A new version of HDMI 2.2 was announced at CES 2025 with new Ultra96 class cables. The competing DisplayPort standard from the VESA association also comes out with a new version at the same time, maybe it’s a bit of a reaction to the new HDMI. In the case of DisplayPort, however, it is a minor upgrade, marked as DisplayPort 2.1b, which signals minor changes compared to the previous new version 2.1a. This standard will be the first binary version that Nvidia graphics are already capable of.
DisplayPort 2.1b
The DisplayPort 2.1b specification is due to be released in the spring, so it’s still a preliminary announcement (but even HDMI 2.2 doesn’t have a final version of the specification out yet). The primary focus of this improved version is to better connect monitors with the highest speed, i.e. in DisplayPort 2.1 UHBR20 mode, which has a throughput of 77.37 Gb/s (but the raw data flow including overhead and metadata is 80 Gb/s).
This speed is very demanding on signal quality, and passive cables commonly available on the market seem to be limited to 1.0-1.2 meters in length. This can easily be insufficient to bridge the distance between the computer’s graphics output and the monitor if the case is not sitting right next to it on a table (Lower speed cables UHBR10 and UHBR13.5 are also available for longer).
DisplayPort 2.1b solves this by introducing new cables labeled DP80LL, while the common cables available until now for UBHR20 mode are labeled DP80. Ono LL is an abbreviation for Low Loss, i.e. low signal loss. These cables should be able to maintain a reliable connection between the image source and the monitor up to 3 meters while simultaneously supporting UHBR20.
Although the labeling evokes that the improvement is achieved through material selection, shielding or similar means, the DP80LL cables actually use an active principle, according to the VESA Consortium press release, that is, they have integrated repeaters or some other way of actively amplifying or reconstructing the signal. However, this also means that they will be more expensive than regular DP80 cables.
DisplayPort 2.1b is already listed as supported on GeForce RTX 5000 graphics, which were simultaneously introduced at CES 2025. VESA states that Nvidia collaborated on the development of the specification, and compatibility of these new cables and RTX 5000 generation graphics should be ensured. While DisplayPort 2.0/ 2.1 as such was already capable of previous generations of Intel Arc and AMD Radeon graphics, Nvidia is so far limited only to the old DisplayPort 1.4a, now coming graphics with Blackwell architecture will be the first with the newer version.
We don’t know if the DP80LL cables will also work with other graphics and if DisplayPort 2.1b needs any specific hardware support. The press release doesn’t say whether all the magic happens just inside the cable without the graphics card or monitor having to know about it (so existing graphics that only support DP 2.1 or DP2.1a would work), or whether, for example, some power is needed from the graphics card or output, for example, on a laptop.
In any case, the new DP80LL active cables should appear on the market in the coming months.
Source: VESA/DisplayPort, VideoCardz
Source: www.cnews.cz
