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AMD Radeon HD 6000 cards receive VESA DisplayPort 1.2 certification, merit badges

Chris Barylick
Editor
Updated ·5 min read

When the certifications come in, you wipe a tear from your eye and ponder how proud you are. On Thursday, the Video Electronics Standards Association announced that AMD's Radeon HD 6000 series graphics cards, including the high-end Radeon HD 6990, are the first to receive DisplayPort Version 1.2 certification. That means the cards are rated to support DisplayPort's 5.4Gbps HBR2 data link speed and also feature increased display resolution, color depths and refresh rates, plus improved support for Full HD 3D stereoscopic displays. For the multiple monitor die-hards, there's also better support for multiple monitors connected to a single DisplayPort receptacle to make your lives easier. Full technical details are in the PR below, but it's good to see a capable card series grow up a bit / become a man.



AMD Radeon™ HD 6000 Series First to Achieve DisplayPort® 1.2 Source Certification

Select AMD Radeon HD 6000 Series Graphics Products Achieve DisplayPort 1.2 Certification with Fast HBR2 Data Transfer Rate

NEWARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA®) today announced that select AMD Radeon™ HD 6000 series graphics products, including the AMD Radeon HD 6990, the world's fastest graphics card, are the first source devices to achieve DisplayPort® Version 1.2 certification. AMD received certification from Granite River Labs, a Santa Clara, California-based VESA DisplayPort Authorized Test Center (ATC), for support of DisplayPort's new 5.4Gbps (gigabits-per-second) HBR2 (High Bit Rate 2) data link rate. These same AMD Radeon HD 6000 graphics products also include additional features from the DisplayPort 1.2 standard, such as multi-stream transport (MST) and Full High Definition (HD) 3D stereoscopic display support.

"Achieving DisplayPort 1.2 Source device certification is an important milestone for us"
"Achieving DisplayPort 1.2 Source device certification is an important milestone for us," said David Cummings, director, Graphics Technical Marketing, AMD. "With DisplayPort, we are able to go beyond offering enthusiast gamers faster performance and advanced image quality features. Depending on the GPU model, we can now offer dozens of multi-monitor configuration options up to and including six simultaneous displays, flexibility in display selection, and new DisplayPort audio features, creating an ultra-immersive visual environment for the ultimate gaming experience."

By doubling the maximum data transfer rate to 21.6Gbps, the HBR2 link rate offered by VESA's DisplayPort Version 1.2 standard significantly enhances display and audio performance. This includes increased display resolution, color depths and refresh rates, improved support for Full HD 3D stereoscopic displays, and with MST, better support for multiple monitors connected to a single DisplayPort receptacle. These features make DisplayPort the best choice for high performance PC gaming, prompting increased demand for DisplayPort 1.2 certified products.

"As we continue to expand the capabilities of the DisplayPort standard and add benefits for the end user, we are simultaneously increasing the value of device certification for our members," said Bill Lempesis, executive director of VESA. "We look forward to the support and promotion of more certified devices while encouraging others to participate in the compliance program."

DisplayPort 1.2 certification testing is available through VESA's seven certified third-party test houses in Asia and the United States, including Allion Test Labs in Beaverton, Ore., Shenzhen, China, and Taipei, Taiwan; Cable Assemblies and Connector Labs ETC in Taoyuan Hsien, Taiwan; CESI Technology Company Ltd. in Beijing; Granite River Labs; and Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA) in Korea. Once submitted for certification testing, sink and source devices must pass a series of tests to prove compliance with the DisplayPort Version 1.2 standard as outlined in several test documents that include VESA's PHY Layer Compliance Test Specification (CTS), Link Layer CTS, and EDID CTS.

"Being part of the first DisplayPort 1.2 Source device certification is a significant milestone for us," said Mike Engbretson, chief technology engineer of Granite River Labs. "We're thrilled to be at the epicenter of increasing momentum for DisplayPort 1.2 certification in Silicon Valley. By providing a full suite of DisplayPort product testing, we're aiding in the adoption of DisplayPort worldwide. We will continue to contribute to the compliance testing program for DisplayPort 1.2 as it gains more and more traction as an industry standard."

For more information about DisplayPort, or the standard, please visit http://www.displayport.org. For more information about VESA, please visit http://www.vesa.org/ or find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/VESADisplayPort.

About VESA:
The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) is an international, non-profit standards association, representing a global network of hardware, software, PC, display, and component manufacturers committed to developing and promoting the electronics industry. VESA's established track record of creating and supporting simple, universal, and cross-product solutions for today's video and electronics industry, such as DisplayPort, provides consumers with the confidence necessary to explore new technology standards, such as multi-monitor streaming, direct drive capability, and Full HD 3D support without confusion or difficulty. For more information about VESA, visit www.vesa.org.

About AMD:
AMD (NYSE: AMD) is a semiconductor design innovator leading the next era of vivid digital experiences with its groundbreaking AMD Fusion Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) that power a wide range of computing devices. AMD's server computing products are focused on driving industry-leading cloud computing and virtualization environments. AMD's superior graphics technologies are found in a variety of solutions ranging from game consoles, PCs to supercomputers. For more information, visit http://www.amd.com.

About Granite River Labs:
Granite River Labs (GRL) provides a range of Engineering Services to help customers adopt High Speed Connectivity technologies from the IC to System level, including compliance testing, debugging, characterization, Signal/Power Integrity modeling & simulation, stress testing, benchmarking, and interoperability. An Authorized Test Center for DisplayPort, ThunderBolt, and SATA, GRL has deep expertise in a wide range of technologies including HDMI, MHL, PCIe Gen3, USB 3.0, DDR, and 10G Ethernet. GRL's test facilities are conveniently located in Silicon Valley, Taiwan (Hsinchu & Taipei), and near Stuttgart, Germany.