Kanex has released its latest Mac accessory, a Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter that supports 1080p video and digital audio. The device plugs into the Mac's Mini DisplayPort, optical audio Mini Jack, and a USB port for power. The audio and video signals are both sent across HDMI, eliminating the need to run a dedicated Toslink cable to a receiver for digital sound.
Atlona has released its latest connectivity device, the AT-DP200 DVI to Mini DisplayPort converter. The box is designed to be used for attaching a DVI-enabled computer to a Mini DisplayPort monitor, such as Apple's 24-inch Cinema Display. The device supports resolutions up to 1920x1200, while retaining HDCP compatibility and EDID information.
SendStation Systems has released its newest iPod accessories, consisting of several Mini DisplayPort Adapters. Each device provides a small cord that can connect a user's computer to an external display, such as a television, projector or computer display. The external display can then be used to expand the computer's desktop area. The connector cord integrates a Mini DisplayPort socket on one end and, depending on the display used, either a DVI, HDMI, or VGA plug on the other end.
Using Software Update, Apple has begun distributing a firmware upgrade for users of the Mini DisplayPort-to-VGA adapter. The software is said to address problems Macs have had with the adapter, in which video will flicker or go completely blank during use. Difficulties began roughly around the launch of the first unibody MacBook Pro on October 14th.
Apple's recent Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI adapter may be causing problems with 30-inch LCD displays, complaints on Apple's support forums suggest. The adapter is mainly intended to connect modern MacBooks, MacBook Pros and MacBook Airs, which are currently the only devices that support Mini DisplayPort. Users of the adapter are reporting a variety of errors however, ranging from graphics corruption to temporary blackouts.
Display standards group VESA has revealed early details of DisplayPort 1.2, the next generation of its interface for computer screens. The technology doubles the amount of available bandwidth and lets the format produce images better than either the current 1.1 standard or dual-link DVI. At a minimum, the technology would allow a near-4K resolution of 3840x2160 at 60 frames per second and more advanced 30-bit color; the current specification is limited to 2560x1600 at the same quality.
Apple is opening up access to its Mini DisplayPort standard, according to an announcement. Though Apple did not develop DisplayPort proper, the company has created a more compact version of the technology to accompany its new unibody MacBooks, as well as the revised 24-inch Cinema Display. Hardware makers looking to build peripherals compatible with the standard -- most likely third-party monitors and video cards -- must apply first for an evaluation license, and then for a separate implementation one. Once Apple agrees to the latter the standard is then free to use.
Apple is under fire once again for its use of copyright protection, with the implementation of High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) into the Mini DisplayPort video connection found on the latest MacBook, MacBook Pro, and Air notebooks, according to Macworld.com. The enforcement of HDCP protection had caused problems for a number of iTunes customers, preventing them from playing videos on external displays that were not compatible with the protection standard.
Apple on Tuesday has unveiled QuickTime 7.5.7, an update to its multimedia player system that reportedly removes HDCP protection from standard definition movies bought or rented from iTunes when played across the DisplayPort on some of the more modern Macs. MacRumors reports that the update resolves issues on the new MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air, all of which feature the miniature DisplayPort connector.
Japan's Eizo recently introduced the ColorEdge CG242W LCD monitor that offers a 24.1-inch display and offers 1920x1200 resolution. The monitor's colors cover 97 percent of the Adobe RGB spectrum, and is meant to be used with video editing applications that include 3D-look-up table (3D LUT) support. New MacBook Pros use a mini Display Port connection and nothing else, so once an adapter is released, users will be able to add EIZO's LCD as a secondary, external display to the notebooks. Apart from the DisplayPort, there is a DVI connection, and both are HDCP compatible.
During Apple's notebook event today, the company launched a new 24-inch Apple LED Cinema Display, arriving in November and featuring a new mini-DisplayPort connection to attach to the latest MacBooks. The new display, rated at 1920x1200 pixels with 16.7 million colors, is styled in a similar fashion to the current line of iMacs, with a black border and minimal metallic edging around a glass-fronted glossy screen. It features an iSight camera and microphone built in with stereo speakers, all of which are fed through a single cable.
Speaking at a special event, Apple CEO Steve Jobs has announced the existence of a redesigned MacBook Pro. Confirming earlier reports, the notebook is being built using a new construction process, similar to the one for the MacBook Air; each system starts as a brick of solid aluminum, from which material is initially removed, rather than added to. The resulting systems are said to be simultaneously lighter and stronger.
Foregoing a full announcement, Dell today secretly put up the 2709W, its second-ever 27-inch LCD. The 1920x1200 display is touted for its extreme color accuracy and reproduces just over one billion colors, or 110 percent of the NTSC color gamut. It also produces a 3,000:1 claimed contrast ratio and 450cd/m2 of brightness while maintaining a reasonably fast 6ms pixel response time. The new offering is additionally the first Dell display at the size to include a DisplayPort connector that addresses the new computer display format.
Specifications have been learned for two upcoming Lenovo notebooks, according to Notebook Italia. Both are said to be intermediary computers for the transition to Intel's Centrino 2 platform, and a replacement for Lenovo's current ThinkPad R61. Each has the option of a Core 2 Duo or Celeron M processor, matched to a PM45, GM45 or GL45 motherboard; the systems also support up to 4GB of DDR3 RAM, and a 320GB 5400rpm hard drive or a 200GB 7200rpm drive. Wireless technologies should include options for Bluetooth, WiMAX, and 802.11b/g or a/g/n.
As part of a wider device launch, HP this morning upgraded its monitor lineup with a screen it claims is the most affordable display yet for video editors and other pros working in color-accurate situations. The DreamColor is designed with help from DreamWorks Animation SKG and uses a rare 24-inch LCD panel that produces 30-bit color, generating more than one billion colors; the color range is 64 times that of even better everyday LCDs and also results in blacks four times deeper than normal LCDs. An LED backlight both contributes to a better contrast ratio (1,000:1) and also ensures that colors are uniform across the entire screen.
AMD has introduced its first professional-level videocard with a DisplayPort connection, the FireGL V7700. Intended for tasks like art and engineering design, the 7700 is a PCIe 2.0 card with 512MB of RAM, and 320 unified shaders. The DisplayPort connection is said to improve image quality, offering 10-bit output with over a billion colors; alternately, users can rely on the card's dual-link DVI-I output, which supports 30-inch screens, and as many as four displays when paired with other cards. Also present is a standard VGA port.
Dell's Latitude E4000 series will more explicitly target the same very thin, advanced technology field covered by Apple's MacBook Air and Lenovo's ThinkPad X300, according to leaks continued today by Engadget. While both the E4200 and E4300 will offer thinner LED-backlit, 12-inch displays, the E4200 will be far thinner than earlier Latitudes and will measure between 0.6 and 0.8 inches thick and will optimally weigh just 2.2 versus the 3 of its challengers. This will in part come from its storage: the E4200 will require either a 32GB or 64GB solid-state drive instead of a conventional hard disk.
Dell has begun selling the UltraSharp 2408WFP, its newest LCD monitor. The screen is a companion to the 3008WFP, and is only the second model from Dell to support DisplayPort technology. DisplayPort is a simpler kind of video input that should eventually replace DVI and VGA, and possibly HDMI in some cases, due to an absence of licensing fees. The 2408 in fact supports all of the above connections, as well as component, S-Video and composite inputs.
AMD this morning released what it says are some of the first entry-level desktop video cards to provide video features previously reserved for high-end models. Both the starter Radeon HD 3400 under the company's ATI label and more mid-range Radeon HD 3600 series share the same basic architecture as the high-end Radeon HD 3800 but reduce the clock speed and number of stream (graphics shader) processors to bring the price to a reasonable level; where the 3800 goes with a full 320 stream units, the 3400 series goes with 40 and the 3600 uses 120, AMD says. In spite of this, all the new cards support enhanced lighting and other visual effects in DirectX 10.1 and newer versions of OpenGL 2; they are also some of the first to support as many as two DisplayPort connectors for newer, advanced displays such as the Dell 3008WFP.
Dell tonight hushed speculation and released the 3008WFP, its new flagship. Already available in Japan, the display is only the second ever beyond Dell's own Crystal to optionally pipe video through a DisplayPort connector, enabling higher resolutions than single-link DVI as well as other features. It also stands as Dell's most color-accurate screen and reproduces 100 percent of the NTSC color gamut at a 3,000:1 contrast ratio.
A Spanish-language website claims to acquired photos and specifications on three new, unannounced AMD video cards. Of these the most notable may actually be the slowest of the group, the Radeon HD 3450; while it only has a 525MHz core and 256MB of 800MHz memory, it is the only one of the three known to have a DisplayPort connection, the second from the company after the previously-revealed RV635 XT. DisplayPort is intended to eventually replace DVI and VGA ports, and it may subsume HDMI as well, since companies do not have to pay for its use.
Dell today set an industry first by releasing the world's first commercially available screen with a DisplayPort connector. The 3008WFP uses the new standard to provide the high resolution of dual-link DVI with the integration of TV-oriented standards such as HDMI: when using a compatible video card, the single DisplayPort cable both drives the 2560x1600 of the 30-inch display while also providing audio and the HDCP encryption needed to play back some protected HD video formats. Dual protected DVI outputs as well as single HDMI, VGA, component, and S-video jacks provide support for virtually all legacy video standards.
AMD has revealed the first video card with a native DisplayPort connection, the RV635 XT. While specifications on the card itself are not yet available, more information on DisplayPort has emerged as a result. The technology is eventually intended to replace DVI and VGA connections, and may well produce competition for HDMI, in part because it is also capable of 24-bit, eight-channel audio. DisplayPort connections also contain a dedicated auxiliary link, which can be used for panel I/O and mic connections.
