DisplayLink Corp.
Headquarters
Type	Private
Industry	Semiconductors
Founded	2003
Founder	Dr. Quentin Stafford-Fraser, Martin King
Area served	Worldwide
Products	USB Graphics chips
160 (2016)
Website	displaylink.com

DisplayLink (formerly Newnham Research) is a semiconductor and software technology company. They develop the DisplayLink USB graphics technology, which is designed to connect computers and displays using USB, Ethernet, and WiFi. It also allows multiple displays to be connected to a single computer. DisplayLink's primary customers are notebook OEMs (HP, Dell, Toshiba, Lenovo, Acer, Asus), LCD monitor manufacturers (AOC, ASUS) and PC accessory vendors (Startech.com, Targus, Belkin, Kensington, Plugable), supporting the Microsoft Windows, macOS, Android, ChromeOS and Linux operating systems.^[1]

DisplayLink is an American company that develops semiconductor and software technology. The company is well known for its graphics technology, DisplayLink USB, designed to connect computers with displays over USB, Ethernet, and Wi-Fi. DisplayLink was founded in 2003 as Newnham Research by Dr. Quentin Stafford-Fraser and Martin King. Products based on the DL-6950, DL-5xxx and DL-3xxx can include gigabit Ethernet from DisplayLink. The Ethernet connection supports 10MB, 100MB or Gigabit Ethernet in full duplex. These speeds will be auto negotiated. Half duplex connections, eg to network hubs, are not supported. DisplayLink Manager Menu Menu Option DisplayLink Manager Check for Updates DisplayLink Devices Audio Setup Video Setup Screen Rotation Extend To Extend Set as Main Monitor Notebook Monitor O’ Mirror O’ Fit to TV Description Clicking on this item will show the version of DisplayLink software installed. Windows update checking. An increase in embedded computing power means there are now new ways to connect displays to embedded applications. Embedded hosts can encode display data and send it over a network (e.g. USB or Ethernet) to a decoding ASIC on a display. DisplayLink provides an SDK to create solutions using our embedded chipset family.

DisplayLink operates worldwide with offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, Poland, and Taiwan.^[2] The company is privately funded and to date has raised $75 million in financing from venture capital organizations Atlas Venture, Balderton Capital, Cipio Partners DAG Ventures and DFJ Esprit.^[3]

Company history[edit]

DisplayLink was founded in 2003 as Newnham Research by Dr. Quentin Stafford-Fraser and Martin King.^[4]The Newnham Research team invented NIVO (Network In, Video Out) designed for low cost thin client computing over Ethernet networks.^[5] The company referred to these thin-client computers as network displays.

In 2006, Newnham Research launched its first commercially available product in partnership with the Kensington Computer Products Group: a USB 2.0 universal laptop docking station designed for the retail market.^[6]

In November 2006, Newnham Research renamed itself to DisplayLink, a name that allegedly better described their display connection technology.^[7] Note the name is very similar to DisplayPort which was approved by VESA earlier that year.

DisplayLink launched its first semiconductor product family, the DL-120 and DL-160 USB 2.0 graphics devices, in January 2007,^[8] signalling an important change in the company's business plan from FPGA-based systems to semiconductors. The DL-120 and DL-160 allow up to six additional monitors to be added to a PC through USB 2.0.

In May 2009, DisplayLink launched its second semiconductor product family, the DL-125, DL-165, and DL-195 USB 2.0 graphics devices. This DL-1x5 family brings improved performance, an increase in maximum resolution to 2048x1152, and the integration of a DVI transmitter and video DAC. The first products to ship with the new DL-1x5 chips were the SamsungLapfit LD190G and LD220G monitors.^[9]

On November 17, 2009, DisplayLink announced their first Thin Client product based on their USB 2.0 virtual graphics technology, designed for Microsoft Windows MultiPoint Server.^[10] Thin client manufacturer HP was the first to announce a product based on DisplayLink USB Graphics technology with the launch of the t100 Thin Client.^[11]

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in 2012, DisplayLink announced several products incorporating video and graphics over a USB 3.0 'SuperSpeed USB' connection, showing substantial improvements in performance, resolution support, and video quality.^[12]

At CES in 2013, DisplayLink demonstrated USB Power Delivery in which a standard USB cable is used to charge a laptop computer.^[13]

At CES in 2016, DisplayLink announced their latest docking chip, DL-6000 series, to support dual 4Kp60 over USB 3.0.^[14]

At CES in 2017, DisplayLink demonstrated Wireless VR using DisplayLink graphics over a wireless 60 GHz link.^[15]

On the 31st August 2020 DisplayLink was sold to Synaptics. ^[16]

Technology[edit]

The DisplayLink network graphics technology is composed of Virtual Graphics Card (VGC) software that is installed on a PC and a Hardware Rendering Engine (HRE) embedded or connected to a display device. The DisplayLink VGC software is based on a proprietary adaptive graphics technology. The VGC software runs on a Windows, macOS, or Linux host PC and takes information from the graphics adapter and compresses the changes to the display from the last update and sends it over any standard network including USB, Wireless USB, Ethernet, and Wi-Fi. After receiving the data, the HRE then transforms it back into pixels to be displayed on the monitor. While the basic network graphics technology can be used on a variety of network interfaces (Ethernet, and Wi-Fi), DisplayLink has to date only designed products around USB 2.0, USB 3.0, and Wireless USB connectivity.^[17]

Products with DisplayLink technology are supported on Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, macOS, Android, Chrome OS and Ubuntu.^[18]

IC Generations[edit]

DL-1x0[edit]

The DL-1x0 series were the first generation of DisplayLink ICs, launched in January 2007. The family consisted of 2 products: DL-120 and DL-160, differentiated by the maximum resolution supported by the device. DL-120 supported up to 1280x1024/1400x1050 and DL-160 up to 1600x1200/1680x1050.

The ICs supported a USB 2.0 input and a 24bit RGB output or LVDS output. Additional chips needed in the design are an EEPROM and DDR Memory. If the design required an Analog RGB (VGA) or DVI output an additional chip was needed to convert the 24bit RGB output to VGA or DVI.^[19]

The DisplayLink website no longer shows the DL-1x0 ICs available, so are presumed to be no longer available (as of February 2013).

DL-1x5[edit]

The DL-1x5 series were introduced in May 2009. The family consists of 4 products: DL-115, DL-125, DL-165 and DL-195, again differentiated by the maximum resolution supported by the device. Features of the DL-1x5 family are:^[20]

Integrated DVI, VGA, TTL and LVDS (FPI)
Dual core design (DL-195/DL-165)
Maximum resolution supported: 2048 x 1152
Integrated USB 2.0
DisplayLink DL 2+ Compression

DL-3xxx[edit]

The DL-3x00 series was first demonstrated at IDF in September 2011.^[21] It supports dual video outputs (DL-3900 and DL-3950) and integrated 5.1 audio and Gigabit Ethernet. It also integrated a new compression scheme, called DL3.0 and content protection using HDCP 2.0 encryption.^[22]

The DL-3xxx IC won the Best of CES Innovations 2011 Design and Engineering Award Honoree.^[23]

Displaylink Network & Wireless Cards Driver Download For Windows 10

DL-41xx[edit]

The DL-41xx

Displaylink Network & Wireless Cards Driver Download For Windows 10