What is the DisplayPort port

Today we're continuing our series of articles about video connectors found on most of our devices. The next one we'll cover is DisplayPort . While HDMI is the most common of the three, DisplayPort is rapidly gaining market share, and Apple and AMD are arguably the companies that have most strongly embraced this connector.

Introduction

This connector was developed by the Video Electronics Standards Association ( VESA ). Founded in 1988 by NEC Corporation, VESA is responsible for several standardized connectors, as well as the standards for monitor mounts, known as the Flat Display Mounting Interface (FDA). Compact devices, such as Intel NUCs, often reference VESA because they can be mounted behind monitors using adapters. Wall mounts also carry this designation.

Regarding the DisplayPort, we have that this connector is a free license and without guns. This standard is intended for the transmission of video from the computer to the monitor. Not only does it support video streaming, it also enables audio streaming for home entertainment systems, and it also supports sending data, just like a USB port.

General features

This cable currently competes directly with HDMI , and also offers an optional copy protection system called DisplayPort Content Protection (DPCP). AMD was the first company to adopt this connector, beginning to introduce it in its products in 2007. AMD isn't the only major player; several other leading companies have also incorporated it into their products, including Intel, Dell, Lenovo, Molex, NVIDIA, Apple, Samsung, and Philips, among others.

Versions

DisplayPort 1.0

It came to the market as a great high-performance solution offering a maximum data transmission speed of 10.8Gb / s and supporting a resolution of 1440p @ 60Hz (2560 × 1440) for high-resolution and performance monitors. This connector is 8B / 10B encoded for data transmission. Supports 6-bit, 8-bit, 10-bit, 12-bit, and 16-bit colors per component.

Regarding the bandwidth of this connector, the maximum resolutions are limited to three meters of cable length and admits a maximum of fifteen meters, yes, greatly reducing the resolution to 1080p. It not only supports DPCP, it also supports HDCP of HDMI in version 1.1 onwards.

DisplayPort 1.2

DisplayPort was revised in 2010, a few years after being implemented and has been to improve it a lot. The highlight is the data transmission, which has gone from 10.8Gb / s in the standard starts to double, with 21.6Gb / s thanks to High Bit Rate 2 (HBR2). Not only that, we have gone from a simple monitor to being able to use two monitors through a single cable with a maximum resolution of 2560 × 1600 pixels and supports up to four displays with a single cable and a resolution of 1920 × 1200 pixels.

Video and audio transmission through multiple channels has also been added, adding to this using high definition formats such as DTS HD, Dolby MAT and BD formats. This new connector offers 3D video support, this being the emission of double the frames for HD3D screens with a maximum of 240fps in 1080p resolution. This means that we can connect a 3D monitor with a maximum resolution of 2560 × 1600 pixels working at 120Hz. It also allows data transfer, such as USB ports, with a bandwidth of 720Mbps.

DisplayPort 1.3

This connector was revised in September 2014 and significant improvements were added to it. This connector had a bandwidth of 32.4Gbps, thanks to the HBR3 mode that allows transporting 8.1Gbps per lane. This allows this connector to support 4K UHD @ 120Hz, 5K @ 60Hz, and up to 8K UHD @ 30Hz. Thanks to MST technology, it allows watching video on two 4K UHD @ 60Hz screens and up to four WQXGA @ 60Hz screens. It also has support for DVI and HDMI 2.0

DisplayPort 1.4

It has been introduced very recently, in March 2016. There are no variations in terms of data transfer speed, which is still 32.4Gbps. The novelty is that this update adds support for Display Stream Compression 1.2 (DSC), Forward Error Connection, HDR 10 with defined extension CTA-861.3. DSC technology is a 'lossless' encoding technology with a maximum 3: 1 compression ratio. By using DSC with HBR3, the resolutions it supports have been improved, with support for 8K UHD @ 60Hz and 4K UHD @ 120Hz.

DisplayPort 2.0

The new standard has been developed to provide support for 8K @ 60Hz resolutions with HDR and 30-bit panel color. It also supports 10K uncompressed resolutions with 24-bit panel color and up to 16K with image compression. It offers us a bandwidth of 80Gbps, although effective will be 77.4Gbps.

This port can be used for video or data transfer, since it is based on the Thunderbird 3.0 standard. So the DisplayPort USB Type-C format will allow video output and / or data transfer. It will not begin to be implemented until the end of 2020.

Supported resolutions:

• A monitor
  • Resolution 16K (15360 x 8460) @ 60 Hz at 10 bits with 4: 4: 4 and HDR (with DSC)
  • Resolution 10K (10240 x 4320) @ 60 Hz at 8 bits with 4: 4: 4 (without DSC)
• Two monitors
  • Resolution 8K (7680 x 4320) @ 120 Hz and 10 bits with 4: 4: 4 and HDR (with DSC)
  • 4K resolution (3840 x 2160) @ 144 Hz and 8-bit with 4: 4: 4 (without DSC)
• Three monitors
  • Resolution 10K (10240 x 4320) @ 60 Hz at 10 bits with 4: 4: 4 and HDR (with DSC)
  • 4K resolution (3840 x 2160) @ 90 Hz at 10 bits with 4: 4: 4 and HDR (without DSC)

DisplayPort AltMode 2.0

The DisplayPort 2.0 port has been updated to support the USB4 standard via a physical USB Type-C connection . It's worth noting that the USB4 standard is based on Thunderbolt 3. It will have the same bandwidth as DisplayPort 2.0 and support the same range of resolutions.

mini DisplayPort

Apple is the developer of this solution and made it for their laptops, especially. It was in 2008 and it is available in the Apple Cinema Display LED and in all Macintosh, such as MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Pro and Xserve. It was in 2009 when VESA accepted this connector and made it a standard within the DisplayPort specifications. Companies like Microsoft, Lenovo, Toshiba, HP and Dell have implemented these connectors in their laptops.

This new connector has a maximum resolution of 2560 × 1600 (WQXGA) and if this is mini DisplayPort in its revision 1.2 it supports 4K resolution. Not only that, this connector through an adapter can connect with VGA, DVI and HDMI displays. The rest of the parameters and characteristics are the same as the DisplayPort.

Comparative

Why are there more DisplayPort ports than HDMI on graphics cards?

The greater number of DisplayPort ports is due to the fact that HDMI ports require paying a royalty. Since HDMI is so widely used, manufacturers are pressured to include it, even if it's just a single port, due to commercial considerations. To allow for multiple image outputs from the same graphics card, they opt for a DisplayPort port, which is a royalty-free standard . This also applies to monitors, though less so to televisions.

Conclusion

It is not yet one of the most used in the market, far from it, but it has great power and can be a substitute for HDMI. This connector has enough potential for Virtual Reality, which uses this connector mostly, due to the high bandwidth of the connector. 3D also benefits from this connector, as it supports a large data flow, improving the experience in this field. That it allows to transfer data is another important factor of this connector, although it is limited in this aspect because it is a flow similar to that of USB 2.0 ports, which are now obsolete by USB 2.0.