DVI-D to RGB adapter question

[chiablo]

Here's a tricky question, but I figure if anyone can answer it, it'd be the [H]ard community. It's a little difficult to explain, but hopefully my point comes across.

At my workplace, I have a laptop dock that has both a DVI-D and RGB video out for a monitor. I'm currently using the RGB out for my LCD monitor (it's the only input it will accept) and I'd like to use the DVI-D for a second display.

Right now I have a DVI-I to RGB adapter. If you follow the following two links, you can see the difference between DVI-I and DVI-D is 4 pins next to the plastic key:
DVI-D
DVI-I

So here's my two questions:
1. Does anybody know if a Dell Laptop dock will allow dual display?
2. With the DVI-I to RGB adapter, can I remove the four pins and have it function as a DVI-D adapter, or is there internal wiring that prevents me from doing this?

 

[Stoly]

and why do you want to remove the pins?

I'm assuming the RGB out is actually a VGA out as I haven't seen any laptop or docking station that has RGB outputs.

If your second monitor has dvi input then you only need a DVI cable, if its VGA then you need a DVI-I to VGA adapter. ITS NOT POSSIBLE TO CONVERT DVI-D TO VGA without a transcoder (don't know of any but even if there is its probably very expensive).

Depending on the laptop/dock model, or more precisely if it has ATI hydravision or nvidia nview, then it should be possible to have 2 independent displays simultaneously. The alternative is that both monitors display the same image, but again it depends on the brand/model.

BTW what brand/model is the laptop/docking station?

 

[chiablo]

Yes, sorry... replace RGB with VGA. I don't know why I got that confused.

Like I said, I have a DVI to VGA adapter that would work, but it has those additional four pins that I would need to physically remove before it would plug into the DVI-D port on the laptop dock.

Because they are so cheap (like $5 plus shipping), I might just go ahead and do it anyway and see how my results turn out.

 

[alexpronko]

Yes, sorry... replace RGB with VGA. I don't know why I got that confused.

Like I said, I have a DVI to VGA adapter that would work, but it has those additional four pins that I would need to physically remove before it would plug into the DVI-D port on the laptop dock.

Because they are so cheap (like $5 plus shipping), I might just go ahead and do it anyway and see how my results turn out.

You will have zero success. Those four extra pins are actually R-G-B and sync, if you remove them you are left with DVI signals only, no RGB. The so called "adapter" simply passes those four signals plus ground to the DB15 connector. You can check that with ohm meter.
DVI is a high speed serial digital link with 4 (or 5) serial channels in single link mode. Any converter would have to take serial data in , decode it to R-G-B values and output that through a DAC. Pretty expensive and non standard converter. Anything you find out there will probably be cost prohibitive.

 

[Stoly]

Yes, sorry... replace RGB with VGA. I don't know why I got that confused.

Like I said, I have a DVI to VGA adapter that would work, but it has those additional four pins that I would need to physically remove before it would plug into the DVI-D port on the laptop dock.

Because they are so cheap (like $5 plus shipping), I might just go ahead and do it anyway and see how my results turn out.

Aaaah now I get it.

So the dockstation has DVI-D, well as I said before its not possible to convert DVI-D into VGA.