DVI Versus DisplayPort

Last time I told you about the differences between DVI and HDMI, today I will tell you about another new format: DisplayPort. DisplayPort is an open source format supported by various big actors, such as Apple, NVIDIA, Intel, Dell, AMD and many more. The format is also and the only format officially supported by the VESA or the Video Electronics Standards Association.

To make a generalization about the two formats you can easily suggest that the DisplayPort format is the more advanced and future-proof because of its much later origin, while the DVI standard has been around for a decennium. The DVI or Digital Visual Interface has been the leader of home entertainment since 1999, only to be pasted last year by the new HDMI format. What makes DVI an outdated technology is its incapability of transferring sound and to withheld fast transfer of signals, however, the technology still works perfectly with the new high definition displays, but is unable to transfer high definition protected audio/video as it lacks HDCP which is the new HD formats protection system, so far only supported by HDMI and DisplayPort.

So on the opposing side of DVI we have the DisplayPort format which not only enables full HD experience with both next-gen sound and video but also is capable with the HDCP protection system. One big downside of DisplayPort is that it’s incompatible with last-gen hardware, which demands that you’re new equipment is next-gen supported, as no back compatibility to DVI or VGA is possible. Both formats are able to process video resolutions of 2560x1600. With the DisplayPort’s integration with the latest sound formats Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD makes it a hot choice regarding next-gen home cinema experiences, but does not offer anything that HDMI don’t.

The main difference between the two next-gen formats, HDMI and DisplayPort, is actually the cost of using the formats. HDMI costs ten thousand dollars in annual licensing cost and an additional 4 cents per produced HDMI device. The DisplayPort, as I said before, uses open source technology and support, being royalty free.

Me personally is pretty confused about the fuzz about DisplayPort, when comes to customers there isn’t really any pros and cons. The DisplayPort does support audio/visual and additionally data transfer, which is the only significant technical difference. However, it doesn’t really matter if you buy an HDMI cable or a DisplayPort cable, in either way you will be pleased.