The VESA Video Electronics Standards Association is to begin work on a standard interface to support digital flat panel monitors, following a proposal put to the association by Compaq Computer Corp and Hewlett Packard Co. The VESA endorsement of the DFP proposal brings official recognition to a breakaway industry initiative announced by Toronto, Canada-based ATI Technologies Inc back in May, which won support from some of the largest PC and monitor manufacturers. The Group was unconvinced about the viability of implementing the existing VESA standard in this area, the Plug and Display digital monitor interface, which was ratified by VESA last year. P&D combines digital and analog interfaces using a 34-pin connector, and simultaneously supports USB and IEEE 1394 Firewire. But the P&D standard has been viewed as too complex for immediate implementation, especially by PC vendors, and DFP was proposed as an interim step. DFP includes only the digital interface, stripping out the analog, USB and 1394 interfaces to other connectors. It uses a 15-pin connector. VESA says the goal is to make DFP and P&D fully compatible so that it can act as a transitional technology. While IBM Corp has already opted to move straight to P&D, Compaq, HP and others say that as USB and 1394 are only just starting to become mainstream products, the transition to full P&D won’t need to happen until after the year 2000. The agreement should cut the price of flat panel monitors – analog versions of which are currently 2.5 times more expensive than conventional CRT monitors – and bring forward their introduction in conjunction with mass market PCs. Sub $1,000 digital flat panel monitors could be on the market later this year, say observers. Digital flat panel displays are expected to eventually supersede sales of CRD monitors some time early in the next century.
