Can VGA output 1080p? Does HDMI or DVI give better quality?

[any ANONYMOUS forum user]

My laptop has VGA only and I was linking it to my 1080p monitor. I played a BR movie 1080p (ripped) and it looked great! It looked in perfect HD, no complaints.

My friend comes over and tells me VGA can't really output true 1080p, commenting on the imperfections on the video. I stated, that's probably the actual video file itself rather than the VGA connector.

If my laptop had HDMI would the BR movie look better?

VGA is capable of displaying 1080p content. In fact it has enough bandwidth to go up to QXGA85, that is 2048x1536 @ 85 Hz, and few applications can go even higher.

The VGA is converting the digital signal to analog prior to showing it on the screen, so yes, the picture would be better since the HDMI would show the original signal directly. The higher the resolution, the more bandwidth is used by the analog signal. So at very high resolutions, a digital connection such as DVI or HDMI will generally provide better image sharpness, especially on digital displays such as LCDs. However you may not notice any difference.

Note that while VGA can display 1080p videos, it can NOT display encrypted digital content such as Blu-Ray movies. This is because of HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection), which is a mechanism used to protect copyrighted video from being accessed by unauthorized entities. Only devices that are HDCP-compliant can display such encrypted content, and only with a digital connection.

Also please note that with AnyDVD HD you no longer need an HDCP compliant graphics card or HDCP-compliant display to watch HD DVD or Blu-Ray discs. Also 1080p Blu-Ray movie rips and remuxes don't have any HDCP protection.