Computex: Zotac Shows Off DisplayPort 9600GT

Dropping by the Zotac booth at the Nangang hall in Taipei, the company had a DisplayPort ready 9600GT board on display. One of the very first DisplayPort enabled graphics cards, the card promises high resolution from a thin cable. The current DisplayPort standard supports resolutions up to 2560x1600, which is the same as running a high resolution display on dual-link DVI.

One of the beneficial features of DisplayPort is that it, like HDMI, can carry an audio signal. Although the DisplayPort signal isn’t compatible with a DVI signal, the interface can pass a standard DVI signal along. No word from Zotac on when the card will be available but we can expect it to be this quarter, since DisplayPort displays are already starting to make an appearance.

There’s a lot of debate between what should be the next-generation display interface. HDMI is already the de-facto standard for high-definition home theater equipment, and supports both a video and audio signal. However, DisplayPort supporters say that their interface will scale better, delivering much higher resolutions down the feature. Another aspect of DisplayPort that makes it attractive to businesses is the fact that it can support a link-up of up to 6 displays.

Several weeks ago, Tom’s Hardware covered a technology called DisplayLink, which utilizes the USB interface to deliver a video signal. The drawback here is that USB bandwidth is currently too narrow to support very high resolutions and refresh rates. Companies are betting on next-generation USB interfaces to deliver the bandwidth necessary for high-res support.