There are several versions of DVI splitter cables that are designed to make your life easier. VGA is an input of the past and as more and more people are upgrading their hardware such as video cards, it makes it hard to make the transition between the two. The best way to do this is using the DVI-D splitter cable so that you can split the signal to a VGA input as well as a DVI input.

In order to do this, you will need to set your card to dual link mode and it also must support digital format. There are several different DVI formats, with DVI-A for analog and DVI-I for integrated. Integrated does work for digital signals, but the analog half will not work.

How you split the cable really depends on the service you want from it. The main two are powered splits and non-powered splits. Non-powered splits are not as reliable as those that receive their own power and they have a smaller chance of the display being successfully split due to the power needing to be split between the two displays. For the most successful split, you should use a powered device.

Powered devices can split the signal properly as well as amplifying it, making it even better than had you not decided to split at all. The only downside to this method is that powered devices are more expensive than any DVI splitter cable you will find.

However, no matter what solution you choose for your splitting needs, you should always remember that similar displays should be connected so you run into as few problems as possible. While this is not always possible, remember that a signal split does not give you an extended screen, but rather mirrors your current signal onto another screen. This is a great option for anyone who needs to share their display on a larger device for viewing.