Is DisplayPort really the future standard?

By _Truechip Blog

September 28, 2023

Introduction

HDMI Port is used to connect TVs or monitors for digital audio and video transmission. DisplayPort(DP) is used for high-performance PC graphics cards and mobile devices support DisplayPort. DisplayPort also carry audio, USB, and other forms of data. In this article, we are going to compare the features of DP and HDMI.

History

Both HDMI and DisplayPort were designed with different applications in mind. HDMI originated in 2003, by companies involved in the home theater side of consumer electronics like Panasonic, Sony, and Philips. At the same time, Disney, Warner Bros and Fox universal studios worked with such companies to make devices with a connection that supported copy-protection.

On the other hand DisplayPort originated in 2008 and was designed specifically with computers in mind by VESA which is a consortium of PC and chip manufacturers, by companies like Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, Microsoft and Apple. DisplayPort essentially replaced VGA (Video Graphics Array) and DVI (Digital Visual Interface). It can be used to connect a video source to display devices. The use of packetized data transmission is found in DisplayPort which is a form of digital communication found in protocols like Ethernet, USB, and PCI Express. The packetized data is found in HDMI as well but the Data packets in DP allow it to be extensible, meaning more features can be added over time without significant changes to the physical interface. Hence, DisplayPort has been ahead of HDMI in terms of performance for a long time.

For instance, DP1.2 which was released in 2010 supported 4k resolution at 60HZ. Meanwhile, HDMI 1.4 only supported 4k resolution at 30hz. This in turn, means that anyone with a powerful GPU, had to be careful with the use of these different connectors like HDMI 1.2 and HDMI 1.4 because DisplayPort supported features that HDMI lacked, like VESA Adaptive Sync and AMD Free Sync. HDMI older versions like HDMI 1.1,1.2,1.3, and 1.4 do not support variable refresh rate.
Similarly, because of its potential use in High Dynamic Range (HDR) content creation and entertainment, DisplayPort, from its initial release, delivers digital content at resolutions comparable to Ultra HD, at higher bit depths and with the highest refresh rates available from a single A/V connector.

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