Monday, December 28th 2009
DisplayLink to Adopt USB 3.0
DisplayLink, the company behind USB-based display controllers has disclosed plans to release a display chip during the upcoming CES event next month, that runs on USB 3.0 SuperSpeed interface. The new chip will make use of the increased bandwidth (up to 4.8 Gbps vs. 480 Mbps of USB 2.0), to transmit higher-resolution videos. The current USB 2.0 based DisplayLink chips are able to transmit display of 3D games at 60 fps and HD video at 26~27 fps. The new USB 3.0 based chip will be able to do the same faster, without any flickering, said Dennis Crespo, executive vice-president of marketing and business development at DisplayLink. The DisplayLink technology involves using the system's graphics hardware to drive multiple display-heads, by transmitting display across USB.
Source:
ComputerWorld
17 Comments on DisplayLink to Adopt USB 3.0
image controllers hardware peripherals displays all using the same interface eventually that might be the case with things like Displaylink using the interface although it wont happen anytime soon.
still its a decent update USB 3 should allow for smooth video compared to USB 2
so 480Mb/s for USB2.0 was actually 240Mb each way (divide by 8 and you get 30MB/s... the best you ever get from USB 2.0 devices)
so while they claim 4.8Gb/s, odds are very good it will really be 2.4Gb/s each direction.
that said, its exactly what these guys need. USB monitors are weird, but there are many situations where they'd be useful (mostly for business use, where adaptor is cheaper than another video card - assuming the mobo even has spare slots)
they do the job, but FPS was lacking. USB 3.0 should remedy that.
edit: since they mention it using the "systems graphics hardware" i wonder if this would work for a third display in eyefinity, instead of needing an active DP to DVI adapator?
Drop the color depth to 24 bit, run at say... 1440x900 and it should be easily doable on USB 3.0 (but it may well be CPU intensive, or have a slight lag)
Looking forward to seeing DisplayLink's technology grow with the addition of USB 3 support. I'd love to see up to 2560 x 1600 support, or multiple monitors via a single USB 3 connection. Sadly, USB 3 ain't coming to the Mac for some time :(.
-robodude666
P.S. 4.8Gb/s is .6GB/s :).