[PLUG] DisplayPort

[Daniel Johnson]

> I'm scoping out thinkpads, with a specific interest in video out
> technologies, and I've seen DisplayPort come up a few times.  So far,
> all I've gleaned is that it's a smaller connector that can support
> some forms of DRM to prevent displaying on unauthorized devices.  That
> doesn't sound particularly compelling, but I'm curious if it has other
> benefits.
>
> Does anyone know what *is* compelling about DispayPort over HDMI /
> DVI, and if there will be any driver/support issues associated with
> using DisplayPort under Linux?

Instead of previous technologies that were designed around scan lines
of a CRT DisplayPort is a bidirectional packet based protocol that can
transfer arbitrary data, and thus things like digital audio in the
same cable.  It isn't married to the number of pins on the connector,
and thus allows for future bandwidth increases simply by adding more
pins.  Apple went with it because they were already running up against
bandwidth limitations with their high end displays.

The ability to do different kinds of DRM over it is just a side effect
of it being able to pass arbitrary data over the cable, and thus it
was just a matter of specifying a data protocol for it.  Another
advantage is that it uses less power to drive it than HDMI, or DVI.
It is the official standard by the people who brought us VESA.

And something to look for in the future is it specifies using fiber
optics for the cable as an option.