AMD has announced that the next generation of graphics cards will be converted to DP2.0, enabling 4K 240 output

Now, high-end graphics cards, such as AMD6900 and AMD6800XT, have reached or even exceeded 4K 240 frames in many linear game masterpieces! However, what makes people sigh is that due to the HDMI2.1 on AMD graphics card bandwidth limit, can only achieve up to 4K 120 frames,The bandwidth of HDMI2.1 has seriously limited the expressiveness of high-end graphics cards (DP2.0 is twice the bandwidth of HDMI2.1, reaching 80Gbps, 40Gbps of HDMI2.1 can transmit 4K 120 YUV444 10 bits at most, support HDR10 and Dolby horizon, DP2.0 supports 4K 240 YUV444 lossless 10 bit color, and support HDR10 and Dolby horizon), so AMD announced that the next generation of graphics cards will be converted to DP2.0 0 to achieve 4K 240 frame output.

DP2.0 Why is possible?

Previously, Intel has said that the Intel Arc independent graphics card code named alchemist will be officially launched in the first quarter of this year. Recently, the photos of the black version of Intel Arc graphics card have also been exposed. In addition to the color, the protective cover of the graphics card radiator is exactly the same as the silver version leaked last year. According to the exposure photos, this Intel arc graphics card adopts a dual fan design, and the rear interface is 3 DP + 1 HDMI video output interface. According to previous news, Intel added DP 2.0 to its graphics card driver patch. Therefore, if there is no unexpected, Arc graphics card will be equipped with DP 2.0 interface in the first batch.

With the release of RX 6600 XT, the layout of AMD RDNA2 graphics card is basically complete, and even subsequent updates should be more entry-level products. This means that the development of RDNA3 is accelerated. Navi 3X GPU has appeared in Redeon open computing developer tools, including Navi 31, Navi 33, etc. At the same time, amd GPU driver of Linux branch and support for DisplayPort 2.0 interface have also been added. In fact, the DP 2.0 interface standard was finalized as early as 2019. However, due to the delay of the epidemic in terminal debugging, the standard organization VESA has not produced relevant displays and graphics cards so far. According to the design scheme, the theoretical bandwidth of DP 2.0 is up to 80Gbps, and a new coding mechanism is adopted to improve the efficiency to 97%, and the actual availability is up to 77.4Gbps, which is the current DP1.4 2.5 times of HDMI 2.1 (48Gbps) and 1.6 times of HDMI 2.1 (48Gbps), which can be output on a single screen 16K@60Hz (DSC)、 10K@60Hz Nondestructive 4K@240Hz Even dual screen 4K@144Hz ； In other words, both AMD and Intel will use DP2.0 interface on their graphics cards this year,which will certainly urge display manufacturers to follow up DP2.0 interface on their products.

DP2.0 actions

In the past five years or so, VESA members have been discussing the future development direction of DP. If a new external interface needs to be developed after the standard upgrade, it is unacceptable to manufacturers and users. It is wise to improve the existing physical layer and data transmission technology. VESA obviously knows this. However, the physical layer of DP was designed more than ten years ago to replace the two "old guys" of VGA and DVI. At that time, it was unexpected to expand to today's bandwidth. VESA has adopted a very clever approach: by way. They refer to Intel's lightning 3 standard. The earliest application of lightning 3 based on USB type-C dielectric plane can be traced back to 2015. It has four 20gbps data transmission channels, which can provide the maximum bandwidth of 80gbps. Under the default two-way full duplex working state, the bandwidth is 40Gbps. We don't know whether VESA is waiting for Intel to open lightning 3 these years, or because the opening of lightning 3 points out the way for VESA. In a word, Intel's move is really meritorious. It has saved the two major standards of USB 4 and DP 2.0. At present, it is working with hdmi2 1 in the competition, DP2.0 has obviously lagged behind, so two advantages of DP need continuous optimization and performance. One is that DP standard interface is an asymmetric interface, and mini DP interface is also developed. In terms of data line, DP 2.0 provides three different mechanisms, and the bandwidth of each channel is set at 10Gbps, 13.5Gbps and 20Gbps respectively. VESA calls it "UHBR / Ultra High Bit Rate", They are called UHBR 10, UHBR 13.5 and UHBR 20 respectively according to the bandwidth.

The original bandwidth of uhbr 10 is 40Gbps and the effective bandwidth is 38.69gbps. It only needs passive copper wire, which was previously DP 8K wire

The authentication project includes uhbr 10, and the DP data line passing 8K authentication meets the signal integrity requirements of UHBR 10.

The original bandwidth of UHBR 13.5 and UHBR 20 is 54Gbps and 80Gbps, and the effective bandwidth is 52.22Gbps and 77.37Gbps. The passive wire can only be used for very short-distance transmission, such as the expansion dock of notebook. If it is longer, it needs active wire, and corresponding control and amplification chips need to be implanted in the wire.

Due to the existence of this standard, the cables of DP 2.0 are actually different. VESA Association finally made a decision to certify different cables in order to distinguish them. There are two standards for DP 2.0 cables according to different speeds. Dp40 cables support UHBR 10 standard of 10Gbps per channel in four internal channels, and the total speed is 40Gbps; The cable labeled DP80 is UHBR20 standard with 20Gbps per channel, and the speed can reach 80Gbps. Therefore, DP40 and DP80 cables are clearly distinguished, and the possibility of manufacturers trying to fish in troubled waters is greatly reduced.

VESA also revealed that DP40 and DP80 standard DP lines and mini DP lines have been put into production, and the first batch of displays and other equipment have also passed the certification. In fact, it is an indisputable fact that the labeling of cables of electronic products is chaotic. Both HDMI 2.1 and USB protocol mentioned above are very chaotic, which also makes many manufacturers fish in troubled waters and makes it difficult for users to distinguish. In terms of USB protocol, usb-if has realized that the USB4 based on lightning 3 is fully unified. In order to avoid confusion in DP, VESA forces manufacturers to authenticate wires and interfaces, which can greatly solve the problem of fishing in troubled waters.