DisplayPort
An alternative to HDMI that provides a similar pure-digital audio and video signal
with optional HDCP encryption. While HDMI was intended as a consumer
specification for entertainment devices, DisplayPort initially targets computer
systems. The Video Electronics Standard Association (VESA) backs the Display-
Port standard and has established compliance testing programs for it, which will
ensure interoperability of DisplayPort devices. Offering support for color depths
beyond 24 bits per pixel (16 million colors) and the potential of an easy future
upgrade to fiber optic connection, DisplayPort is a strong specification. But, it is
late to market, and it may be difficult to unseat entrenched standards such as
HDMI.
Video Cards
The circuitry that drives the monitor is contained on a video card or integrated into
the system motherboard.
There are four main components in a video card, as illustrated in Figure 1-3:
Memory
An area of memory set aside to keep track of the image on the screen (the
framebuffer) and other video-related data such as pixmaps, save-unders, and
images that will be composed into the framebuffer by the GPU.
Historically, successive generations of video cards have swung back and forth
between using a reserved area of main system memory for the framebuffer and
using a completely separate bank of physical memory.
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