If you aren’t familiar with HDMI and DisplayPort, you should be.

For years, being able to put a PowerPoint presentation on the display in your conference room meant plugging your laptop’s external monitor cable on to a funny looking 15-pin connector that most people referred to as a “VGA Connector.” Now that your company probably has all of its conference rooms outfitted with VGA connections, you will be pleased to know that the industry as a whole is moving away from that tried and true format. I’m actually not happy about it, as I’ve really gotten to know VGA over the years, but a new standard has been developed, driven primarily by concern over content security.

What — and why is — this happening? The “Powers That Be” must now provide their content in higher resolutions to viewers with displays that are cable of 1080p. They are happy to do that, but they’re also concerned about people making illegal copies of their precious high resolution product. Because of that concern, HDCP (high definition content protection) was developed by Intel Corporation as a means to protect high definition content between the source and the display. It works by forcing electronics manufacturers to license the technology and share software keys among each other when their products are connected together digitally. This digital handshake occurs when you connect two HDCP-licensed devices together using HDMI, DVI, or DisplayPort cable and connector technology.

HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) was developed as a way for consumers to connect their high resolution source devices (such as Blu-ray DVD players) to high resolution displays. An HDMI cable is typically cheaper than a DisplayPort cable, and it is currently the most popular HD connection product on the market. HDMI can transfer up to 400 MB/per sec at up to 1920x1080 for about 6 feet. DisplayPort is rapidly gaining popularity, and, interestingly enough, it’s gaining favor with PC manufacturers and the IT industry. This is because DisplayPort is capable of transferring a whopping 10.8 GB per sec. at resolutions of up to 2560 x 1600 for about 6 feet. Something that I favor about DisplayPort is that it features latching connectors and it’s generally smaller than HDMI. What about DVI? It’s a large connector (even larger than VGA) in an era when people want smaller ones. So it just may come down to HDMI and DisplayPort.

Which one is going to be the most widespread format and technology in the future? There is really no way to know. Most people in the AV industry are currently saying that engineers need to provide for both HDMI and DisplayPort capability within every system currently on the drawing board.

What exactly is a technology manager to do when overseeing the use and upgrade of your AV enterprise? There are several things you can do, but first, in all of your new builds, you should consider providing all three — VGA inputs, HDMI inputs, and DisplayPort inputs. Sadly, this is not going to be easy or cheap, but it will more than likely save money in the long run.

For existing rooms, there are several options. In simpler rooms, you can just provide an HDMI or DisplayPort input using extenders and going straight to your projector, thus bypassing most of the system, but at least you have a cheap and simple upgrade. In more complex rooms, things can get tricky, because you have to be able to pass HDCP along your signal chain. For example, if you have a user that wants to transmit a PowerPoint presentation to the far side of a videoconference, what do you do? You can set the room up similar to the simpler rooms, and use the projector’s local monitor output and route it back into your systems matrix switching or codec’s graphics input. This should work as long as your user’s laptop isn’t outputting HDCP-encrypted content. This is just one scenario, but you should review all of your “as built” drawings, and determine what the best approach is for each room. There are a number of products now coming on the market to make that job simpler and more cost-efficient.

As you can see, just when we were all getting good at providing for our users, the game is starting to change. Moving forward, you will need to make sure you are keeping the basic rules of HDCP and the limitations of HDMI and DisplayPort in mind, with an eye on which technology gains favor. Planning for HDMI and DisplayPort on all new builds should position you well for this new era.

Joey D’Angelo is a principal consultant with Charles M. Salter Associates in San Francisco, CA, and specializes in AV/telecommunication systems. He can be reached at joseph.dangelo@ cmsalter.com.