DisplayPort Standard with 8K Support for Notebooks and All-in-Ones Heading for Mid-2016 Launch

[MacRumors]

The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) yesterday announced that it has officially published the Embedded DisplayPort (eDP) Standard version 1.4b, which brings the previous 1.4a iteration into the final stages of production-ready status for future notebook and all-in-one desktop displays. This final revision of the eDP 1.4 standard includes a few "key protocol refinements and clarifications" to ensure ease-of-integration for partners supporting it and an overall lower bill of materials costs to its implementation.

The eDP 1.4 standard was announced two years ago, with an improved eDP 1.4a standard arriving earlier this year setting the stage for future 8K support on notebooks and all-in-one desktop computers.

The association promises that GPUs and CPUs that run the DisplayPort 1.3 standard for external display connectivity with 5K support will also be able to eDP 1.4b for internal uses. DisplayPort 1.3 support is, however, still only in the early stages, with Intel's latest Skylake chips not including it.

According to Bill Lempesis, executive director at VESA, "Since its introduction in 2008, eDP has become a central system element within the mobile computing market space. The standard has continued to retain its lead in display performance, supporting embedded panels with resolutions as high as 8K. We look forward to seeing systems incorporating the finalized standard come to fruition next year, broadening the number of consumers receiving clear, crisp visual information delivered by eDP 1.4 on their laptops, tablets, all-in-one PCs and possibly even smart phones."

Apple's current 27-inch Retina iMac line-up uses its 5K Retina display to come in at 5120 x 2880 pixels, while the new eDP 1.4b standard could introduce an 8K monitor with a 7680 x 4320 display. The catch with the possibility of 8K is that it's still far from being widely supported, with only a select few high-end television sets backing the ultra high-def standard. Apple itself just launched a new line of 4K 21-inch and 5K 27-inch iMacs, so 8K support from the Cupertino company is still a ways off as well.

VESA notes that while it positions eDP 1.4b as the standard for the future, current machines are just beginning to integrate with eDP 1.3 and even earlier. Still, the association predicts a mid-2016 incorporation for the first system displays with 8K support, "and the final standard should continue to increase in adoption and be used in production for several years."

Article Link: DisplayPort Standard with 8K Support for Notebooks and All-in-Ones Heading for Mid-2016 Launch

 

[sputnikv]

All we need now is that stand-alone retina display

 

[ThatTechGuy]

Still waiting for 16K.

 

[pgiguere1]

8K at what frequency? 30 Hz? Because it probably won't be used much in monitors until it can reach 60 Hz. Also it'd be nice to know what this implies for other resolutions, e.g. can it allow 4K at 120 or 144 Hz?

Edit: The source mentions a theoretical bandwidth of 25.92 Gbps, so making the math:
7680 × 4320 × 24bit × 30Hz = 23.887872 Gbps
So yeah, only 8K at 30Hz, that's pretty pointless.

On the upside, it does allow 4K at 120 Hz, since
3840 x 2160 × 24bit × 120Hz = 23.887872 Gbps
as well. That's the real news IMO.

 

[macduke]

Can you even imagine a 40" iMac with 8K retina display? It would be completely ridiculous, but for some reason I want it.

Each 8K screenshot would be about 33 megapixels. As a web designer, this is really making me cringe. The web isn't ready for that kind of image resolution! Hell, most cameras aren't even ready for that kind of resolution! Haha.

 

[jayducharme]

Unless another compression technology comes along, I can't see 8k being very useful. The bandwidth required is so massive that I'm sure iTunes won't carry it for years to come. There needs to be another technological breakthrough in order for this to catch on. Either that, or fiber optic Internet connections will have to become standard.

 

[macs4nw]

Stop that please, lol
I can't keep up

 

[keysofanxiety]

Can you even imagine a 40" iMac with 8K retina display? It would be completely ridiculous, but for some reason I want it.

Each 8K screenshot would be about 33 megapixels. As a web designer, this is really making me cringe. The web isn't ready for that kind of image resolution! Hell, most cameras aren't even ready for that kind of resolution! Haha.

8K Retina display.
Hex-core i7@4GHz.
32GB 2100MHz RAM.
Dual nVidia GTX GPUs@4GB each.
5400RPM HDD.

 

[chucker23n1]

All we need now is that stand-alone retina display

Not gonna happen before a machine can drive it. Which in turn requires a new Thunderbolt and/or DisplayPort.

 

[Lexdexia]

8K sound great. I just hope 8K iMacs and MacBook Pros down the road have the graphical power to support such high resolution. My 15-inch MacBook Pro with 2880x1800 resolution can't even play any good games at that native resolution, thanks to the mediocre dedicated AMD GPU.

 

[Pelea]

4k is enough unless you're in need of a 30 + inch monitor, in which case you'd use a 5k display.. 8k is just ridiculous, and offers NO advantages whatsoever (unless you're using a 40 inch plus monitor....from 1 meter away.). 1080p was already great but not perfect as there still is a difference in clarity between 1080 and 4k. why the hell would we waste our money on 8k?

 

[Maflagulator]

Unless another compression technology comes along, I can't see 8k being very useful. The bandwidth required is so massive that I'm sure iTunes won't carry it for years to come. There needs to be another technological breakthrough in order for this to catch on. Either that, or fiber optic Internet connections will have to become standard.

What I like that this might also bring with it is the ability to run a 5K external display off of a single cable, and not require a pair of DisplayPort cables in order to do this st 5K. Hence the reason why we most likely have not seen a standalone 5K monitor from Apple yet.

The benefits of such a high resolution are not limited to Movie and TV content. No one is complaining about the 5K iMac being worthless since there is no 5K streaming content. It's simply for the benefit of crisp content on the screen. This is for computer displays, not television screens.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

I wouldn't expect Apple support for it in 2016. Skylake processors DON'T support this and Apple hasn't even rolled them out across their lineup yet (and won't likely until mid 2016). It's going to be a while.

 

[tevion5]

All we need now is that stand-alone retina display

Exactly. I too want to drive down the prices of the Thunderbolt Displays.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

4k is enough unless you're in need of a 30 + inch monitor, in which case you'd use a 5k display.. 8k is just ridiculous, and offers NO advantages whatsoever (unless you're using a 40 inch plus monitor....from 1 meter away.). 1080p was already great but not perfect as there still is a difference in clarity between 1080 and 4k. why the hell would we waste our money on 8k?

8K is the same quality as IMAX, if I'm not mistaken. So this tech might not be used for computers, but might become normal for theaters and possibly even high end home theaters.

 

[odedia]

So I'll FINALY be able to see the images from my Nikon D800E full screen at full resolution .

 

[kyjaotkb]

8k has the benefit of being backed by some television/sports broadcasters as a full standard (Super-Hi Vision), as opposed to "4K", which is backed by Netflix and not many others.
For instance the Olympics and other high profile sports competitions are filmed in SHV.

Sadly it looks like DisplayPort 1.4b will not be able to cope with the mammoth bandwidth of SHV, which requires 8k @59.94Hz minimum (and a 22.2 surround system, yep).

http://www.nhk.or.jp/8k/index_e.html

 

[aPple nErd]

5400RPM HDD.

 

[pat500000]

Hope that new mac pro comes out.

 

[Lesser Evets]

They are merely paving the road for 8K. 8K won't become available in consumer screens or broadcasts until 2018--earliest--and probably will hit the major markets in 2019/2020. ...at least that is what I read about it.

 

[Luis Mazza]

When 8K is ready, I also hope that marketing departments also promote a partnership to greatly improve the human eye. Otherwise that is utterly useless.

 

[shareef777]

8K Retina display.
Hex-core i7@4GHz.
32GB 2100MHz RAM.
Dual nVidia GTX GPUs@4GB each.
5400RPM HDD.

Haha, I laughed way too hard on that one.

 

[btrach144]

I'm not interested in this. Wake me up when 64k is a worldwide standard.

Seriously though, we probably won't see 1.4a in ANY products till at least late 2017 or even 2018. I think their estimation of mid 2016 is laughable.

 

[btrach144]

Unless another compression technology comes along, I can't see 8k being very useful. The bandwidth required is so massive that I'm sure iTunes won't carry it for years to come. There needs to be another technological breakthrough in order for this to catch on. Either that, or fiber optic Internet connections will have to become standard.

Most copper wire Internet can provide 1 Gbps so it's not like we need fiber. It's just that most ISPs are lazy to upgrade their copper networks to allow this greater transmission speed.

I have 175 Mbps down and 25 Mbps up. While I can see these speeds at speedtest.net, I rarely see them while downloading 2GB+ downloads from iTunes. It seems like iTunes is good for 25 Mbps. I hardly even see these speeds when downloading 4k 100GB movies for my TV. My point is that content providers need to catch up.

 

[GenesisST]

I think I need better eyes!