There are a lot of examples in technology history of multiple competing standards that were on the market simultaneously. Just think about the videorecorder standards war in the early 1980s between Video 2000, VHS and Betamax. For the youngsters amongst us, VHS last won chiefly because of its lower cost and defend by the adult movie industry. More recently, there was the conflict between Blu-ray and HD DVD .
DisplayPort vs HDMI
so is there besides a format war between DisplayPort and HDMI going on ? Well, not precisely. While both HDMI and DisplayPort have the same objective ( which is sending high-definition digital video recording and sound recording from a source device to a display ), they were in fact conceived under different constellations .
HDMI ( short-circuit for High-Definition Multimedia Interface ) was introduced in 2003 by a consortium of ( chiefly ) display manufacturers, including Sony, Philips, Panasonic, and Toshiba. These are large corporations that chiefly target strictly image-driven applications. This is why HDMI is the standard you most normally find on appliances like television sets, projectors and home computers.
A few years late ( 2006 ), another boastfully consortium of personal computer and chip manufacturers worked to create DisplayPort ( DP ), a follow-up of the older VGA and DVI standards. The main concentrate was computer displays and professional IT equipment, so more data-centered markets .
Connectors: what a difference a pin makes
The 19 pins HDMI-connectors are actually available in 5 shapes, but only 3 of them are normally seen : the long-familiar type A ( standard HDMI, chiefly used for TVs, projectors and laptops ), Type C ( miniskirt HDMI, normally found on tablets and some laptops ), and Type D ( micro HDMI, for tablets and smartphones ) .
The lesser known type B ( 29 pins ) is used for dual-link applications, whereas Type E has a locking pill to keep the cable from vibrating idle in automotive applications. The other HDMI connectors normally use friction to keep the punch into the socket – although sometimes locking mechanisms are used that prevent the cable television from pulling loose. such mechanisms are a lot more common in DisplayPort solutions .
DisplayPort connectors have 20 pins. There are two sizes available : the standard DisplayPort and a smaller option made by Apple called Mini DisplayPort. The latter is the like port as Thunderbolt .
Though most life-size DisplayPort connectors have a lock mechanism that prevents them from being disconnected unintentionally, this sport is not required by the official stipulation .
Resolution and bandwidth
Every modern version of both the HDMI and DisplayPort standards typically introduce some minor new features, and higher resolution and bandwidth. This however does not mean that a new display always supports the latest version of the standard. It does n’t make a lot feel to include a standard that supports 8K resolution on an HD display. The most important thing is that the standard matches the needs of the display. If not, you will be paying more for something you can not use .
today ’ s most park version ( for video wall displays ), DisplayPort 1.2, supports video resolutions of up to 3840 x 2160 pixels, at a refresh rate of 60 Hz. The official name for this solution is by the room UHD, but the term 4K is frequently used equally well ( although in the movie industry this implies a resolution of 4096 x 2160 ). It besides supports all common 3D video formats. The maximal bandwidth to be sent through a DP 1.2 cable is 17.28 Gbps. DisplayPort 1.4, supporting 5120 x 2800 @60Hz at a bandwidth of 25.92 Gbps, is becoming increasingly popular .
The most use HDMI -version, version 2.0, features UHD resolving power at 60 Hz and a bandwidth of 14.4 Gbps [ 1 ]. In early words, it is more important to look at the version number ( on both the generator and the display ) than to compare DisplayPort with HDMI .
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interim, HDMI 2.1 has been launched, supporting 4K at 120 Hz or 8K at 60 Hz. Although not common, this standard is already used in some top-end models. DisplayPort 2.0, boasting 10,240 ten 4320 resolving power and a sock 77.4 Gbps bandwidth is available equally well, but nowadays no models on the commercialize use this standard.
Audio features: facing the music
Both HDMI and DisplayPort support up to 8 digital sound recording channels at up to 24 sting and 192 kilohertz. The independent difference is that HDMI features an audio return channel ( ARC ). This means that not entirely the generator device ( normally an AV-receiver ) can send audio to the television specify, but healthy can flow in the other direction as well. This can be used when the television receiver has a built-in broadcast receiver ( e.g. watching Netflix on a smart-TV ), but you don ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate want to listen to the sound using the television ’ s built-in speakers and prefer the wall sound system of the AV-receiver. Although this is a valuable use lawsuit in consumer electronics, it is about never used in professional AV visual image .
Cable length: how far can you go?
There have been diverse standards of HDMI cables available on the market, but the typical cable available nowadays is under the “ High Speed ” HDMI certificate. unfortunately, as is frequently the case with low-cost consumer appliances, not all high travel rapidly HDMI cables can actually deliver the proper choice. Poor cables can cause a lot of problems, such as artifacts and glitches .
The HDMI standard doesn ’ metric ton truly define a maximum cable television length. It rather describes a operation specification from which the cable length can be derived. normally HDMI cables are quite short. only very rarely the display and the source are far than 2 meters apart in television and projector setups. For longer distances, you can rely on a signal booster or an active cable which amplifies the signal. notice that HDMI signals can besides run over CAT 5 or CAT 6 cables ( up to 50 meters ), coaxial cable ( up to 90 meters ) or over fiber ( more than 100 meters ) .
A passive copper DisplayPort cable television transmits very high data rates of up to 4k resolution over 2 meters. If you need to cover a distance of up to 15 meters, you are limited to 1080p settlement according to the stipulation – although many tests show that higher resolutions are possible as well. An active copper DP cable can cover improving to 20 meters, with a 2560×1600 resolution. besides for DisplayPort, roughage cables can cover longer distances. Contrary to HDMI, DP cannot carry Ethernet signals, nor does it have an audio return sign. however, DisplayPort supports many adapters, to connect a big act of display standards, including a VGA, single-link DVI or HDMI .
Another very significant sport of DisplayPort, is that it can drive multiple monitors at a time. In this way, a single DisplayPort interface can drive up to 4 monitors at 1920×1200 resolution. This is particularly authoritative for professionals who operate a video wall, as they only need one cable between the controller and the video wall to drive 4 (or even 6) displays .
Conclusion
Conclusion Although the aim of HDMI and DisplayPort is similar for about 90 %, there are a number of distinct features. HDMI supports an Audio Return Channel ( ARC ), making it possible to send sound from the expose to the source – which can be handy when using a smart-TV .
The possibility to drive multiple displays with one cable is for many professionals a must. This feature of speech determines in many cases the option for DisplayPort .
In terms of image timbre, there is about no difference between HDMI and DP. The newer the version, the higher the maximal bandwidth and the support resolution. It is in fact much more crucial to check the version than the standard ( HDMI or DP ) itself. besides make sure that the cable television is good enough to support the adaptation ’ s resolution and high bandwidth.
many of Barco ‘s products, including our LCD video wall and projector ranges, feature both HDMI and DP. These products can be used in both television and data centric applications, so it makes sense to include both. For LCD video walls, DP is the standard of option in many cases, because it offers the possibility to drive multiple displays with one cable association. By the manner, in this article you can read why you can easily convert DisplayPort signals to HDMI using a passive arranger, but not the other direction turn .
In a strictly image-drive market like digital cinema, on the other handwriting, only HDMI is used .
[ 1 ] : Considering the 8b/10 overhead to measure the effective data transmittance rate. Without this overhead, the bandwidth would be 18Gbps .
