Can an Image Link also be used as a Display Link?

Should be. In the same way you can use a VGA monitor to display text.


Michael

Id have to say no. Theyre listed as different items, and Image link explicitly states it displays images, with no mention of text. Theres a few areas regarding cyberware interconnectivity throughout the books that reference the two seperatly as well (such as [paraphrased] you need the right device to understand data from headware memory, display link for text, image link for images, etc). Theres also some devices which allow subsystem substitutions, and when Display link is mentioned as an option Image link is not. While a TV screen can display both easily enough, the cyber versions by default include specific programming to do one or the other, not both, and the descriptions say as much. My $0.02.

I agree with Birdy. Anything a Display Link can do, an Image Link can do as well. Just my opinion.

My interpretation has always been that the display link is essentially a crippled version of the image link. I see absolutely no reason why the display link should be unable to display text, as said previously; you don't need a special monitor to display text, the ones that handle images can do that just fine.

You may have some really old or low-end chips that don't include coding for the image link, but that's only if you want to torment your players.

~J

actually, the descriptions say that the image link is a more advanced form of display link. a television screen doesn't display 'both images and text', it displays pixels. my assumption would be that the display link has fewer pixels, perhaps something along the lines of a calculator display. i mean, i don't think you understand the insane things you'd have to do in order to render a display device unable to portray text. i'd almost go so far as to say it's impossible; certainly, i can't think of any way for it to be done, or any reason why you'd want to do it.

I would say that an image link handles images, and if something drops raw text into it it would probably choke, but if the programming of the interface if designed properly, it can convert the raw text into a "picture" just like Windows fonts do for us IRL.

If you want to go off and make ruling based on reasonable capabilities of these devices all of them are utterly redundant to a datajack, which can replace or write on top of any sense and read various intentions from the brain, anyway.

If you want to stick to whats in the books then the various bits of cyberware arbitrarily gain and loose various abilities according to some hilariously complicated but undisclosed rule. So just arbitrarily choose it to be however you want it to be.

er, well, besides that. thinking's not my strong suite, at five in the morning.

I think White Dwarf's point here was the programming of the two devices:
The display link is programmed to process raw text and display it on a retina display.
The image link is programmed to process RGB pixel information and display it.
If you feed a display link with RGB pixels it's going to produce gibberish. Like trying to open a bitmap file with wordpad.
On the other hand, feeding raw text into the image link when it is expecting raw pixel data, it will either return an error or some really weird nonsense. Like opening a text file with Paint.

It really comes down to how you see it. If the image link is really an advanced display link with the added capability to display images in addition to text, then you can use it for both. If they are developed seperately, then you can not.

I personaly have always handled it such that an image link can handle both, mainly because I found it a bit nonsensical to have two displays implanted simultaneously. Also, considering that it specificaly states that the image link is an advanced version of the display link and that the image link costs twice as much essence and 1.6 times as much money as the display link it would make sense to me.
However, in Man and Machine on page 46 is stated:

So this brings up a few other questions in my mind. Would a rigger with VCR, jacked into a remote control deck equipped with am intercom, have to have any extra cyberware to carrying on a conversation with some one speaking to said rigger through the intercom? Or does the VCR handle all of that? Could the VCR process, handle, and display the information normally sent to image and display links while rigged? What about Smartguns? If a person is using their smartgun while rigged, would they still need the limted simsense or would they only need the processor? And finally, would it be possible to have both smartgun processors installed and get the benefits from either one?

yes, a rigger jacked into his deck can communicate via the intercom. that's what it's for.

in my game, yes, a VCR could handle the duties of an image link. as campbell pointed out, the display link requires some kind of font processor.

in my game, again, a VCR should be able to handle the simrig duties required by a smartlink.

why in the world would someone need both a smartlink processor and a smartlink-2 processor? everything the sl-1 can do, the sl-2 can do.

I thought you could not handle a sm1 with a sm2, but I could be wrong. I'll doublecheck M&M.

edit:
Yep, M&M 31
"Smarklink-2 systems only work with guns that are smartlink-2-equipped."
Guess they never heard of backwards compatability.

No, they are backwards compatable.

I'm sure of it.

It's clearly stated both that they are and are not backwards compatible.

~J

I can find where it says smartgun II is not backwards compatable, but I cannot find where it says it is.

In 2nd edition, Smartlink-2 was backward compatible with Smartlink-1.
In 3rd edition, they were not compatible until changed by an errata for the 4th printing of M&M. See MM Errata (see p. 31).

There is no longer any reason to purchase both Smartlink-1 and Smartlink-2 processors for the same character.

Yeah, I was right for once!

The guys at Ares just want you to buy new guns for your just installed SM-2
More for the gun makers, and what are ya gonna do, write your congressman?

If your congressman is one of Ares bought men, just maybe.

Bah, Ares is modelled on the Microsoft product model.

-Siege