VESA updates its DisplayPort specification to version 2.1a, beefing up cable requirements for even higher resolutions and refresh rates
The VESA organisation is a huge group of electronics and semiconductor manufacturers that work together to create various standards for the industry to follow. DisplayPort is perhaps its most well-known technology these days and VESA has just updated the specification to v2.1a with the main change replacing the DP40 cable spec with DP54, which allows up to 8K 240Hz resolutions in 2m passive cables. It's big improvement but it actually doesn't matter.
The DisplayPort specification details how images can be sent from a source (e.g. graphics card) to a sink (e.g. monitors) via a four lane digital connection. Various signalling modes can be used, depending on what version of DisplayPort the sink and source both support.
In the case of DP1.4, the most common configuration that's currently used, the fastest mode is HBR3 (high bit rate), transmitting data at up to 8.1Gbps per lane.
Three extra modes were added with DisplayPort 2.0, namely UHBR10, UHBR13.5, and UHBR20. In the case of the latter, each lane offers a peak transmission rate of 20Gbps, as the name suggests. However, even if the sink and source are both capable of this, the actual data rate could be a lot lower, if the connecting cable isn't up to scratch.
This is why VESA developed a new specification for cables in the DisplayPort 2.1a update (as reported by Tom's Hardware) and the latest revision, DP54, requires manufacturers to ensure that a 2m passively-powered cable can support at least the UHBR13.5 mode.
That's double the length of the previous DP40 spec, which was always ridiculously short, and it required the sink and source to both be UHBR20-compliant. Now they just need to support the 13.5 mode, which makes far more sense.
In the world of PC gaming, there
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