DisplayPort is a digital display interface used for connecting computer monitors, TVs, and other displays to video sources such as graphics cards and media players. DisplayPort was designed as an alternative to the aging VGA, DVI, and HDMI standards.
DisplayPort Features and Benefits
DisplayPort offers several advantages over older video connectors:
Higher Resolution and Refresh Rates
DisplayPort supports higher resolutions up to 8K and refresh rates up to 120Hz while carrying multi-channel audio and auxiliary data channels. This makes DisplayPort well suited for high-definition, high performance displays.
Backward Compatible
DisplayPort is backward compatible with DVI and VGA using adapter cables, so you can connect older displays and projectors.
Better Data Throughput
DisplayPort has a higher maximum data throughput compared to HDMI and DVI, delivering more bandwidth for higher resolutions and refresh rates.
Cheapr to Manufacture
DisplayPort uses a simpler design with fewer pins compared to HDMI, making it a little cheaper to manufacture. This has helped reduce the cost of DisplayPort monitors and graphics cards over time.
Carries Power
Some DisplayPort cables and connectors can provide up to 90 watts of power to devices like docks and eGPUs, eliminating the need for separate power wires.
How Does DisplayPort Work?
DisplayPort accomplishes the prodigious feat of transporting high-resolution video and audio using a 'packetized serial interface' technique.
Here's how it works in layman's terms:
- Rather than transport video using an analog signal like VGA, DisplayPort splits the video and audio into individual chunks called 'packets'.
- These packets of data are then transmitted over the DisplayPort cable's 4 channels as a compressed digital stream, like packets on the Internet.
- At the receiving end, the DisplayPort port on the display reassembles these packets to recreate the original video and audio signals.
- This packet-based digital data transmission enables DisplayPort to carry higher video resolutions and refresh rates compared to analog connectors.
DisplayPort Versions and Features
There are multiple versions of DisplayPort with increasing capabilities:
DisplayPort 1.0
- Supports resolutions up to 2560 x 1600 at 60 Hz
- Mximum data rate of 8.64 Gbit/s
DisplayPort 1.1
- Supports resolutions up to 4096 x 2160 at 24 Hz
- Maximum data rate of 17.28 Gbit/s
DisplayPort 1.2
- Supports resolutions up to 5K at 60 Hz
- Up to 3 streams of 4K video at 60 Hz
- Maximum data rate of 32.4 Gbit/s
DisplayPort 1.3
- Supports resolutions up to 8K at 60 Hz
- Up to 4 streams of 4K video at 120 Hz
- Maximum data rate of 32.4 Gbit/s
DisplayPort 1.4
- Supports resolutions up to 16K at 60 Hz
- Maximum data rate of 77.37 Gbit/s
- USB Type-C connector support
In short, each successive DisplayPort version enables higher resolutions, refresh rates and data throughput. So getting a DisplayPort 1.4 graphics card and monitor will ensure you have the latest capabilities and future-proofing.
