What is DisplayPort?
DisplayPort, or DP for short, is a digital display interface
standard primarily used to connect a computer to a monitor. It was
developed by the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) and was
designed as a successor to VGA, DVI, and LVDS. DisplayPort offers
several advantages over other display interface standards, including
support for high-resolution displays, high refresh rates, and the
ability to transmit audio and video over a single cable. DisplayPort is
commonly used on computer monitors, graphics cards, and laptops, and is
also used in some consumer electronics devices such as TVs and Blu-ray
players. DisplayPort comes in different versions, with DisplayPort 2.1
being the most recent and offering the highest bandwidth and support for
the latest display technologies.
Evolution of the DisplayPort Standard
With each update of the DisplayPort standard, more bandwidth is required to support higher video resolutions, refresh rates and color depths. The effective data rate of DP 1.3 and 1.4 is sufficient to support a 4K, 24-bit color monitor at a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz, but it is not able to support the new generation of higher resolution 6K and 8K displays without resorting to compression.
DisplayPort Specification | Year | Typical Monitor Resolution | Max. Data Rate (4 lanes)* | Bit Rate Class |
---|---|---|---|---|
1.0 | 2006 | 1440p @ 60 Hz | 5.18/8.64 Gbps | RBR/HBR |
1.1 | 2007 | 1440p @ 60 Hz | 8.64 Gbps | HBR |
1.2 | 2009 | 4K @ 60 Hz | 17.28 Gbps | HBR2 |
1.3 | 2014 | 4K @ 120 Hz 8K @ 60 Hz (with DSC) |
25.92 Gbps | HBR3 |
1.4 | 2016 | 4K @ 120 Hz 8K @ 60 Hz (with DSC) |
25.92 Gbps | HBR3 |
1.4a | 2018 | 4K @ 120 Hz 8K @ 60 Hz (with DSC) |
25.92 Gbps | HBR3 |
2.0 | 2019 | 8K @ 60 Hz | 77.36 Gbps | UHBR |
2.1 | 2022 | 8K @ 60 Hz | 77.36 Gbps | UHBR10 (40Gbit/s) UHBR20 (80Gbit/s) |
* Effective bandwidth after allowing for signal encoding overhead. DP 1.x uses 8/10b encoding, which results in a 20% overhead. DP 2.0 uses the more efficient 128/132b with a 3% overhead.
DisplayPort 1.0 (2006)
- High Bitrate (HBR) 2.70 Gbps per lane
- Data Encoding Scheme: 8b/10b
- DPCP 1.0
DisplayPort 1.1 (2007)
- HDCP (High Definition Copy Protection) 1.3
- Dual Mode (DP++)
- 3D Video
DisplayPort 1.2 (2009)
- Multi-Stream Transport (MST)
DisplayPort 1.3 (2015)
- Compatibility with HDMI 2.0
- HDCP 2.2
DisplayPort 1.4 (2016)
- HDR
- HBR3
- DSC 1.2
DisplayPort 1.4a (2018)
- DSC 1.2a
DisplayPort 2.0 (2019)
- Video resolutions:
- 8K/60 Hz uncompressed
- 10K@60Hz with 24-bit color and 4:4:4
- 16K@60 Hz with DSC
- HDR
- 77.37 Gbps transfer speed (UHBR 10)
- Data encoding: 128b/132b
- Display Signal Compression (DSC)