What Does 'DisplayPort' Mean?
A DisplayPort is a digital display interface commonly used to connect a computer to a monitor, television, or other display device. It was developed by the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) as a replacement for the aging VGA and DVI standards and has become a popular choice for high-definition displays due to its versatility and support for high resolution and refresh rates.
The DisplayPort interface consists of a 20-pin connector and a protocol for transmitting audio, video, and other data. It is designed to be flexible and scalable, able to support a wide range of display resolutions and refresh rates, as well as multiple displays on a single connector.
The latest version of the DisplayPort standard, known as DisplayPort 2.0, was released in 2019 and offers significantly higher bandwidth and support for even higher resolution and refresh rate displays.
Advantages
One of the key advantages of the DisplayPort interface is its ability to transmit audio and video over a single cable, eliminating the need for separate audio and video cables. This makes it an ideal choice for use in home theater systems and other applications where multiple cables can be cumbersome.
DisplayPort also supports multiple audio streams, allowing users to connect multiple displays and audio devices to a single computer or video source.
The DisplayPort interface also includes support for other features such as DisplayPort Alternate Mode (DP Alt Mode), which makes it possible to transmit USB data over the same cable as the video and audio signals. This gives users the ability to connect devices like smartphones and tablets to a display using a DisplayPort cable, providing a convenient way to share content between devices.
In terms of connectivity, DisplayPort supports a variety of display technologies, including HDMI, DVI, and VGA, through the use of adapters. This allows users to connect a DisplayPort-equipped device to a display that only has one of these other interfaces, making it a very versatile and flexible interface.
DisplayPort interfaces
There are several different versions of the DisplayPort interface, each offering unique levels of performance and features.
DisplayPort 1.0: The original version, known as DisplayPort 1.0, was released in 2006 and offered a maximum bandwidth of 8.64 Gbps. This was later updated to DisplayPort 1.1, which added support for audio and multiple streams and increased the maximum bandwidth to 10.8 Gbps.
DisplayPort 1.2: DisplayPort 1.2 was released in 2010 and added support for higher resolutions and refresh rates, as well as the ability to transmit audio and video over a single cable using the DisplayPort Alternate Mode (DP Alt Mode). It also increased the maximum bandwidth to 17.28 Gbps.
DisplayPort 1.3: DisplayPort 1.3 was released in 2014 and further increased the maximum bandwidth to 25.92 Gbps, allowing for even higher resolution and refresh rate displays. It added support for the Display Stream Compression (DSC) standard, which paves the way for more efficient transmission of video data, resulting in higher-quality images with less bandwidth.
DisplayPort 2.0: The most recent version of the DisplayPort standard, DisplayPort 2.0, was released in 2019 and offers a significantly higher maximum bandwidth of 77.37 Gbps. This makes room for displays with even higher resolution and refresh rates, as well as displays that can connect to a single connector.
DisplayPort 2.0 introduces support for the VESA Display Compression (VDC) standard, which further improves the efficiency of video data transmission.
In summary, the DisplayPort interface is a digital display interface designed to replace the aging VGA and DVI standards. It offers a wide range of features and support for high resolution and refresh rate displays, as well as the ability to transmit audio and video over a single cable.
The DisplayPort interface has evolved over the years, with several versions offering distinct levels of performance and features. It is a popular choice for connecting a computer to a display due to its versatility and support for a wide range of display technologies.
