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.

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.