This week, VESA has officially announced the DisplayID v2.0 standard, intended to succeed the venerable Extended Display Identification Data (EDID) used by monitors, TVs, and embedded displays. Like EDID/Enhanced EDID, the DisplayID standard outlines display identification and configuration data, allowing video sources like set-top boxes and graphics cards to automatically identify and setup displays. With that in mind, DisplayID v2.0 brings changes and functionalities to better support modern high-end display technologies, including 120+Hz refresh rates, 4K+ resolutions, Adaptive-Sync, HDR, and augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR) headset displays.

While DisplayID was last updated in 2013 as version 1.3, DisplayID v2.0 was finalized and published this September, keeping the same modular structure as v1.3. Sets of display information are sectioned into self-contained data formats, much like data blocks, modularity that is not present in EDID, providing DisplayID with a much greater degree of flexibility. As for the version differences, DisplayID v2.0’s key changes are updated and new data blocks to support those aforementioned technologies, and VESA cites several specific examples: head-mounted and wearable display specifications, improvements in defining Adaptive Sync, extended field sizes to support higher pixel counts, more parameters for HDR, and high luminance support.

These advances come at a crucial time, where in the past few years these technologies are rapidly finding its way into all levels of the consumer sphere. High-end monitors and panels are now defined by FreeSync and G-Sync support in addition to 60+Hz refresh rates and 1080p+ resolutions. Even more affordable displays feature FreeSync or 120+Hz TN panels. 8K displays are already here, and HDR is trickling down by way of modern consoles. And not to mention the burgeoning AR/VR headset space.

Considering that these new technologies are more prevalent in high-end displays, VESA comments that DisplayID v2.0 is able to co-exist with EDID, where the former powers high-end displays and the latter remaining in lower-end displays. On a technical level, while DisplayID structures are not directly backwards-compatible with earlier EDID definitions, they share many data field definitions. As high-end displays with newer technologies roll out, DisplayID v2.0 is targeting seamless plug-and-play capabilities that EDID would not be capable of supporting.

More information about the VESA DisplayID v2.0 specification can be found on their site as part of their free published standards.