DisplayPort Alt Mode 2.0 for USB-C devices allows for 16K display resolutions

The Video Electronics Standards Association has released a new specification that opens the door for future USB-C devices to support DisplayPort 2.0, and ultra-high resolution displays.

Originally announced in June 2019, DisplayPort 2.0 supports resolutions up to 16K, higher refresh rates, HDR support at higher resolutions, and improvements to multi-display support and augmented and virtual reality displays. On Wednesday, VESA released the specification for DisplayPort Alt Mode 2.0, which will allow future USB4 and USB Type-C to take full advantage of those improvements.

"VESA's updated DisplayPort Alt Mode spec includes a number of under-the-hood developments— including updates to interface discovery and configuration as well as power management— to ensure seamless integration with the USB4 specification," said Craig Wiley, a VESA board member and DisplayPort Alt Mode sub-group leader.

The DisplayPort Alt Mode 2.0 now allows USB Type-C devices to deliver single-connector docking solutions for a range of devices with the 80 Gbps of video bandwidth and other improvements introduced with DisplayPort 2.0.

USB4, which Apple will likely adopt in future Mac devices, is a convergence of the Thunderbolt and USB protocols. When it's released, it should offer Thunderbolt on a royalty-free basis, which could pave the way for more and cheaper Thunderbolt accessories to hit the market.

The first of USB4 devices should arrive in late 2020. VESA said that it expects the initial rollout of DisplayPort Alt Mode 2.0 to occur sometime in 2021.

9 Comments

donjuan 61 comments · 8 Years

About 4 years ago

TB gear has always been too expensive.

tommy65 56 comments · 6 Years

So what does this mean resolution wise moving pixels around the clock.

Setup with one screen:
16K or 15,360 x 8,460 resolution HDR 60Hz up to 30 bits per pixel.
Setup with two screens:
8K or 7,680 x 4,320 resolution HDR 120Hz up to 30 bits per pixel. DSC-required though.

M68000 868 comments · 7 Years

I’m not up on usb4 specs, just hope it does not mean another new connector to deal with, we barely have usb-c in use relative to all equipment in use

netrox 1502 comments · 12 Years

M68000 said:

I’m not up on usb4 specs, just hope it does not mean another new connector to deal with, we barely have usb-c in use relative to all equipment in use

It's still the same. Same interface. No changes needed.

elijahg 2823 comments · 18 Years

donjuan said:

TB gear has always been too expensive.

This kinda thing is part of the reason. No one* needs a 16k display, but the spec-whores will moan until the connector supports it, even if no one actually uses it. Then everyone will have to pay the R&D costs for something they don't need. Apple will (eventually) add it to the MacBooks partly to justification the price. Also the cost of the TB chipsets is part of the problem, there aren't really any TB > USB 3 (or x interface) chips, and so you have to go TB > PCI-E >USB 3 (or x). Which makes it expensive. Hell until a few years ago most people were still on VGA.

I was looking at an external drive a while back, and the USB 3 ones were literally half the price of the TB ones. I think eventually TB will be displaced by USB, which is a shame as TB is a better tech.

Edit: USB 4 basically IS Thunderbolt. Right.

*ok, maybe some top-end pros