VESA and MIPI today formally announced the VESA Display Compression-M v1.1 (VDC-M) standard, a new display interface compression standard designed for the handheld display market.

The MIPI Alliance also released new versions of MIPI Display Serial Interface 2 (DSI-2) and MIPI Display Command Set (DCS). Both new specifications support the VESA Display Compression - M (VDC-M).

VESA and the MIPI Alliance released the first verion of their Display Stream Compression (DSC) standard in 2014. DSC is a visually lossless codec intended to reduce the amount of transmitted image data.

DSC 1.1 has been incorporated in the VESA Embedded DisplayPort (eDP) and MIPI DSI embedded mobile interface standards, and DSC 1.2 into the DisplayPort and HDMI external video interface standards. The latest VESA Display Compression-M (VDC-M) standard has also been adopted into the MIPI DSI standard.

For mobile applications, DSC 1.1 and VDC-M mainly serve to reduce the video interface data rate, which reduces system power, prolongs battery life, and reduces interconnects to enable sleeker designs. For external display interfaces, DSC 1.2 extends resolution across existing connectors and cables, enabling 8K video and legacy support from the same connection.

The new MIPI DSI-2 v1.1 specifies the physical link between the chip and display in devices such as smartphones, tablets, AR/VR headsets and connected cars. MIPI DCS v1.4 specifies display functions such as resolution, width and brightness that are transmitted over MIPI DSI-2 v1.1.

MIPI DSI-2 v1.1 and MIPI DCS v1.4 are available to MIPI members.

The MIPI Display Working Group developed MIPI DSI-2 v1.2 and DCS v1.4 in collaboration with VESA to ensure the specifications benefit companies across the display ecosystem. Supporting companies include Cadence Design Systems, Inc., Hardent Inc., Samsung Electronics, Co., Synopsys, Inc. and others.