In nuce: The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) has published the Displayport 2.1 specification. This is according to a press release dated the 18th of this month, which states that the new Displayport specification ensures better coordination with USB Type-C and USB4, and also adds new functions for more efficient Displayport tunnelling via USB4. It also states that the Displayport 2.1 specification is backwards compatible with the previous version of Displayport (Displayport 2.0) – and replaces the previous version. In a report on pcgameshardware, editor Andreas Link writes that the update from Displayport 2.0 to 2.1 primarily improves integration into the USB universe and the Type-C connector. VESA is an international, non-profit standards organisation that promotes development and advancement within the electronics industry.
VESA-certified DP40 and DP80 UHBR cables provide what VESA describes as high performance display connectivity and operation for products that support DisplayPort 2.1
In toto: According to the press release, VESA has worked closely with its member companies to ensure that products that support DisplayPort 2.0 also do so with DisplayPort 2.1 specifications. Therefore – as the press release continues – all previously certified Displayport 2.0 products have been certified to the stricter Displayport 2.1 specification.
The following are the new features that have been introduced as part of Displayport 2.1, according to the press release.
- Displayport 2.1 has been adapted more closely to the USB Type-C and USB4 PHY specification. This is to enable a common PHY for Displayport and USB4. PHY is the physical layer, i.e. the controller for data transmission. In his article on heise.de, editor Mark Mantle points out that the new PHY is mainly important for manufacturers.
- A new function for managing the display port bandwidth has been added. This should allow Displayport tunnelling to coexist more efficiently with other I/O (input/output) traffic over the USB4 connection. This increased efficiency is in addition to the mandatory support for the visually lossless Display Stream Compression (DSC) codec and the panel replay function (both from VESA). DSC is a codec specially developed by VESA with low latency, efficient compression and lossless quality. According to VESA, Panel Replay reduces DisplayPort tunnelling packet transport bandwidth by more than 99 percent.
Technical specifications: The most important special feature to be emphasised is that cable lengths of over two metres are possible without – as Andreas Link writes – “actively amplifying signals”. The following specifications are also worth mentioning.
- Full-size and mini-Displayport cable configurations should be more robust. This includes improved connectivity and longer cable lengths (over two metres for DP40 cables and over one metre for DP80 cables) without compromising UHBR performance.
- VESA-certified DP40 cables support the UHBR10 link rate (10 Gbps) with four lanes and offer a maximum throughput of 40 Gbps.
- VESA-certified DP80 cables support the UHBR20 link rate (20 Gbps) with four lanes and offer a maximum throughput of 80 Gbps.
Clicked further: Digital Production reported on the introduction of the predecessor Displayport 2.0 on 4 July 2019 – at that time, the tripled data rate was impressive.
Sources: vesa.org ( press release on Displayport 2.1), heise.de ( report by Mark Mantel), pcgameshardware.de ( report by Andreas Link)
