I have a Dell U2312HM monitor connected to a Dell Latitude E7440 laptop. When I connect them via laptop -> HDMI cable -> HDMI-DVI adaptor -> monitor (the monitor doesn't have a HDMI socket), the image is much sharper than with laptop -> miniDisplayPort-VGA adaptor -> VGA cable -> monitor. The difference is difficult to capture with a camera, but see my attempt at it below. I tried playing with brightness, contrast and sharpness settings, but I can't get the same image quality. The resolution is 1920×1080, I'm using Ubuntu 14.04.
VGA:
HDMI:
Why is the quality different? Is it intrinsic to these standards or should I suspect a faulty VGA cable or mDP-VGA adaptor?
Best Answer
VGA is the only analog signal from the above mentioned ones so it's already an explanation for difference. Using the adapter can further worsen your situation.
some further reading: http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/hdmi-vs-dvi-vs-displayport-vs-vga/