DisplayPort to DVI cable on eBay

[Peroxyde]

Hi,

Can you please help me to buy a cable. The monitor is ASUS VS247H-P which currently I connect my to my desktop computer using the DVI cable that comes with the monitor. I would like to connect this monitor to a laptop HP Elitebook 8540w, the video output is Display Port and looks like that http://l.bitcasa.com/S8fR6hJN

I found on eBay a DP-to-DVI cable which looks like that http://l.bitcasa.com/Yv1l8a-7
The eBay link is 6ft PC Gold Head Display Port DP To 24+1 DVI-D 1080P Cable For PC PAD

I am quite confuse about this cable. If you don't mind, can you please also give me some background explanation about this cable?

Q1. Would this cable be OK to connect the laptop to the monitor?

Q2. I read that DisplayPort signals are not directly compatible with DVI. How come this cable can convert signals without a kind of converter in between?

Q3. Some full size DisplayPort plugs has 2 retainer "lock pins" (not sure how they are called) where you need to push on the handle before pulling the DP plug out. Some don't have these two pins (like HDMI plugs). What is the practical purpose of these two lock pins?

Thanks in advance for any help

 

[ViRGE]

Q1. Would this cable be OK to connect the laptop to the monitor?

Yes. Because:

Q2. I read that DisplayPort signals are not directly compatible with DVI. How come this cable can convert signals without a kind of converter in between?

DisplayPort offers an optional backwards compatibility mode (dual mode DisplayPort) that allows it to pass DVI/HDMI signals over the port instead. This enables it to work with DVI/HDMI monitors using simple (passive) cables.

The good news is that the laptop you're looking at offers this feature. If you look closely at the picture of your laptop, you'll see that it has the following logo above the DisplayPort, which indicates that it's a dual mode DisplayPort.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DisplayPort_plus_plus.svg

As such, the cable you want to buy should work just fine because the DisplayPort will switch to DVI mode when the cable is in use.

Q3. Some full size DisplayPort plugs has 2 retainer "lock pins" (not sure how they are called) where you need to push on the handle before pulling the DP plug out. Some don't have these two pins (like HDMI plugs). What is the practical purpose of these two lock pins?

The purpose of the barbs is to hold the plug in place so that it doesn't come loose on its own. This is more important for the monitor/sink side, since it's typically a hard to reach location and many monitors have their ports oriented vertically. All DisplayPort plugs are supposed to come with the barb mechanism.

 

[Peroxyde]

Superbly informative answers. Thank you very much.