This video digs into how VESA’s DisplayPort team validates the new DP80 low-loss cable class for DisplayPort 2.1, using a link-layer/protocol tester (Teledyne LeCroy quantumdata M42de) to run first-pass compliance checks. The core idea is simple: plug the cable into “in” and “out,” then verify it can link-train and move data across every lane count and configuration, including UHBR rates up to UHBR20, with a clean pass/fail report. That DP80 logo isn’t just marketing; it’s meant to give end users a quick signal that a cable has been through a defined compliance path rather than “it worked on my desk.” https://vesa.org/
A big theme is the practical limit of purely passive DP80 at the highest rates: once you chase 20 Gbit/s per lane, you quickly run out of electrical margin, especially past roughly a meter in common materials. DP80LL (DP80 “low loss”) is VESA’s answer: keep the same endpoint experience, but use active electronics to extend reach and improve margins. The demo focuses on LRD (linear redriver) designs with active components at both ends that reshape/restore the signal before it hits the receiver, and it also tees up active optical approaches for even longer spans where copper loss becomes the wall.
Filmed at CES Las Vegas 2026, the discussion gets refreshingly concrete about why “active” is hard: power behavior, not just eye diagrams. DisplayPort includes a DP_PWR pin intended to power adapters and active cables (historically 3.3 V at up to 500 mA), while USB-C variants can draw from the Type-C power domain, so every active design has to manage startup without browning out the port. Compliance testing drills into inrush (the plug-in current spike and voltage droop) and source/sink “outrush” robustness, which is why soft-start circuits and controlled capacitor charging become make-or-break details.
There’s also nuance around interoperability and timing. When you connect a cable, HPD/AUX sideband activity kicks off link training, capability reads (DPCD/EDID paths), and clock recovery, all within spec-defined time windows. LRD-style cables behave like fast pass-through paths, while more complex repeater topologies can add training steps and delay, and optical links can introduce measurable latency if the run gets extreme. The video highlights how certification is expanding beyond straight cables into trickier categories like active adapters (for example USB-C to DP), where VESA needs test requirements that prevent “extension hacks” from silently breaking signal integrity.
The takeaway is that cable certification is becoming a first-class part of enabling UHBR20 in real setups: big, high-refresh desktop monitors, workstations, docks, and GPU-to-display runs that don’t fit the one-meter fantasy. DP80LL and related active/optical designs are about preserving link reliability at 80 Gbps class throughput while keeping user experience boring—in the good way—so the system link-trains once and stays locked. For anyone building or buying next-gen DisplayPort 2.1/2.1b gear, this is a peek into the engineering reality behind “it just works” at the edge of signal integrity.
I’m publishing about 100+ videos from CES 2026, I upload about 4 videos per day at 5AM/11AM/5PM/11PM CET/EST. Check out all my CES 2026 videos in my playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7xXqJFxvYvjaMwKMgLb6ja_yZuano19e
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