HDMI DVI Cables

No. HDMI carries video and audio together in one cable, but DVI carries video only. An HDMI to DVI cable passes the video successfully but drops the audio entirely. To get audio to the display or to a separate sound system, you need an additional audio path: either an HDMI audio extractor that breaks out the audio on a separate connector (analog stereo, SPDIF coax, or TOSLINK optical) before the HDMI-to-DVI conversion, or a separate audio cable run from the source to an amplifier or speaker. In commercial AV with HDMI source and DVI display, the standard solution is an HDMI audio de-embedder feeding the room's audio system.

Generally no, not at full quality. Standard HDMI to DVI cables target single-link DVI, which is limited to 1920x1200 at 60 Hz. Some dual-link HDMI to DVI cables exist but compatibility varies. For 4K on a display with both DVI and HDMI inputs, use the HDMI input directly with an HDMI cable. If the display only has DVI, accept that the resolution will be limited to single-link DVI's maximum unless you can use dual-link DVI, which requires both the source and the display to support it.

HDMI and DVI use the same TMDS (Transition-Minimized Differential Signaling) digital video format internally. The connectors are different physical shapes, but the electrical signal is the same. So the cable just maps the relevant HDMI pins to the corresponding DVI pins through-the-cable, with no signal conversion needed. This is why the cable is inexpensive and reliable: there are no electronics inside, just wires. Other HDMI conversions (HDMI to VGA, for example) must be active because the signals are electrically different.

DVI-D is digital-only and electrically compatible with HDMI's TMDS digital video; this is what HDMI to DVI cables target. DVI-A is analog-only (essentially VGA in a different connector) and is incompatible with HDMI; converting HDMI to DVI-A requires an active digital-to-analog converter. DVI-I is integrated, with both digital and analog pins, and accepts either type of cable. Most modern DVI equipment uses DVI-D (digital only). DVI-A is rare; you mostly see DVI-I on older computer monitors and graphics cards from the transitional period when both digital and analog were common.

Yes, for HDCP 1.x. HDCP is a content-protection handshake that runs over the same TMDS signaling as the video, so it passes through an HDMI to DVI cable as long as both endpoints support the HDCP version in use. The catch is that older DVI displays often only support HDCP 1.4, which works for 1080p protected content but fails for 4K HDR content that requires HDCP 2.2 or 2.3. If you need to play HDCP 2.2 protected content on an old DVI display, you may run into a black screen, even though the cable itself is fine.

Legacy commercial AV (modern HDMI sources to existing DVI displays and projectors that have not been replaced), industrial controls (modern PCs driving older DVI panels in plants and factories), medical imaging (radiology and diagnostic displays with regulatory certifications that make replacement impractical), KVM rooms (mixed equipment generations with HDMI sources and DVI monitors), security operation centers, broadcast OB vans and TV studios with existing DVI infrastructure, and home theaters where one legacy DVI display remains in an otherwise HDMI chain.