GET
CONNECTED
IN 2020
A COLORFUL
YEAR AHEAD
Oft overlooked but ever important, the
humble display interface is due an overhaul
in 2020. One major development will be
the roll-out of DisplayPort 2.0. It’s a major
upgrade versus the most recent prevailing
DisplayPort standard, namely 1.4a.
DisplayPort 2.0 delivers a 3x jump in
raw bandwidth compared to DisplayPort
1.4a. Want hard figures? 1.4a serves
up 25.92Gb/s of usable bandwidth for
transporting display images; DisplayPort
2.0 ups that to 77.37Gb/s.
As for the implications of the bandwidth
bump, they’re numerous. The more
bandwidth, the higher the resolution you
can display at greater refresh, and with
more dynamic range and color fidelity. For
example, with DisplayPort 2.0, you’ll be
able to drive dual 8K monitors at 120Hz and
10 bits of color per channel over a single
interface. In terms of a single panel, a 16K
monitor—15360x8640 pixels—at 60Hz will
be possible. Or how about triple 10K panels
at 60Hz? Another option supported by
DisplayPort 2.0.
Long story short, all those high-res,
high-DPI panels we’re hoping for will
finally be possible with DisplayPort 2.0.
As for HDMI, its most advanced standard,
2.1, was announced in 2017, and no
further advances have been made public.
HDMI 2.1 actually compares favorably
with DisplayPort 1.4a, with 42.6Gb/s of
usable data. It’s designed to cater for 8K
resolutions with refresh rates up to 120Hz.
So, it’s pretty much got you covered.
Finally, there’s USB Type C and
Thunderbolt 3, sharing the same
interface. This is a frustratingly
complex subject, but the short
version is that both support up to
DisplayPort 1.4 in Alt Mode over
the USB/Thunderbolt interface.
Some examples are the Microsoft
Surface Pro 7, Surface Pro X,
and Surface Laptop 3, all of which
support up to DisplayPort 1.4.
Some even support multi-stream
capability, so you can connect
dual 4K 60Hz monitors via a single
cable. But note: Most portable
PCs made up to mid-2019 are
likely to only support DisplayPort
1.2 in Alt Mode, and thus a single
4K 60Hz display.
When it comes to HDR PC monitors, not
all implementations are equal. But it’s
not all bad news. Even mediocre HDR
brings improved color performance.
Strictly speaking, high dynamic range
doesn’t automatically imply greater
color fidelity. Instead, it’s about the
contrast between the brightest and
darkest elements of an image.
However, in practice, HDR standards
typically make requirements of a display
in terms of color space coverage and
color fidelity. Take VESA’s DisplayHDR
standard. Even lowly DisplayHDR 400
demands 95 percent coverage of the
Rec.709 color space (the standard used
for HDTVs), 10-bit per channel signal
processing, and native 8-bit color
rendering. Step up to DisplayHDR 600,
and 99 percent of Rec.709 is required,
plus 90 percent of the more demanding
DisplayPort 2.0 is a DCI-P3 color space, the standard for
bandwidth bomb.as effectively perfect or infinite contrast
and ultrawide viewing angles.
Sounds like the perfect solution
for the PC, right? One day, it probably
will be. For now, there are serious
limitations. MicroLED is very expensive to
manufacture. Current implementations
are also very power-hungry. Time will tell
whether OLED can solve its degradation
issues before microLED gets cheaper
and more efficient. Our hunch is that
microLED will win out eventually.
If neither OLED nor microLED are going
to be a thing anytime soon, how is display
tech actually progressing in 2020? One
of the most obvious elements involves
refresh rates, be that the overall rate
of refresh or synching that refresh with
the output of the video card. High refresh
beyond the industry standard of 60Hz and
adaptive synching have been available for
years, but the technologies are becoming
more refined and more widely adopted.
One of the two competing standards
in this area is AMD’s FreeSync. It’s been
around for six years, and for 2020, AMD
announced what is effectively its third
major iteration. This includes two new
tiers: FreeSync Premium and FreeSync
Premium Pro. FreeSync Premium adds
a requirement of at least 120Hz refresh
support at a minimum 1080p resolution
and low frame rate compensation to
FreeSync’s core adaptive sync capabilities.
As for FreeSync Premium Pro, that adds
accurate luminance and wide color gamut
as part of a broader HDR certification.
Meanwhile, Nvidia’s G-Sync technology
has also developed into a similar multi-
tier proposition, with G-Sync Ultimate
topping the table with HDR requirements.
Overall, there are two takeaways that
apply to both. Firstly, for the most part,
both are mainly of interest to gamers.
High refresh is of general benefit for
all kinds of computing, albeit with less
impact outside of gaming,
but other features, such as
frame synching and ultra-
low latency, really are only of
interest to gamers.
The other issue to be
aware of is compatibility.
Previously, Nvidia was
attempting to lock down
G-Sync to its own video
cards and displays fitted with
G-Sync boards. But Nvidia
has now unlocked support
for FreeSync monitors with
Nvidia graphics cards via
the G-Sync Compatiblestandard. If you buy a G-Sync enabled PC
monitor, though, note that you still need an
Nvidia graphics card for full functionality.TRUTH HERTZ
Speaking of refresh rates, we fear 2020
will be the year that marketing madness
takes hold. The first 360Hz gaming
monitors have been announced (and
on show at CES; check out page 15 for
Jarred’s thoughts). But the added benefit,
even for esports addicts, of the jump from
240Hz to 360Hz is debatable at best. That
would be true with a display technology
fully capable of rendering 360 frames per
second, but it is itself debatable whether
the pixels in LCD panels respond quickly
enough to make 360Hz meaningful.
That’s before you ask whether you
have a fast enough 3D card to play a
given game at the 400fps or so average
you’ll realistically need to be sure the
frame rate rarely dips below 360Hz. Put
simply, refresh rates have the makings
of a technology where more of something
is assumed to be better, even well beyond
the point it adds any tangible benefit.
HDR in 2020 will likewise continue to be
at the mercy of marketing misinformation.
You can consult the boxout on the previous
pages for more detail on how to make
sense of the various standards, what
constitutes a true HDR monitor, and how
color gamuts come into the equation. But
the short version is that you want to look2020 vision
48 MAXIMUMPC MAR 2020 maximumpc.com