Question on DisplayPort 1.2, 1.2a, and 'Adaptive-Sync'

[JThorpe]

Hello All,

I was reading the news regarding VESA adding 'Adaptive-Sync' to the DisplayPort 1.2a standard and I have a question about that.

Do you have to have a GPU that has a 1.2a DisplayPort to connect to a monitor that has a 1.2a DisplayPort to take advantage of 'Adaptive-Sync'?

I currently have a two 780 Ti's in SLI which have a 1.2 DisplayPort, and I am wondering if I will not be able to utilize 'Adaptive-Sync' if in the future I purchase a monitor that has the 1.2a DisplayPort.

Right now I am deciding on purchasing a G-Sync monitor, and If I cannot utilize 'Adaptive-Sync' because of my GPU's 1.2 DisplayPort that will make my decision easier. If I can connect to a 1.2a DisplayPort monitor with my 1.2 DisplayPort and utilize 'Adaptive-Sync' then I might hold off on the G-Sync monitor until the 1.2a monitors come out.

Thank you in advance
JThorpe

 

[The Von Matrices]

I would not expect any adaptive sync support from your GTX 780 TI. You would at the very least need a firmware update to change the Displayport signaling from 1.2 to 1.2a (i.e. drivers can't change it), and it's basically unheard of for a manufacturer to release a VBIOS update let alone one with new features.

If you look at the news articles it even says that AMD only is able to support it on only its newest GCN 1.1 parts (i.e. half of their current lineup can't support it) and they've been a big proponent of the technology.

 

[Steevo]

I would not expect any adaptive sync support from your GTX 780 TI. You would at the very least need a firmware update to change the Displayport signaling from 1.2 to 1.2a (i.e. drivers can't change it), and it's basically unheard of for a manufacturer to release a VBIOS update let alone one with new features.

If you look at the news articles it even says that AMD only is able to support it on only its newest GCN 1.1 parts (i.e. half of their current lineup can't support it) and they've been a big proponent of the technology.

They have been since Nvidia decided to tell customers to ante up more money for a proprietary technology, since frame rate doesn't matter and gsync will fix your issues with frame rate right?

 

[The Von Matrices]

They have been since Nvidia decided to tell customers to ante up more money for a proprietary technology, since frame rate doesn't matter and gsync will fix your issues with frame rate right?

This has very little to do with G-Sync and everything to do with a manufacturers focusing only on the newest product . Show me a time that a video card manufacturer has ever released a VBIOS update that enabled new features. The only VBIOS update I've ever seen was on a Gigabyte 5850, and that only changed the clock profiles so the card wouldn't cause a system crash in multi-monitor mode by throttling to clock speeds that were too low.

I went through a similar issue as the OP in that I own HD 7970s. AMD changed the firmware between the 7970 and R9 280X transition, allowing 3 DVI monitors in Eyefinity on the 280X but only two on the 7970. All it needed was a firmware update, but when I emailed AMD about it they said they had no plans to offer support for the older products like mine even if it was the same hardware.

The only time I can ever remember a manufacturer updating its display outputs was Sony with the Playstation 3, upgrading it from HDMI 1.3 to support most of the features of 1.4a. I have never seen a graphics card vendor do that.

 

[Steevo]

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/134516-the-amd-radeon-hd-7950-bios-issue-take-two/2

Motherboard BIOS's, my TV has new firmware as does my old DVD player. DVD-ROM.


Perhaps they won't release a BIOS or Firmware update, but they have stated the hardware is capable since they started putting DP on their cards AMD at least, so a homebrew firmware is a possibility, with all the extra cores and shaders we have been able to unlock for years I am not sure why this wouldn't be possible too.

 

[GhostRyder]

Technically that is the million dollar question, however it is very unlikely Nvidia will be allowing or updating something to handle a competitor style to their G-Sync lineup of monitors. Your likely not going to see that unlocked for quite some time if ever, so if you have an Nvidia card your going to probably end up wanting a g-sync monitor if you want the adaptive frame control.

 

[ValenOne]

This has very little to do with G-Sync and everything to do with a manufacturers focusing only on the newest product . Show me a time that a video card manufacturer has ever released a VBIOS update that enabled new features. The only VBIOS update I've ever seen was on a Gigabyte 5850, and that only changed the clock profiles so the card wouldn't cause a system crash in multi-monitor mode by throttling to clock speeds that were too low.

I went through a similar issue as the OP in that I own HD 7970s. AMD changed the firmware between the 7970 and R9 280X transition, allowing 3 DVI monitors in Eyefinity on the 280X but only two on the 7970. All it needed was a firmware update, but when I emailed AMD about it they said they had no plans to offer support for the older products like mine even if it was the same hardware.

The only time I can ever remember a manufacturer updating its display outputs was Sony with the Playstation 3, upgrading it from HDMI 1.3 to support most of the features of 1.4a. I have never seen a graphics card vendor do that.

For reference Radeon HD 7950 cards, AMD released 7950 to 7950 Boost Edition firmware update.

AMD's Boost Edition firmware update is pointless with my 7950 @ 900Mhz firmware.