VESA Unveils DisplayPort 1.4a, Brings 8K to Laptops

Feeling big with that new 4K ASUS latop, or 5K iMac? Well now feel what it’s like to be brought back down to earth. The guilty party for doing so is the Video Electronics Standards Association (or VESA for short) has unveiled Embedded DisplayPort 1.4a, which allows for all-in-ones and laptops to connect to 8K displays. To make this easier, the technology uses compression to get all the data into the video feed, and divides displays into two or four segments, allowing the pipeline to cope with the extra pixels.

But wait, there’s more! In doing this, PCs will need less data paths to drive lower resolutions, which will result in the usage of tinner and more efficient displays. This means laptops that “only” support 4K could gain increased battery life. With these new systems using DisplayPort 1.4a shipping next year, this is more than a theoretical exercise. However, all this will be dependent on how fast 8K displays become readily available and affordable.

Source: Engadget