What is the difference between DVI, VGA and HDMI?

What is the difference between DVI, VGA and HDMI?

Ian Urquhart (Lead Developer, E-Haus, LLC.) gives expert video advice on: What is the difference between "Firewire" and "USB"?; What is a "Personal Computer Memory Card Interface Association" (PCMCIA) slot?; What is an "ethernet" cable? and more...

Now when you hear the terms VGA, DVI, or HDMI, they're talking about the different monitor connections, like the cables that connect your computer to your monitor. The old CRT monitors that look like televisions are all VGA monitors. A lot of the LCD flat screen monitors that come out today are also VGA monitors. Now, the DVI connection was supposed to be the higher end connection that gave you a better picture, but in reality they're pretty much exactly the same. The contrast ratios on your monitors matter more than the cable connections unless you're talking about HDMI--which are found at the higher end of the spectrum--which do matter. That's when the connections actually do show the difference, but they cost almost ten times as much. So for the normal consumer like you and me, it's not going to matter if it's a VGA or DVI connection.