Updated specifications for the DisplayPort 2.0 Alt Mode standard. up to 16k with USB 4

There Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) released updated specifications for the standard DisplayPort 2.0 Alternate Mode (Alt Mode). Alt Mode ensures optimal interoperability with USB 4 specifications published by the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) and enables all the news introduced by the latest version of DisplayPort on USB Type-C connectors. We speak more specifically of the possibility of transmitting a video stream up to 77.37 Gbps via DisplayPort using all 4 available channels (19.34 Gbps per channel) or up to 40 Gbps via SuperSpeed USB. The passband allows to manage signals with a definition higher than 8K.

Some examples of resolutions supported with all 4 active channels are as follows:

16K, 15360 x 8460 pixels at 60Hz with 4: 4: 4 30-bit color sampling and HDR (with compression)
8K, 7680 x 4320 pixels at 60 Hz with 4: 4: 4 30-bit color sampling and HDR (without compression)

VESA claims that these features may prove useful in the multi-display configurations and in applications that take advantage of augmented reality and the virtual reality.

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Craig Wiley, senior director of marketing at Parade Technologies, board member and leader of the DisplayPort Alt Mode sub-group for VESA, said:

The VESA specification update for the DisplayPort Alt Mode standard includes numerous hidden enhancements – including updates for detection and configuration as well as power management management – which ensure seamless integration with USB 4 specifications. This important result, years of workmanship, could only be achieved thanks to the combined efforts of VESA and USB-IF.

The first products compatible with DisplayPort Alt Mode 2.0 will arrive on the market during 2021.