Standardization organizations have largely saved display connector standards from the same fate as USB, with confusing nomenclature. There are just a handful of connector designs, such as VGA, HDMI, DisplayPort, etc., and each has noteworthy revisions you can count on your fingertips. Take, for instance, the current standards supported by even the cheapest peripherals: HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4. You'll find everything from the cheapest displays to budget smart TVs and even KVM switches supporting these standards.

However, simplicity doesn't mean you ignore the supported standards entirely when picking out new gear. HDMI 2.0 and 2.1 are vastly different despite sharing the exact connector design. Just the cable and devices at either end determine if you could take advantage of the features introduced in the later revisions. While HDMI remains the standard for connecting gaming consoles and HTPCs to home projectors and TVs, the folks over at r/pcmasterrace love recommending DisplayPort 1.4 or newer to anyone with a gaming or productivity PC. Well, there's good reason for that, especially if you're looking for creature features over sheer bandwidth. However, there is one DisplayPort feature that seldom gets the attention it deserves, both for function and the favors it does your cable management.

HDMI has its advantages

Expensive, but reliable

HDMI has earned its rightful place as the de facto modern display connector standard for all the right reasons. Version 2.1, released late in 2017, is now omnipresent on everything from set-top boxes to cheap smart home displays. Even compared to DisplayPort 1.4 released just a year before that, HDMI packs greater bandwidth, topping out at 48Gbps as opposed to 32Gbps. Besides, it packs several useful features unsupported by previous revisions, such as support for Ethernet transmission (HEC) and control for other consumer electronics (HDMI-CEC). As such, the HDMI standard is great for high-resolution, high refresh rate applications, like gaming if you have a GPU that can put out frames that fast.

HDMI 2.1 Variable Refresh Rate (HDMI-VRR) support also assists with a seamless experience, dropping the screen to a steady refresh rate depending on the frame rate output from the connected source. However, the appeal of sheer bandwidth and high performance doesn't appeal much to the average user, especially in productivity-focused applications. The connectors are similar, but DisplayPort boasts a faster data transfer rate (not to be conflated with bandwidth), as well as compatibility with NVIDIA's G-SYNC and AMD FreeSync technologies. As a result, the average DisplayPort 1.4 cable can drive a 1080p screen to at least 240Hz, or a 4K panel to 165Hz, as opposed to HDMI 2.1's 4K capped at 144Hz using Display Stream Compression (DSC) and just 120Hz without DSC.

These features have skyrocketed DisplayPort popularity in PC builder circles. However, there's one other advantage to DisplayPort you won't see on affordable displays unless you're upgrading to one that supports USB-C input signals — daisy-chaining displays.

A multi-monitor setup is fun

Until it isn't, because the cables get in the way

Typically, hooking up a multi-monitor setup entails running one power cable and a display input cable to each display. Most modern GPUs and consoles allow hooking up four displays simultaneously, using a combination of HDMI and DisplayPort connections. However, this creates unimaginable cable clutter, especially if your displays are mounted on adjustable monitor arms subject to frequent motion and adjustment. Depending on the mounting style and your table, multi-monitor setups might also require really long cable runs to the PC, making it harder to conceal the excess length.

Thankfully, if even one output on your console or PC follows the DisplayPort 1.4 standard or newer, you can hook up just one cable from the PC to it, and then connect a secondary display to the first panel, a third one to the second, and so on, creating a chain of displays. The immediate upside is how only one cable runs all the way to your PC or source — a tremendously useful feature if your system is in a cabinet, or in another room. This system of daisy-chaining is only supported by DisplayPort with Multi-Stream Transport (MST) enabled, USB-C connections with DisplayPort alternate mode, and Thunderbolt 3 or newer also with MST. Since the latter depends on the undoubtedly versatile USB-C standard, DisplayPort is the sole display cable tech that supports stringing monitors together.

Sure, there are prerequisites and limitations, but they aren't as jarring as you might imagine. Thanks to the capacious bandwidth and data rate of this open standard, DisplayPort 1.4 can run up to four screens in 4K resolution at a respectable 60Hz. Of course, you could also drive panels faster, or at a higher resolution if they're fewer. However, these specs are specifically for version 1.4 and above, because right up until DisplayPort 1.2+, MST could only power dual 1080p screens at 60Hz.

The minimum requirements are simple

Especially for dual-display setups

While I'm on the subject of minimum requirements, it's worth mentioning that daisy-chaining options are typically buried in the on-screen (OSD) settings for your monitor, baked into its firmware. If it isn't enabled by default, you'll need to turn on MST. Importantly, any PC monitor with a DisplayPort input won't offer this setting, since it requires a dedicated DisplayPort output. So, if you're in the market for a new display to use this feature, you'll need at least the primary monitor to support this tech. However, the last monitor in the chain won't need MST since it would just accept a standard input signal from the penultimate display in the chain, saving you some money in the process.

Another viable alternative that doesn't require outright display replacement or upgrades would involve a simple DisplayPort MST hub or a powered USB-C/Thunderbolt docking station. The general idea here would be to run the PC or console input to the dock, where it splits into a conventional, non-MST input for older monitors that still take DisplayPort connectors. At the OS level, you can subsequently choose to mirror your primary display on the secondary, like in a service environment with one screen set up for the client's viewing. Or, you could extend the daisy-chained displays and have them function as literal extensions of your usable desktop space.

A space-saver that's worth the upgrade

No matter the route you take to get started using MST with DisplayPort, you're sure to reduce the cable congestion in your multi-monitor setup. It might not make sense if you're running a simple dual-screen setup, but with three or more, the hardship of cable management and long runs starts to compound. At that point, you might be better off getting a new screen with support for DisplayPort with MST. For productivity-oriented setups like this one, a switch from the pricier HDMI standard to the more open DisplayPort is a no-brainer, especially if an upgrade is due.