AMD Display Technologies whitepaper
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DISPLAY TECHNOLOGIES Discrete Digital Multi-Point Audio 2 DISCRETE DIGITAL MULTI-POINT AUDIO 3 Stereoscopic 3D on AMD Radeon™ Graphics 7 Maximum AMD Eyefinity Technology Resolution 11 High Bit-rate Audio 12 Frame Sequential Displays 13 HDMI® Stereo 3D Packed Frame_14 DisplayPort™ MSA Miscl Bits 15 White Paper I AMD RADEON™ HD SERIES GRAPHICS

The new display technologies integrated exclusively in the AMD Radeon™ HD 7700-7900 Series are designed to deliver new and unique experiences with impressive performance in these different technologies: Display devices have always been an integral part of the PC experience. Whether it is in the form of a desktop monitor, a notebook's embedded panel, or the touch screen of a PC tablet, display devices play a vital role in defining the user's visual experience. Discrete Digital Multi-Point Audio -» As the display industry moves toward digital interfaces that support audio, such as HDMI® and...

DISCRETE DIGITAL MULTI-POINT AUDIO Today's PC monitors increasingly support HDMI® and DisplayPort™ inputs. Typically, these PC monitors have the ability to decode and convert a digital audio stream from the HDMI® Cor DisplayPort™) input and transmit the sound through its embedded speakers or a stereo jack for external speakers. In addition, end users today have the option of connecting their PCs to HDTVs, which support audio through HDMI®. With this in mind, AMD looked for ways to enable new and unique use cases for end-users using multiple displays with audio capability. This gave birth to...

Transmitting multiple audio streams oan be achieved through multiple DisplayPort™ outputs, and oan be combined with one HDMI® output. For graphics cards with limited display output connectors, DDMA can be fully realized with DisplayPort™ 1.2-enabled equipment, such as a multi-stream transport hub or daisy-chainable monitors. DDMA Applications There are numerous use cases that DDMA enables, the most prominent of which is multi-display video conferencing. DDMA technology enhances a multi-display video conferencing experience by adding a "directional" audio element when used with multiple...

Application developers oan innovate in this area and provide unique solutions for end-users to control their media server wherever they are located. As an example, there are applications today that allow users to interact with and control the media server application using smartphones or tablets that communicate through their wireless network. DDMA technology is a cost-effective solution to support multi-room entertainment. Today's PC gamers typically like to multi-task while they are playing their favorite games. Whether they are waiting for their opponents in turn-based RPGs, or waiting...

In 2006, PC manufacturers (including AMD) collaborated in designing the next generation PC display interface, which would eventually be known as DisplayPort™. DisplayPort™ was designed to replace DVI and VGA by offering features that are beneficial to both system integrators and end users. It was also designed to be flexible and easily extensible for new features that the market will require In the future. The first generation of DisplayPort™ provided 10.8 Gbps of raw bandwidth, which no other display interface can match. DisplayPort™ also supported very long non-active cables, optional...

DisplayPort™ 1.2 supports up to twice the bandwidth of DisplayPort™ 1.1a. High Bit-rate 2 CHBR2) provides up to 5.4 Gbps/lane of bandwidth, or up to 21.6 Gbps in a full four lane configuration. This lends itself very well to many applications that require ultra-high bandwidth. Chart 7 illustrates the wide range of display timings (resolution, refresh rate, and color depth) supported by various digital display interfaces. HO MD+ FultHD WQXGA QFHD 4k*2k Chart V. Comparison of video data rate versus resolution at different refresh rates and color depths As illustrated in Chart 7, DisplayPort"...

Multi-Stream Transport Leveraging the micro-packet architecture of DisplayPort™, DisplayPort™ 1.2 adds the capability to address and drive several display devices through one DisplayPort™ connector. This feature has often been referred to as daisy-chaining or addressable displays. Multi-stream transport, or MST for short, can be leveraged using two types of system design. Figure 6 illustrates how MST can be used with daisy-chainable monitors. Each of the monitors in the daisy-chain configuration, with the exception of the last monitor in the chain, must have a DisplayPort™ receiver and a...

The number of display devices, and also the timings that each display device can be driven at, will depend on the available bandwidth. Table 2 lists the multi-display configurations possible with HBR Table 2: Display configurations supported by HBR1 and HBR2 In 2009, AMD first announced the Eyefinity Multi-display feature. This differentiating feature has been well received by reviewers and end- users alike. While the appeal is mainly for ultra-wide screen and high resolution gaming, this feature also caters to those looking to increase their productivity through multi-monitor...

As an example of how to combine MST and AMD Eyefinity, consider Figure 9. Using an MST hub, which is expected to be available in the second half of 2012, even the AMD Radeon™ HD 7900 reference board can drive up to six displays using only two DisplayPort™ connectors. This provides an upgrade path for end-users who have three monitors today, but may want to upgrade to five or six monitors in the future. Figure 9: Using MST Hub to drive six displays Aside from multi-output hubs, AMD expects less expensive DisplayPort™ 1.2 MST dongles in the market, which support up to two display outputs....

Maximum AMD Eyefinity Technology Resolution The ATI Radeon™ HD 5000 series GPUs supported a maximum AMD Eyefinity technology resolution of 8192 pixels wide by 8192 pixels high. The AMD Radeon™ HD 6000 and 7000 Series GPUs removes this limitation and supports a maximum AMD Eyefinity technology resolution of 16384x16384 pixels, which enables new usage scenarios. Figure 11 shows one example of an AMD Eyefinity technology configuration which is not supported with previous generation GPUs. Figure 11 AMD Eyefinity technology configuration that exceeds 8192x8192 limitation but supported by AMD...