DisplayLink, the leading developer of USB-to-video technology, is stepping up to USB 3.0 in a big way. At the Intel Developer Forum today, the company showed off its new USB 3.0 chip, which will be sold to vendors as the DL-3000 and DL-1000 series, and will support a number of exciting features that take advantage of the bi-directional throughput and higher transfer rates of SuperSpeed USB.
These features include:
- Ability to drive two different 1080p displays at once.
- HDCP 2.0 for DRM-protected video
- USB bus power capability for both USB 2.0 and 3.0 devices
- Ethernet support
For years now, DisplayLink chips have powered a number of exciting peripherals, from USB docking stations that have both Ethernet, VGA-out, and DVI ports to portable USB monitors like the Samsung U70. The new USB 3.0 solutions will take these products to the next level, effectively eliminating the need for proprietary docking stations and opening up a whole new world of video expansion to notebook users.
At their booth today, DisplayLink showed a 46-inch 1080p television that was playing a very crisp HD video, from a computer connected by a DisplayLink USB 3.0 adapter. The video itself was running off an external hard drive that was connected to the computer by -- you guessed it -- USB 3.0. We were impressed by the demo and even more impressed to hear that a single DisplayLink chip could connect to two of these displays, showing two different movies.
We look forward to testing out docking stations, monitors, and other peripherals based on the new DisplayLink USB 3.0 technology when it ships in 2011. Until then, check out the demo video below to see what we saw.
