Video over USB 3.0

September 14, 2010

USB 2.0 already allowed connecting additional Displays to Desktop PCs and Notebooks thanks to a technology provided by DisplayLink. The most recent devices offer screen resolutions beyond the 1600x1200 barrier and the next evolutionary steps are in front of us.  On the upcoming Intel Developers Forum IDF DisplayLink and SMSC will show Video over USB 3.0. This does not only mean even more speed and even more pixels, DisplayLinks chip family DL 3000 and DL1000 integrate Graphics, Network, and Audio functions on one chip. This allows to transmit HD video and Gigabit Ethernet over one single USB 3.0 cable. One imaginable application should be USB docking stations connected to PCs/Notebooks with one single cable. Once the mobile handset vendors agree to this the mobile plus such a docking station will form almost a PC environment on the desktop.

What does all this mean for Desktop KVM? It gets simpler, cheaper, and hopefully more feature-rich and on our Desktops is a little bit more space for more gadgets.