DisplayPort to support HDCP, too
by Thomas Ricker 
posted Jan 3rd 2007 at 8:39AM
Analogix Semiconductor just announced its first receiver chip for the DisplayPort interconnect. Yeah, DisplayPort, the latest video interconnect standard which looks to replace HDMI, DVI, and even analog VGA connectors currently found in monitors, TVs, laptops and other portable consumer electronics. What's more, it's fully supported and even, preferred by the Video Electronics Standard Association (VESA) as a low power, low pin count, license-free video interconnect standard. The ANX9811 chip is now available to manufactures for sampling and, when paired with the company's existing ANX9801 transmitter, supports a full 10.8 Gbits/second data rate and WQXGA (2560×1600) resolution over a 15-meter cable. Fine. But the real news here is that the chips will support the DisplayPort 1.1 spec which was proposed in November and should be finalized by VESA in early 2007. The modified spec brings support for DisplayPorts own copy protection technology and now, finally, HDCP. It's not that we're big fans of HDCP or anything, but if we have to be saddled with wire-line encryption, let's choose one and be done with it, eh? Expect to hear more about DisplayPort at CES where Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Samsung will be laying out the interconnect's roadmap in an fractured industry love-fest. Still, like any good standard, you'll have choices: Intel's also pushing their UDI (Unified Display Interface) interconnect to replace both DVI and HDMI in PCs. If we're lucky, Adam Smith will grab whole lot by the throat to shake out a unified standard before the decade is up.
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