can a dvi splitter operate both ways e.g. instead of turning one output into two can you use it to connect two dvi connections to one like two computers into one monitor. if not can i connect a pc to the other end of the "Y" splitter and the other end to a monitor basically what i asked just above minus the second computer?
To my knowledge, VGA or DVI "Y" splitters only clone the signal from one source to two outputs. I believe it's impossible to have two sources feeding one output at the same time (although I theoretically could with my main computer's graphics card - one DVI, one DVI turned HDMI, but that's only because my monitor is an LCD-TV with a lot of input sources). I believe you would need an input/source switcher, not a splitter, similar to an AV switcher with a sliding switch to choose between multiple sources. There are monitors/TVs that feature picture-in-picture, which allows you to display from two sources at once, but it's inefficient. Probably the best thing to do is just switch them manually, or buy a DVI extension cable and have both DVI cables routed midway for easy switching.
the thing is i have a dvi connection leading from my wii component cable + adapter but its DVI-I and the dvi input for my monitor doesn't support that :\ it only supports dvi-D and similar connections but my dvi Y cable has a dvi D on one end and a DVI_I on the other so could i use that like a normal dvi canle ?
Having not dealt with different types of DVI before (aside from Mac type DVI), I can only guess. As a general rule, a monitor can only take one input source or feed through a port at any time. I believe the consequence of using 2 inputs is corruption of the signal, but I've never tried it before. So my best guess is that you can use the splitter to connect 1 DVI cable to the monitor at a time, whether it's DVI-I or DVI-D, and it should work fine, but if you try both at once, the signal will get corrupted... I think.
I'm assuming as you are saying your monitor only supports DVI-D it really only supports DVI-D. DVI-I is an analog + digital cable type whereas D is only digital. Now assuming your Wii is using the DVI-I with only the analog signal (can't imagine that being digital as it is component which is an analog signal, there would have to be a converter inside the cable somewhere otherwise) you simply cannot hook it up to your monitor without a component converter to either DVI-D or another format your monitor understands (VGA maybe). Aside from that, combining 2 outputs on 1 line is a bad idea. Think about it, if it is an analoge signal and one source says 5 and the other 3, what will be the outcome (aside from possibly dead hardware on both ends)? Same for digital, what happens if different or even the same signals get sent for that matter.
