Archive notice: This article was originally published on January 7, 2014. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
DisplayPort was developed by the Video Electronics Standard Association (VESA); it is a universal and license-free connection standard for transmitting image and sound signals. Although Ultra HD 4K resolution has not even made its way into living rooms yet, the industry is already preparing for an expansion of the 4K format: Ultra HD 8K will have four times the resolution of the current 4K standard. DisplayPort 1.3 is intended to support 8K resolutions either in the form of 7,680 x 4,320 (33.1 megapixels) or 8,192 x 4,320 pixels (35.3 megapixels).
To transfer this large volume of data, the bitrate of DisplayPort 1.3 will be increased from the previous 5.4 Gbps in DisplayPort 1.2 to 8.1 Gbps per channel, while the data will also be compressed. An official announcement of DisplayPort 1.3 can be expected in the spring.
In addition, the new DisplayPort standard is also intended to transmit 3D images at Ultra HD resolution. This will certainly please television manufacturers, even though no 4K 3D or 8K content is yet available on the market and the first television sets featuring DisplayPort 1.3 are not expected until 2015 at the earliest.
You can find more information about VESA and DisplayPort 1.3 here.
Image: Abisys/ Belkin+Abisys DisplayPort Connector
