USB4 is on its way to becoming the best multi-purpose cable specification ever designed. Already on its way, the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) has announced that USB4 will bring the full benefits of DisplayPort 2.0.

This is a bit of a confusing scenario, but generally speaking, USB4 will be able to drive 8K resolution (7680x4320) monitors at 60Hz including HDR without compression or 16K resolution (15360x8460) displays (but with compression) at 60Hz including HDR This means that it has the bandwidth needed to drive a 16K resolution (15360x8460) display (but with compression) at 60Hz, including HDR.

What makes this possible is the new DisplayPort Alt Mode 2.0 specification. This essentially brings the benefits of DisplayPort 2.0 to USB4.

"VESA's updated DisplayPort Alt Mode specification includes many developments under the hood, including updates to interface discovery and configuration and power management to ensure seamless integration with the USB4 specification," said Parade Technologies' Senior Director of Marketing, VESA board member and DisplayPort Alt Mode subgroup leader Craig Wiley.

Our friends at Anandtech provide a technical breakdown of the specification, but the gist is that VESA's under-the-hood changes double the video bandwidth in a sense: USB4 by itself can transfer about 40 Gbps of data each upstream and downstream, while DisplayPort can transfer about 40 Gbps upstream and downstream. Since DisplayPort supports data transmission at about 80 Gbps (77.37 Gbps to be exact), the USB4 cable cannot reap its full benefits. This depends on the DisplayPort Alt Mode 2.0 specification.

According to Anandtech, VESA has remapped the data pins to allow the full 77.37 Gbps payload of the DisplayPort 2.0 signal to be transmitted downstream, enabling higher resolution displays.

Of course, it will be some time before PC gaming hardware has the power to drive 16K monitors or even 8K displays. Nevertheless, with this spec upgrade, we won't have to worry about cables and standards when that day comes. It also paves the way for 4K monitors running uncompressed at 144 Hz via USB4, provided the PCs and devices can keep up with the new USB capabilities.

USB4 hardware is still some way off; VESA expects the first products with DisplayPort Alt Mode 2.0 to appear in 2021.