Dual-Link DVI has been the premium multi-monitor interface of choice, but that’s likely to change now. Being digital, DVI doesn’t have VGA’s requirement for one digital-to-analog converter (DAC) per output port, yet it does require a dedicated clock source for each output. This design element is also true of HDMI.) According to AMD, the signaling demands of DVI require so many I/O pins from the GPU that extending beyond two displays was impractical. Engineers at ATI recognized this even back in 2004 and started working on ideas to move beyond DVI’s limitations—ideas that AMD inherited and continued to develop after the ATI acquisition.
The first version of DisplayPort was finalized in 2006; the current version 1.2 was only recently approved last December. The key advantage of DisplayPort is that there’s no need for a clock signal. Each data link is set to either 1.62 or 2.7 Gb/s per lane regardless of the timing used by the target display. DisplayPort simply buries the clock signal within the data stream. Freed from the need for dedicated, independent clock signals, a single clock source can regulate as many output streams as the GPU can support. DisplayPort uses the same number of pins as Single-Link DVI, but it can support full resolution on a 2-meter cable, 1920x1080p over a 15-meter cable, up to 17.2 Gbs per channel for higher resolutions, up to 16 bits per color channel, and multiple video streams over a single connection. So, if output to six monitors from one card sounds impressive, you have to wonder if future GPUs will leverage this multi-stream capabilities to multiply monitor counts even further. Consider the implications for being able to feed multiple monitors from a single DP port on a mini-ITX board or a notebook. As of version 1.2, you can even daisy chain DisplayPort monitors, feeding multiple monitors with only one DisplayPort connector.

In our follow-up Eyefinity coverage, we’ll take a closer look at DisplayPort adapters. For now, know that adapters will allow streams from a DP port to display on HDMI or DVI devices. Like HDMI, DisplayPort can carry audio alongside video on the same connection. The DisplayPort++ feature allows for pass-through of a combined audio/video HDMI stream, but DP++ is not universally supported, so if this is a feature you suspect you’ll need, ask the adapter manufacturer before buying. Note that adapters only work from DisplayPort to legacy formats. You can’t output VGA, DVI, or HDMI on a DisplayPort monitor.
Predictably, DisplayPort is fully compliant with prior DRM technologies and some forward-looking DRM besides, so don’t look for DP to make ripping any easier.
On the monitor side, Dell was the first and still most ardent supporter of DisplayPort. In 2008, Apple jumped all over Mini DisplayPort, which it designed. Mini DisplayPort became part of the DisplayPort 1.2 spec and can support resolutions up to 2560x1600.
With AMD’s Radeon HD 5700- and 5800-series cards, DisplayPort is supported throughout the entire product line, and a host of major notebook OEMs now or will soon support the format. Clearly, DisplayPort is on its way to being the next major display standard throughout the computing world. Further investment in legacy formats looks more risky with each passing week.

The key word in your statement is DUAL monitors. I recall another study that tested how much people prefer 3 or 4 monitors over 2, and it was a very small percent (~10%). For a lot of tasks outside of gaming, you don't want your entire vision filled with pixels. You don't want to get dizzy constantly from moving your head back and forth. Of course eyefinity is great if you want to blow a ton of money for a wall of monitors and your career is a stock trader, CERN mission controller, etc, but I'd rather stick with 3 physical and use virtual desktops for 3+.
Absolutely, this one is quite ridiculous. Multiple displays only make sense for games if you sit closely and angle them. But the borders would still annoy the hell out of me.
This may be a nice gimmick for some, but ultimately we'll be moving to curved screens.
How can you not notice .5" bezels?
Too many people comment on this without having the first idea about what it is like. In fps games, driving games, flight sims you DO NOT notice the bezels. The only games where the bezels are noticable is in flat 2d type board games ie empire total war campaign map.
I have it so I know what it's like. Read some reviews and they will tell you the same thing.
It actually amazing how the human mind works......
let me ask you this, have you ever done a dual screen setup? If so then how many times have you payed attention to different resolutions, bezels/ bezels thicknesses, and different makers of monitors? My guess would probably be no.
Now i haven't used eyefinity although i have used dual screen setups, but i can understand how people don't notice thing when your that focus on something. In this case, most peoples don't looking for the unlit bezels, there eyes are going to jump to the next bright screen that they need to see and there minds will just filter the bezels out, giving the full clean picture.
I actually arranged mine so the side two overlap the middle one to reduce some of the bezel space but still...it's really not noticeable. The 10.3 drivers will introduce a "hide" option where instead of having a gap between monitors (half of a building on one monitor and the other half on the other monitor) it will actually hide the image behind the bezel so you get, maybe, 1/3 of the building on each monitor and the other 1/3 hidden by the bezel (think tall thin building, obviously). Sort of like wearing a pair of sunglasses with bigger rims. The image is there, but will be hidden by the rims. You'll specify how wide your bezels are and the driver will handle it from there. That, actually, will make things a bit more interesting. Of course, I'm not so sure in FPS it would be good as you could, theoretically, have someone hiding in that bezel area as they approach instead of definitely seeing them on a monitor somewhere.
Bottom line - don't knock it before you at least try it. See if you can borrow some friends' monitors and hook 'em up to your 58xx card and try it out. I promise it'll be your next expense to budget for.
Just like you don't notice the pillars between the windshield and side windows of your car. Your brain just ignores the parts that it doesn't want to see.
Man Cave! Six large screens! I need a larger apartment. I may even have to rent a large house.
i meant 3 because i saw 3 outputs on my graphics card never tried it thought.....
can someone explain..... the article just said you cant have speed and size....(scratching head)