Anyone who has struggled with old legacy A/V gear failing to work with newer advanced 4K video equipment will be happy to know that the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) should be bringing a solution for new equipment.

This week, VESA kicked off the launch of the DisplayID Version 2.0 standard, designed for smoother plug-and-play connectivity between advanced A/V devices.

Like the Extended Display Identification Data (EDID)/Enhanced EDID standard before it, the DisplayID standard addresses display identification and configuration data, allowing video sources like video game consoles, Blu-ray players, graphics cards and set-top boxes to automatically identify and setup displays.

But it is designed to work with new and future standards and protocols.

The news should be especially useful to developers and users of cutting-edge gaming desktop PCs, 4K Ultra HD televisions and users of other advanced computer, communications and peripheral devices, which are advancing quickly beyond the interoperability capabilities of legacy devices that can present a road block in the chain new interconnected products.

VESA, a standards body working with the IP and consumer electronics industries, called the Display ID v. 2.0 the “premier out-of-box experience for 4K resolutions and beyond, High Dynamic Range (HDR), augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR) and other advanced features.”

The association is calling the standard “a best-in-class plug-and-play experience,” bringing advanced capabilities including compatibility with 4K-and-higher resolution video formats, HDR of various profiles, and augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) gear and content. It will also support high frame-rate refresh rates of 120Hz and above.

Read more about DisplayID v. 2.0 after the jump:

The DisplayID standard was originally launched in 2009 to enable the widely adopted EDID standard to keep up with newer-generation display technologies.

“However, with the EDID standard nearing the end of its effectiveness, a standard with new standalone structures, unencumbered by legacy architecture, is needed to properly and efficiently communicate modern display capabilities, thus ensuring an optimal user experience for future display technologies,” VESA said.

DisplayID 2.0 improves upon past EDID technology by keeping the modular structure added in 2013 in DisplayID 1.3. This modularity is based on the concept of “data blocks,” which are “individually defined, self-contained data formats that each provide a specific set of related display information in a clear unambiguous manner.”

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The latest upgrade provides “unprecedented flexibility,” that enables constructing entire content from a wide range of elements, predefined data blocks or descriptors.

The new data blocks cover head-mounted and other types of wearable displays; provides a clearer way to define Adaptive-Sync (dynamic refresh rates); extends field sizes to support higher pixel counts; expands the magnitude of parameters needed to enable HDR; and supports high luminance, VESA said.

The standard comes as hardware manufacturers are already starting to show and plan for more and more displays with 60Hz+ fresh rates, HDR or various profiles and capabilities, advanced monitors defined by FreeSync and G-Sync, 8K displays and equipment supporting virtual reality and augmented reality technologies.

The DisplayID 2.0 and EDID standards will not be directly compatible but, VESA said they will be able to co-exist with DisplayID 2.0 used for high-end systems and devices while EDID/E-EDID powers lower-resolution systems and gear.

“What version 2.0 of the DisplayID standard facilitates is a true ‘it just works’ plug-and-play consumer experience,” stated Bill Lempesis, VESA executive director. “With advanced display technologies becoming more widely available, DisplayID 2.0 — by stripping out legacy capabilities — provides a crisp, succinct way to describe optimized connectivity while carrying forward structures that remain relevant today. This ensures the standard will expand to accommodate user demands.”

Syed Hussain, VESA board vice chairman and AMD Senior Display Domain Fellow, called DisplayID 2.0 “a future-focused specification incorporating support for higher resolution and refresh rates as well as HDR and Adaptive-Sync,” that will enable full-plug-and-play ability for all types of consumer displays.

 

By Greg Tarr

 

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