The Video Electronics Standards Association, VESA, published version 1.4 of the DisplayPort standard today. Version 1.3 was published in September 2014 allowing for USB Type-C connectors and increasing the maximum bandwidth, allowing for simultaneous use of two 4K (3840×2160) monitors. Version 1.2 most notably enabled daisy-chain connectivity for multiple monitors from a single output port. DisplayPort 1.4 builds on top of those previous innovations with improved USB Type-C connector capabilities.
Other features include:
- Forward Error Correction – FEC, which overlays the DSC 1.2 transport, addresses the transport error resiliency needed for compressed video transport to external displays.
- HDR meta transport – HDR meta transport uses the “secondary data packet” transport inherent in the DisplayPort standard to provide support for the current CTA 861.3 standard, which is useful for DP to HDMI 2.0a protocol conversion, among other examples. It also offers a flexible metadata packet transport to support future dynamic HDR standards.
- Expanded audio transport – This spec extension covers capabilities such as 32 audio channels, 1536kHz sample rate, and inclusion of all known audio formats.
For more details, see VESA’s press release and look forward to its adaptation by manufacturers in the near future.
