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Displayport V1.2 To Take Giant Leap Over HDMI

Posted by Soulskill on from the any-old-port-in-the-storm dept.

An anonymous reader writes "With HDMI becoming increasingly common, Displayport has been slow to emerge as a widely used connection interface, but a plethora of new features in the new v1.2 standard could see that change. As well as doubling the data rate of the existing v1.1a standard to 21.6 Gbps, the update allows for multiple monitors to be connected to a single Displayport connector and adds support for transporting USB data at up to 720Mbps, enabling embedded webcams, speakers and USB hubs over a single cable. Ethernet data is also supported. The improved data rate will allow for richer, larger and higher resolution displays, and the new version is also backward compatible with the current display technology, so all the ports, cables and devices will be interchangeable, although they will revert to the lowest common denominator."

10 of 345 comments (clear)

  1. no no no no no! by cybrthng · · Score: 4, Insightful

    HDMI is fine
    Ethernet is fine

    No more "super cables" for the sake of another super cable so i have to replace everything i own just to run a damned super cable.

    Thanks.

    1. Re:no no no no no! by Fred_A · · Score: 4, Insightful

      OTOH Less cables is good as well. The cable mess is getting old pretty quick.

      --

      May contain traces of nut.
      Made from the freshest electrons.
    2. Re:no no no no no! by mad_minstrel · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Well if you're worried about security that much, I recommend duct tape over the lens.

      --
      May the source be with you.
    3. Re:no no no no no! by bennomatic · · Score: 3, Insightful

      So it may not seem like a huge advantage to do ethernet over your display cable, but the way I see it, that allows for a really nice consolidation of cables into a simple hub. If you've got a hub with an ethernet cable, a couple of USB's and a couple of these display port dealios, then you could have your whole desktop setup waiting for you when you get to your office/home with your laptop, and with one plug, you're wired to your network, keyboard, mouse, printer and display.

      For my setup, I use wireless for printer and network, and I tried to do wireless (bluetooth) for keyboard and mouse, but it just wasn't quite the same, so when I get to my desk, I have to plug in power, monitor and USB to get going. Not a huge deal, but sometime in the not too distant future, I'm sure that'll seem archaic.

      --
      The CB App. What's your 20?
    4. Re:no no no no no! by b0bby · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Except that one cable to rule them all requires a ridiculously expensive cable to replace

      I bet monoprice will have them cheap ;)

  2. Doubt it by lyinhart · · Score: 4, Insightful

    DisplayPort seems like one of those technologies that have great mind share, as well as some advantages over the competing technology, but will never gain mainstream adoption (See: Firewire).

    --
    Freedom is drinking a beer in the park when you're supposed to be at work.
  3. Argh! by Jason+daHaus · · Score: 3, Insightful

    All my cables are obsolete again!

  4. Stupid answer by FranTaylor · · Score: 4, Insightful

    My "Display" has a webcam and speakers. It is not some futuristic device.

    It would be nice if it only needed one cable instead of three to hook it up to the computer.

  5. Cable wars by michaelmalak · · Score: 4, Insightful
    How is it that VGA was good for 15 years (1987-2002) and now we have, counting conservatively, three standards in 8 years (DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort)? DVI itself has multiple incompatible sub-standards. Before VGA, CGA/EGA was good for 6 years.

    Is it a lack of engineering foresight, or is it a cable war with companies jockeying for position?

    I've noticed that new Dells are now coming with DisplayPort, and discovered that Dell was one of the instigators.

    Another unrelated observation: this could obsolete USB, and thus USB thumb drives, and thus yet another data storage format becomes oprhaned. This was inevitable. USB has had a good 14 year run so far. It couldn't last forever, despite what people thought about USB "being different this time" regarding being able to access old data -- that somehow it was going to be different from floppies and tapes.

  6. Re:Encoding and decoding for DRM by tepples · · Score: 4, Insightful

    DRM is a defect and needs to die in the marketplace.

    But unfortunately, the proponents of this defect own the incumbent news media. This makes it more difficult for free culture advocates to get the message out that DRM is a defect.