Initial forays toward gradual buildup

Hong Kong’s A/V cable assembly suppliers are gradually building up their Display- Port rosters. They are closely monitoring the proliferation of enabled notebook PCs, motherboards, graphics cards and monitors to gauge market acceptance. So far, more than five companies have announced cables with two male connectors that are based on the 1.1a protocol. In anticipation of demand, makers are prepared to develop 1.2-compatible products as well.

The current selection comes mainly with black jackets and 1.5m cables, although custom colors, cable lengths, hood mold and connector plating are accommodated. Extender versions with two female connectors are also available.

As DisplayPort is still in the early adoption phase, suppliers realize a large segment of the user base will be pairing enabled devices with HDMI and DVI monitors. To cater to this requirement, they focus R&D efforts on converter cable assemblies such as DisplayPort-HDMI and DisplayPort-DVI configurations.

Male DisplayPort-female versions supporting DVI or HDMI are already available. Alex Acoustic & Cable Ltd has recently launched a male DisplayPort-female HDMI model with a black jacket and an optional connector cover.

Some of the latest releases are targeted at Apple products such as the MacBook, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, and the Cinema Display monitor that have the Mini DisplayPort interface. An example is D&S Cable Industries (HK) Ltd’s SMDE04-00WH model, a male Mini DisplayPort-female 19-pin HDMI converter cable. The company also offers the SMDE05-00WH male Mini Display- Port-female DVI (24+5) model. To match the trend in this segment, D&S and other suppliers have adopted Apple products’ trademark glossy white exterior in their cable assemblies.

The supply of connectors, however, remains limited, as makers prefer to focus on established types such as RCA and multimedia variants.