VESA has released the DisplayPort 2.1 specification. The update is fully backward compatible with DisplayPort 2.0, and thanks to the association’s many months of collaboration with partners, all DP 2.0-certified devices (video cards, monitors, cables, etc.) will fully meet the requirements of DisplayPort 2.1.

What has changed? According to VESA, the updated standard optimizes connectivity through both the standard DP connector and USB-C and USB4. One of the main innovations in DisplayPort 2.1 is a new control function that allows you to use the USB4 connection more efficiently when transferring other data at the same time as the main video stream. Thanks to the Display Stream Compression (DSC) codec and the Panel Replay protocol, VESA claims that it will be possible to reduce the use of bandwidth by 67% without the appearance of visual artifacts.

Cable specifications have also been updated — now they can be longer for the same bandwidth. Yes, DisplayPort 2.1 DP40 cables can be more than 2 meters long, while DP80 cables can be more than 1 m.