Display Port 2.0: Let's See What it has to offer

A new version of DisplayPort is here. Officials are calling it the biggest upgrade yet. It could be enough to earn a place for DisplayPort in future devices. Originally envisioned as a replacement to the older VGA and DVI standards which dominated the market in the early 2000s.

Backed by the VESA group, they always had an intent to be the king of the computer cables. Whereas, HDMI has always had more of a television and entertainment focus.

Traditionally it was in two traditional connector sizes. The full DisplayPort connector and the Mini DisplayPort connector. Sony, Philips, Maxell, and Lattice developed its technical aspects. And the first version appeared in the middle of 2006.

It offered up to 10.8 Gbps of bandwidth. Then came the 1.1 and 1.1a standards. And then DisplayPort 1.2 in 2010, 1.3 and 1.4 in 2014, 2016. It trebled the bandwidth along its entire 10-year lifespan of the standard. In the gaming industry, it made its biggest gain. It remains a must-have for the Nvidia’s G-sync technology displays to lessen the visual artifacts between the frame refreshes. In DisplayPort 2.0, gamers can expect higher resolutions and refresh rates which will put DisplayPort cables in the limelight.

Features

Scheduled for 2017, the launch delayed with an intention to allow some more time for development. And you can assume it was because of all the upgrades in HDMI. It is quite a jump from DisplayPort 1.4a. Its maximum bandwidth reaches up to 77.4 Gbps, 4K HDR resolutions will now have a boost to a maximum refresh rate of 144Hz. The maximum achievable resolution for a single display is 16K running at a 60Hz pace.

By that means, you will be able to run three 4K displays at once at 90Hz, or two 8K displays at 120Hz. Even though 8K displays are fewer in numbers, let alone 16K displays, seeing Display Port 2.0’s capability only shows us that it is all ready for the future. Don’t get too happy just yet because the actual release of DisplayPort 2.0 in hardware will be in 2020. I know, we are sad to hear that too!

You will need the backward compatibility for newer DisplayPort to be compatible with the older DisplayPort tech. And the support for USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 is continuing as well. Overall, it has a good chance of being in use by masses when it will be time.

For those not looking for a billboard-sized display in their home, DisplayPort 2.0 will be capable of two 8K displays at 120Hz with 30 bpp and HDR or two 4K displays at 144Hz and 24 bpp without any type of compression. It supports VESA’s new panel replay such as all-in-one PCs and laptops with higher resolution displays.

Do You Need Display Port 2.0?

HDMI 2.1 standard which just began to appear in TVs, for now, goes up to 10K resolutions. Hence, DisplayPort 2.0 has a slight advantage here of appearing in those devices. Plus, it is more useful where you will require multiple displays with separate monitors.

If you are someone from the gaming industry, creating content, DisplayPort 2.0 is something you will love. Unless that, it won’t be something you have to have. But because of the continued surge in the usage of USB-C, which is a cable and connector type, DisplayPort 2.0 can look forward to widening its userbase.

Displayport cables also known as computer cables will still exist in our systems. And you could connect a laptop to a monitor via USB-C cable and continue using DisplayPort technology underneath. You can transmit the data at the same time. With the maximum resolutions and refresh rates, it does have a knock-on effect.

The display cables are going to exist and parallelly in the other universe, you could be using USB-C with the DisplayPort technology underneath it. Using it, you can transmit the data at the same time but it could have an effect on the refresh rates and max resolution.

However, it doesn’t state that any old USB-C port will support DisplayPort. For that, you need the same technology built in the devices too. Some recent gadgets that have this tech are MacBook Pros, Nintendo Switch, and Samsung Galaxy S10 phones.

Everything depends on major electronics brands. They are the ones deciding if the DisplayPort reaches the mass audience or not. And the people who actually prefer pixels over price will go for the DisplayPort 2.0 no matter what!

And if you don’t want to wait for the HD resolutions, better data transfers, etc. you can check out our premium cable selection.

The new standard DisplayPort 2.0 is here. And we have covered all the points. Read more to know whether to be happy or stay neutral with this release.