While it still may be a few years before we can officially wave goodbye to VGA and DVI, the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) today announced approval of DisplayPort 1.1 as the new industry standard for flat panel displays, projectors, PCs and consumer electronics devices.
DisplayPort 1.1 most notably adds support High Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) version 1.3. HDCP is the copyright protection technology required by both Blu-ray and HD DVD content, which prevents the digital video signal from being hijacked and recorded to unprotected media.
The new standard is designed to eventually replace LVDS, DVI and VGA, and manufacturers are already clamoring to adopt it. The reason is simple: DisplayPort utilizes a single digital interface for connecting both internal and external displays. This means that DisplayPort can carry pixels directly from any display source to any LCD panel.
Other advantages of DisplayPort over DVI and VGA include a small USB-sized connector with available latching, two-way display connectivity, optional audio support, higher performance than dual link DVI at 10.8 Gigabits per second, and a unique micro-packet architecture that enables new display features.
“The benefits of version 1.1 are significant, and will encourage adoption of DisplayPort in new generations of computers and consumer electronics equipment,” remarked VESA executive director Bill Lempesis in a statement. “Our task groups and committees within VESA worked very hard to ensure that DisplayPort 1.1 satisfies the important objectives it is designed for, and as a result, this new version has widespread support among all the leading computer and consumer electronics suppliers.”
DisplayPort 1.1 will be available as a free and open standard, VESA says. The group is also finalizing guidelines for providing DVI and HDMI connectivity via the DisplayPort connector, which first appeared at CES 2007 in January.