AMD’s next-generation Navi 31 GPUs, which are expected to power the Radeon RX 7950 XT and other high-end Radeon RX 7000 Series graphics cards, will feature support for the unannounced DisplayPort 2.1 specification, according to HardOCP’s Kyle Bennett. “Verification from multiple sources that @Radeon Navi 31 will support upcoming DisplayPort 2.1 specification,” Bennett tweeted, before going on to point out that NVIDIA’s new flagship GeForce RTX 4090, which starts at $1,599, only supports DisplayPort 1.4a. NVIDIA claimed that DisplayPort 2.0 is still “a ways away in the future” in a GeForce RTX 40 Series Community Q&A that was posted in September 2022.
- Q: Why isn’t DisplayPort 2.0 listed on the spec sheet?
- A: The current DisplayPort 1.4 standard already supports 8K at 60Hz. Support for DisplayPort 2.0 in consumer gaming displays are still a ways away in the future.
Verification from multiple sources that @Radeon Navi 31 will support upcoming DisplayPort 2.1 specification. I am tremendously surprised that @NVIDIAGeForce 4090 only supports DP 1.4a. Props to @LinusTech for calling out the DP1.4/4090 shortcomings! https://t.co/eW84VicAZr pic.twitter.com/4fmOtcnlth
— Kyle Bennett (@KyleBennett) October 12, 2022
From Linus Tech Tips, which called NVIDIA out for omitting DisplayPort 2.0:
[…] NVIDIA doesn’t think you need them on a $1,600 graphics card. The official line is,
“DisplayPort 1.0 already supports 8K at 60 hertz, and the consumer displays won’t need more for while,” which might sound fair until you realize that you are also limited to 120 hertz at 4K, a performance level the RTX 4090 can exceed, as we’ve seen.The only way to get higher refresh rates at DisplayPort 1.4 is to use Chroma subsampling, which is, to put it mildly, a suboptimal experience on such premium hardware. 240 hertz 4K displays exist today and will have DisplayPort 2.0 support soon. Arc already supports it, and RDNA 3 has been confirmed to support DisplayPort 2.0 since May. NVIDIA is clearly trying to save a buck again.
DisplayPort 2.0 offers a usable bandwidth of 77.4 Gbps, enabling up to a 3X increase in video bandwidth performance versus DisplayPort 1.4. It is the first standard to support 8K resolution (7680 x 4320) at 60 Hz refresh rate with full-color 4:4:4 resolution, including with 30 bits per pixel (bpp) for HDR-10 support, according to VESA’s official FAQ.