New video Connector Solution for the OR? Displayport!

Continuing in my HD in the OR Series I wanted to share a video connection option for the future.  Most current systems offer simple S-video or component video.  As usual, the OR equipment lags a generation behind consumer video.  This has has been my experience with the major consumer video and surgical video companies over the past 10 years.  I can understand their viewpoint (a little).  In the OR most want broad interconnectivity backwards compatibility and standards.  The latest and greatest electronics is not what most OR committees demand.  On the flip side, the video companies focus rightfully so on consumer video because that is where the market is.  I had this discussion with JVC and SONY in 2000 when I first began my HDTV surgery project at Yale.  The entire medical video market is but a tiny blip compared to home TV’s and camcorders.

Where are we today?  SVIDEO and Component.  What is used in the bleeding edge for your computer, home theater, or professional HD video studio?  NONE OF THESE!  The standard connections there include DVI, HDMI and High Definition Serial Digital Interface (HD-SDI) for the pros.  The consumer formats have copy protection as one of their major design requirements (movie studios don’t want you copying their HD moves).  However the pro HD-SDI is the industry state of the art. 

What’s next in the comsumer arena?

Engadget writes

industry’s move to DisplayPort is hotting up with AMD announcing ATI Radeon graphics processors supporting DisplayPort 1.1 in the “early 2008 timeframe.” Just in time to support Samsung’s new 30-inch panel scheduled to see production in Q2 2008. In fact, AMD just completed successful interoperability testing of their presumably “next-generation graphics processor” toting a native DisplayPort 1.1 transmitter.

Its advantages are another all-in-one audio video connector with high signal quality.  Unfortuantely it also has copy protection as a major requirement.  DisplayPort supports full bandwidth transmission over 3 meter (10ft) cable, and a maximum of 1080p resolution at 24bpp, 50/60Hz over a 15 meter cable.

Extensive technical details are here.