What is VESA?
The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) is an international nonprofit organization representing over 340 member companies in the hardware, software, computer, and display industries. VESA develops open standards that promote interoperability and innovation across the electronics ecosystem. Their contributions, including DisplayPort, DisplayHDR, ClearMR, and AdaptiveSync certifications, are crucial for ensuring high-quality display technologies for gaming, content creation, and professional workflows. TLDR: When buying your next monitor, make sure it’s VESA certified, if it isn’t, there’s probably a reason, and it isn’t up to standards.
At CES 2025, VESA is hosting demo sessions to help better understand their standards. This includes monitors, cables, and laptops making their first public appearances, most of whom will soon become industry standards. I’ll walk you through the 5 main demonstrations, but I encourage you to go see them yourself and learn more online.
1. DisplayPort 2.1: Longer Cables, Higher Performance
VESA unveiled its upcoming DP80LL active cable specification, enabling DisplayPort 2.1 to support up to three times the cable length for ultra-high-bit-rate (UHBR) connections, extending UHBR20 (80 Gbps bandwidth) GPU-to-monitor connections to three meters. This update is critical for gamers and professionals who need flexible setups while maintaining 80 Gbps bandwidth for stunning 8K visuals or high-resolution/high-refresh-rate gaming.
Why It Matters:
DisplayPort is a cornerstone of high-performance video transmission. With its support for resolutions beyond 8K, DisplayPort 2.1 ensures fluid workflows for video editors and colorists working with HDR content. Gamers, too, will benefit from immersive visuals, smooth gameplay, and easy multi-monitor configurations enabled by its Multi-Stream Transport (MST) feature. The extension of cable length enhances flexibility for setups ranging from gaming rigs to professional workstations.
2. DisplayHDR True Black 1000: A New Standard for HDR Displays
DisplayHDR is a multi-tiered certification that ensures consistent high dynamic range (HDR) performance across displays. These tiers—DisplayHDR 400, 500, 600, 1000, and 1400 for LCD displays, and DisplayHDR True Black 400, 500, and 600 for emissive displays like OLED—represent varying levels of luminance, contrast, and black-level fidelity. While both the DisplayHDR and DisplayHDR True Black standards offer improved brightness and color accuracy, the True Black series also offers unparalleled depth in black levels, making it the gold standard for OLED and microLED displays.
The new True Black 1000 tier builds upon these advances with revolutionary specs: true blacks at 0.0005 nits, 95% DCI-P3 color volume, and peak brightness of 1000 nits. This balance of brightness and depth is transformative for editors and colorists, allowing for more precise grading and color accuracy in HDR workflows.
Why It Matters:
For video editors and colorists, standardized HDR ensures accurate reproduction of colors and contrasts. The True Black 1000 certification guarantees that OLED displays can now handle high-luminance workflows, previously limited to LCD-based HDR displays. This opens up new possibilities for creators working on HDR content for cinema or streaming platforms, ensuring their final output appears vivid and lifelike.
Gamers will enjoy richer textures, true-to-life shadows, and dazzling highlights in HDR-compatible games, creating a deeply immersive experience. Furthermore, the ability to achieve 1000-nit peak brightness ensures displays are versatile across brightly lit and dark environments, making them equally effective for professional and recreational use.
3. ClearMR 21000: Motion Clarity Redefined
ClearMR certification measures motion blur using the Clear Motion Ratio (CMR) metric, which compares sharp pixels to blurry ones. The new ClearMR 21000 tier sets a groundbreaking standard, ensuring only 1 blurry pixel for every 210 sharp pixels. By comparison, many of the select displays that made the cut with ClearMR certification hover around ClearMR 5000 to ClearMR 8000, highlighting the quantum leap represented by ClearMR 21000. Displays in this tier, with refresh rates of 480 Hz or higher, seemingly eliminate distractions from motion blur entirely.
Why It Matters:
For competitive gamers, motion clarity is everything. The ClearMR 21000 certification guarantees that even in fast-paced action scenes, there’s no visible blur, providing a competitive edge. This clarity ensures that creators working on high-frame-rate video or animation can preview their work with unmatched precision, avoiding artifacts that can compromise quality.
Moreover, these advancements make editing and reviewing motion-heavy content, such as action films or sports footage, more accurate. The ability to view every detail without distortion allows editors and animators to deliver flawless results, ensuring their work matches their creative vision.
4. AdaptiveSync Dual Mode: Dynamic Refresh Rate Optimization
A growing number of AdaptiveSync Display-certified monitors showcased an innovative capability to dynamically halve resolution and double refresh rates featured in VESA’s AdaptiveSync Dual Mode. For instance, a 4K display running at 240 Hz can switch to 1080p at 480 Hz, giving users the flexibility to optimize performance based on their needs.
Why It Matters:
Take an at-home editor who works on high-resolution 4K video projects during the day. They need pixel-perfect clarity to spot fine details in their edits. At night, when gaming, they prioritize fast refresh rates to ensure smooth and responsive gameplay. AdaptiveSync Dual Mode caters perfectly to this dual-use case, offering high resolution for work and high refresh rates for play.
This technology ensures gamers and professionals no longer have to compromise on display performance. By seamlessly transitioning between modes, AdaptiveSync Dual Mode delivers tailored performance for different tasks, providing unmatched versatility in a single monitor.
5. ClearMR for Television: LG’s ClearMR 10000 OLED TV
At-home consumers are increasingly discerning about the quality of their televisions, prioritizing features like color depth, HDR performance, true blacks, and motion clarity. LG’s OLED65G5, certified under VESA’s ClearMR 10000 standard, sets a new benchmark for home displays by ensuring superior motion clarity and vivid HDR performance.
Why It Matters:
Home theaters are no longer just for enthusiasts. Every day consumers demand TVs that replicate the cinema experience, with vivid colors, deep blacks, and seamless motion. Certifications like ClearMR 10000 assure buyers that their TVs deliver professional-grade quality. This is particularly important as larger home monitors gain popularity, blurring the line between televisions and professional displays.
For creators, this also means clients can view their projects as intended, even on consumer-grade hardware. The certification ensures that content appears consistent across different viewing platforms, maintaining creative integrity.
Conclusion: Why VESA’s Standards Matter
VESA’s hard standardization work underscores the importance of standardized display performance. For gamers, these advancements promise smoother gameplay and immersive visuals. For content creators, they ensure color accuracy, motion clarity, and flexibility, empowering professionals to push the boundaries of their craft.
By driving innovation and establishing industry benchmarks, VESA continues to shape the future of display technology, ensuring that creators, gamers, and professionals have the tools they need to excel. CES 2025 is now sadly over, but please take a look at vesa.org for more information and keep your eyes out for their displays next year.