DisplayLink Corp. this week celebrated reaching sales of more than one million USB graphics semiconductors. Embedded in more than thirty consumer and business products, DisplayLink chips – the DL-120 and DL-160 – make it possible for people to connect various visual computing devices to displays with an easy USB connection.

“DisplayLink has completely reinvented the way computers talk to displays. Achieving sales of one million chips clearly shows the mainstream reach of our technology with customers and end-users who readily appreciate the simplicity of our approach and the productivity benefits of using multiple displays,” said Hamid Farzaneh, president and chief executive officer of DisplayLink.

Specifically designed chips from DisplayLink can receive a compressed video stream via such interfaces as USB, Ethernet or WiMedia (a wireless data-transfer standard with a throughput up to 480Mbps), uncompress it into video with a resolution up to 1400x1050 (DL-120) or 1600x1200 (DL-160) and in full 24-bit color, and output it in RGB (for an analog connection to a monitor) or LVDS (for a digital connection) formats.

According to DisplayLink, the network monitor technology supports Windows Vista Aero interface, which requires 3D graphics acceleration, even though the company admits that “there may be interoperability issues with some graphics cards”; in addition, DisplayLink supports video playback.

According to In-Stat, a high-tech market research firm, the number of USB 2.0 monitors is projected to grow to nearly 12 million units in 2011. The growth in USB 3.0 monitors is projected to grow to nearly 58 million in 2012. Additionally, the number of mobile PC Docking Stations with wired USB docking (or universal docking) is projected to grow to nearly 19 million in 2012, with the majority of them being USB graphics enabled.

“We have seen steady adoption of DisplayLink USB graphics technology in a variety of devices. And as wireless USB and USB 3.0 graphics technology continue to develop, it is likely that we will see a variety of products – from application specific monitors to wireless adapters and docking stations that will leverage the DisplayLink patent portfolio,” said Brian O’Rourke, principal analyst for In-Stat.

The company’s teams in Silicon Valley, Cambridge, Seattle, Taipei, Tokyo and Seoul are supporting customers that continue to develop a broad range of USB graphics products powered by DisplayLink’s technology, including:

• USB-connected monitors from Acer, ASUS, LG, Mitsubishi and Samsung.
• Application specific monitors – like 4” to 7” mini displays from Buffalo, Century, IO Data, Nanovision and Samsung as well as new companion monitors, like the Samsung Lapfit, designed specifically as an accessory to notebook PCs.
• Universal USB docking stations from HP, Kensington, Lenovo, Fujitsu-Siemens, Sony and Toshiba, allowing people to connect their display, mouse, keyboard, speakers and network to any notebook PC though a simple USB 2.0 connection.
• Wired and Wireless USB graphics adapters from a wide range of vendors including Diamond Multimedia, EVGA, IOGear, IO-Data, Kensington and others.
• USB projectors from InFocus, creating the easiest way to connect a projector to a PC. It eliminates the fumbling with function keys experienced by millions of people when trying to give a presentation through a traditional analog video connector.

Tags: DisplayLink, USB