VESA Display Stream Compression (DSC) is a new standard that enables visually lossless compression for ultra-high definition display applications. This quick guide takes a look at the background to VESA DSC and how this new standard enables electronics manufacturers to develop next-generation devices.
What is VESA DSC?
VESA Display Stream Compression is a new standard released in July 2014 by The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA).
VESA DSC v1.1 enables visually lossless compression between the application processor and the display sub-system inside UHD (ultra-high-definition) devices such as mobiles, tablets, and televisions. Visually lossless means that there is no perceivable difference in the quality of the image or video while compression is active.
The standard is targeted to work with display interfaces such as MIPI® DSI v1.2, VESA embedded DisplayPort™ (eDP) v1.4a and DisplayPort v1.3.
Example of VESA DSC inside a UHD mobile device
How did VESA DSC come about?
The need for compression on display links emerged as a result of the increased pixel counts of higher-resolution devices, effectively increasing the transport bandwidth. While display resolution in devices increased year after year, the trend in PHY used to transport the display information did not keep up and a gap emerged between the two. With this new challenge of handling extra bandwidth requirements on existing display links, VESA recognized the need for an industry-wide display stream compression specification and standard that bridged this gap.
The VESA DSC white paper provides an in-depth analysis of the background to VESA DSC and how the standard offers an interoperable solution to support high-resolution displays.
What are the advantages of integrating VESA DSC?
VESA DSC enables electronics manufacturers to deliver next-generation UHD displays while reducing transmission bandwidth by 3X and using existing PHY with higher resolution displays.
Integrating the VESA DSC standard enables:
- Lower system costs due to less interconnect wires and smaller frame buffers
- Lower power use, resulting in extended battery life
- Reduced Electromagnetic interference (EMI)
- Enhanced component interoperability
Advantages of integrating the VESA DSC standard
Find out more about VESA Display Stream Compression: