DisplayPort 2025: Navigating the Next Wave of Display Innovation

By Brandon LoGuercio,  Trilinear Technologies

As we head deeper into 2025, DisplayPort (DP) remains one of the most critical interfaces for video transmission in both consumer and automotive electronics. Despite the growing attention around wireless display technologies and alternative wired standards, DisplayPort continues to evolve rapidly, balancing ultra-high bandwidth, low latency, and forward-looking features that enable tomorrow's display applications. This article breaks down the latest DisplayPort trends, the key technological shifts driving the protocol forward, and the strategic challenges implementers need to navigate — especially as DisplayPort IP finds its way into increasingly safety-critical domains.

1. The Current Landscape: Why DisplayPort Still Leads

DisplayPort 2.1, the latest ratified version of the standard, has cemented its status as the highest bandwidth display interface available, supporting up to 80 Gbps of raw bandwidth (through 4x20 Gbps lanes) when implemented with the latest UHBR (Ultra-High Bit Rate) signaling. In practice, this allows 8K 60Hz video with HDR and uncompressed RGB, or multi-display configurations with multiple 4K or ultra-wide resolutions — all without visually lossless compression schemes like DSC.

But beyond raw throughput, DisplayPort offers key advantages over other display protocols:

• Link Training Transparency: Unlike HDMI, DisplayPort includes an optional Link Training Tunable PHY Repeater (LTTPR) feature, allowing the link training process to span across multiple repeater chips — critical for long automotive cable runs and system designs involving redrivers or switches.
• Multi-stream Transport (MST): MST allows one physical DisplayPort connection to carry multiple independent display streams, reducing complexity and cabling for multi-display setups.
• Packet-based architecture: This provides flexibility for encapsulating various data types and adapting to evolving display ecosystem needs — from panel self-refresh to adaptive sync.

2. DisplayPort in Automotive: No Longer Just for Infotainment

The biggest story in DisplayPort’s recent trajectory is its growing role in automotive systems. Traditionally confined to infotainment systems, DisplayPort is now a key enabler for:

• Driver-assist and safety-critical displays, including instrument clusters and mirror replacement systems.
• Integrated cockpit domains: where multiple displays are driven from a single SoC, often with a safety-certified system architecture behind it.
• Rear-seat entertainment: evolving to demand 4K HDR with low latency.

To support these shifts, the VESA Automotive Work Group introduced the DisplayPort Automotive Extensions (DP-AE). These extensions aren't a new protocol, but rather a set of guidelines and profile constraints to help OEMs and IP vendors implement DisplayPort in a way that's optimized for automotive. Key requirements of DP-AE include:

• Long cable support with robust signal integrity
• Support for link redundancy or fallback modes
• Deterministic timing and error detection mechanisms suitable for functional safety
• Power-aware design guidance for energy-constrained ECUs

Trilinear Technologies was one of the first DisplayPort IP vendors to support DP-AE guidelines, with its controller already implemented in several mass-production automotive SoCs. Our solutions also include ISO 26262 ASIL B "ready" support materials to accelerate safety case development.

3. The Rise of LTTPR and Multi-hop Architectures

One of the most significant enablers for DisplayPort in complex embedded systems is the LTTPR feature. In essence, LTTPR allows a DisplayPort source and sink to communicate through intermediate PHY repeaters without compromising link training. This is a major architectural advantage in designs where:

• The physical path is long (e.g., from a trunk-mounted ECU to a dashboard display)
• Active switches or protocol converters are present
• Multiple displays are daisy-chained or hub-connected via MST

With UHBR signaling, signal degradation over long PCB traces or cables becomes a serious issue. LTTPR gives SoC and IP designers a scalable way to maintain high bandwidth while meeting design constraints — something HDMI struggles with due to its lack of similar repeater support.

4. ISO 26262 and Safety-Ready IP: No Longer Optional

As DisplayPort enters domains beyond entertainment — into digital mirrors, digital instrument clusters, and surround view systems — safety expectations become non-negotiable. ISO 26262 compliance, particularly up to ASIL B levels for the video pipeline, is increasingly being baked into procurement requirements.

However, DisplayPort as a standard was not designed with ISO 26262 in mind. As a result, IP vendors must provide supporting documentation such as:

• Safety Manuals
• Fault Injection Results
• Assumptions of Use
• FMEA and FMEDA reports

These documents allow SoC integrators to argue the case for safety compliance at the system level, even if the IP itself is not fully certified. At Trilinear Technologies, our safety deliverables are developed in partnership with established functional safety teams, with a focus on documenting failure modes, diagnostic coverage, and tool confidence.

We refer to this as ASIL B "ready", meaning the IP is designed to be used in ASIL B systems with minimal additional effort required by the SoC integrator.

5. The Role of Proven PHY Partnerships

No DisplayPort solution is complete without a solid physical layer. With UHBR modes now mainstream, it's critical that controller IP and PHY IP are validated together. Trilinear has completed over 15 PHY integration projects in partnership with Cadence, spanning nodes from 55nm to 4nm and covering both DPTx-only and combined USB/DP implementations.

In particular, our work on 7nm LPP DPTx PHYs and 12nm USB/DP combo PHYs has enabled leading SoC vendors to confidently deploy DisplayPort 2.1 in both consumer and automotive designs. These implementations often go hand-in-hand with advanced power management features, such as standby-mode link re-establishment and ultra-low power LTSSM transitions.

6. Looking Ahead: DP 2.1a, DSC Evolution, and Beyond

The next evolutionary step is DisplayPort 2.1a, which refines the spec without increasing bandwidth but includes:

• Better alignment with USB4 ecosystems
• More robust eDP support for embedded displays, especially in low-power laptops and tablets
• Enhanced LTTPR behavior for consistency across platforms

Meanwhile, the role of Display Stream Compression (DSC) continues to grow. While DSC was once considered optional, it is increasingly required to manage bandwidth at high resolutions or across multiple displays. However, it introduces challenges for latency-sensitive systems, so a balance must be struck — especially in automotive.

Emerging applications such as AR windshields, head-up displays, and zone-based cabin displays will stress even the robust capabilities of DisplayPort 2.1. Flexible architectures, safety-ready implementations, and proven silicon will be the differentiators.

7. Practical Considerations for SoC Designers

For engineering teams evaluating DisplayPort IP, the considerations go beyond compliance checkboxes. Key questions to ask include:

• Has this IP been used in production of automotive silicon?
• Are the LTTPR and MST features optional or integrated by default?
• Can the IP operate with multiple PHY vendors or is it locked to one?
• What level of safety documentation is provided — and who prepared it?

Additionally, development time can be significantly shortened when the IP vendor provides full system solutions — including driver stacks, test benches, example integrations, and reference safety documentation.

Trilinear’s system-level approach has helped customers avoid costly rework in later development phases, especially when transitioning from consumer to automotive designs mid-project.

Conclusion: DisplayPort’s Quiet Revolution

While the display interface world is not always in the spotlight, the importance of DisplayPort in enabling next-generation visual experiences cannot be overstated. Whether it’s powering multi-display gaming rigs or forming the visual backbone of an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), DisplayPort has quietly become one of the most capable and versatile protocols in the industry.

As we move through 2025, DisplayPort 2.1’s reach will only grow — especially in automotive, embedded, and high-performance computing spaces. IP vendors who can support this shift — with proven silicon, robust LTTPR support, and safety-aligned solutions — will be essential partners in making that future real.

And as it turns out, some of those solutions are already shipping in today’s most advanced vehicles.