DisplayPort Vs HDMI: Which Display Cable Should I Use For My Monitor?

DisplayPort:

The current DisplayPort 1.4 version supports HDR, compression, and 32-channel audio support. This swift data rate allows 4K resolutions to enjoy 120Hz and 144Hz refresh rates, although the latter requires the new SDC compression modes enabled. It supports up to 8K resolution at 60Hz.

Nvidia’s G-Sync also requires DisplayPort, and while AMD’s FreeSync is supported over some HDMI connections, adaptive sync technology has been baked as an option into the DisplayPort standard since 1.2a so adaptive sync DisplayPort monitors are much easier to find.

Attaching multiple displays is also more flexible with DisplayPort, since Thunderbolt-style daisy chaining is possible. This is a boon for productivity tasks, although gamers beware since this style of multi-monitor connection shares bandwidth between screens.

USB-C connectors also output video over the DisplayPort standard, which makes it easy to output video from a laptop or Android phone with an adapter to the typical DP plug (or HDMI).

Next generation DisplayPort has already been finalized and bumps bandwidth to a massive 40 Gb/s, enabling uncompressed 4K at 144Hz, 5K at 60Hz, 10-bit color depths and compressed modes supporting up to 8K at 120Hz. It’ll be a while before displays you can actually buy catch up.

What kind of cable do you need?

New versions of the DisplayPort standard (1.4 as of late 2017) require new hardware in your graphics card and monitor, but no changes in the cable. Any generic DisplayPort cable you buy will be future proof.

When is the next update expected?

At CES 2019, VESA announced that it expected to release a new version sometime in the first half of the year—and that it would support 8K @ 60 Hz without compression.

HDMI Cable :

Found pretty much everywhere, HDMI is handy and cheap, but riddled with compromises. The outdated version 1.4 has a limited 8-bit color range and bandwidth capabilities peaking at around 10 Gb/s. This along with other limitations isn’t enough to support 4K beyond an eye-busting 24Hz, and at 1080p the fun stops at 60Hz.

Fortunately, HDMI 2.0 and 2.0a arrived a few years back and largely match DisplayPort’s abilities, although at a lower peak bandwidth of 18 Gb/s, so 4K is limited to 60Hz. While most current video cards support HDMI 2.0, monitor support is much less certain with even high-end computer displays, such as Asus RoG Swift PG348Q, only offering HDMI 1.4 inputs.

Version 2.0 or better HDMI is mostly found on high end TVs, such as LG’s OLED C7, since it’s required for HDR support. This makes HDMI 2.0 the perfect connector pick for people looking to game at high refresh rates or 4K resolutions with living room PCs on big screen displays, since the standard supports 4K at 60Hz and 1080p at 144Hz.

Just finalized is HDMI 2.1, which blows the doors off HDMI limits with maximum resolutions of 10K at 120Hz, frame-by-frame HDR, and a variable refresh rate gaming mode, but before these dreams come true let’s see better HDMI 2.0 adoption in the PC display market today.

What kind of cable do you need? 

There are a number of HDMI cable variants, but the one you want is a High Speed HDMI cable. This will definitely work with 4K displays and support the full bandwidth of HDMI 2.0.

When is the next update expected? 

HDMI 2.1 could start arriving in high-end devices in 2018. It will require a new cable, though the connector is unchanged. Bandwidth jumps from 18Gbps to 48Gbps, but this will only be significant for gaming at 4K/120Hz, etc.

If you are looking for AOC HDMI , Contact us 

An Active Optical Cable (AOC) looks much like a traditional passive copper cable but inside it utilizes modern fiber optics for superior performance.