AMD, Intel, PC builders plan to drop VGA by 2015
updated 02:40 pm EST, Wed December 8, 2010
VGA other analog outputs to be dropped by 2015
AMD, Dell, Intel, Lenovo, Samsung and LG on Wednesday said they plan on focusing on putting digital DisplayPort and HDMI connections into their computer products. They hope to drop analog VGA and LVDS connections in AMD- and Intel-based products by 2015, the chipmakers said. VGA technology is over 20 years old, uses up more power, and supports lower resolutions and less colors than the digital alternatives.
Intel will stop supporting LVDS in 2013 in its PC client processors and chipsets. AMD will remove native LVDS output from most of its products in 2013 as well, along with starting to phase out VGA outputs. No new AMD products will carry VGA by 2015, and DVI-I support will be gone from the range at the same time.
AMD CTO of the graphics division Eric Demers believed DisplayPort 1.2 is the future interface for PC monitors and HDMI 1.4a is the next step for TVs.
VGA will likely remain in place on other products as many current projectors and monitors have it. DisplayPort is backwards compatible with VGA and DVI thanks to adapters.
Samsung has been shipping notebooks with DisplayPort connections since March, and LG offers numerous LCDs with DisplayPort output.
Apple was one of the first to abandon VGA in its products, adopting first DVI and later the DisplayPort and derivative Mini DisplayPort standards for its notebooks and desktops. The basic DisplayPort standard was introduced in 2007, but many Macs and Cinema Displays by that point were already using only digital output.
Most Windows PC builders have been clinging to VGA to support legacy displays, especially in corporate environments where companies have often been hesitant or unable to update to modern screens and projectors.
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