++) interface support the conversion between DisplayPort and HDMI or DVI. You can use a passive video adapter. Watch out for the DP++ symbol at your source port.

Use always an active video adapter, if your video source has a single-mode DisplayPort interface or needs to support multiple video outputs. Active adapters are equipped with an internal chip that performs the conversion between single-mode or dual-mode DisplayPort and HDMI or DVI.

When to choose a video converter with scaling

Video adapters are a very cost effective solution if you want to match two different video interfaces physically. For some applications, you might need a more sophisticated video converter with physical and electronical adjustments. These devises convert analog video (VGA, component, or composite) into digital video (DVI-D, HDMI or DisplayPort) or vice versa. In addition, many video converters automatically scale the video input up or down for a high quality display on the screen.