DisplayPort to Support USB 2.0 Traffic

Not so long ago, the DiplayPort link made its first steps towards computer adoption. In early December last year, Zotac announced the world's first DisplayPort-enabled graphics card, based on Nvidia's GeForce 8800 GT chipset. Things seem to go better and better for the wannabe-replacement of the older VGA and DVI connectors, as the DisplayPort interface is going to be able to host the USB traffic, too.

The current specifications for the DisplayPort interface (version 1.1) provide a built-in auxiliary channel to allow data exchange between the display and the host computer. This channel is currently used for sending a wake-up signal to the display when the computer starts up.

The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) group, the format bakers, have just come up with revision 2.0 of the DisplayPort specifications set, that is supposed to carry the USB traffic across the mentioned DisplayPort auxiliary channel.

At the moment, the VESA group has encountered some drawbacks regarding the available bandwidth on the auxiliary channel, but they estimate that it's possible to deliver the full 480Mb/s for the USB 2.0 specifications. Vesa DisplayPort Task Group chief Bruce Montag says that, if the operation succeeds, a single DisplayPort cable would be able to handle the regular video signal and, at the same time, to pass data to and from the USB devices plugged into the display's USB ports.

Although this may seem impressive enough, there are more to come from the merry VESA group. Currently, the Task Group is working on a miniature version of the connector, that will allow small devices (especially the MIDs) to get display connectivity as well. Another focus point for the group is developing a design to allow a single connector to supply multiple monitors at once.

If all these plans are accomplished, the HDMI connector is gonna have some serious rejection issues among the PC users. Ouch!