Tech Trend: More Monitor Inputs?

Two new high-performance digital inputs will vie for your monitor next year. Silicon Image and Intel are touting the upcoming UDI input standard, planned to be backward-compatible with digital DVI and the popular high-definition consumer electronic input HDMI. Over in the other camp, display-industry association VESA seeks to establish the DisplayPort standard. DisplayPort's impressive roster of supporters includes Dell and HP.

These digital, PCI Express-based inputs may not appear on products until 2007, so it's not yet possible to pick a performance winner. But that doesn't mean you have to forgo a new monitor until the dust settles. Chris Connery, vice president of desktop monitor market research at DisplaySearch, says, "The industry has shown that compatibility is its top priority, so it's not going to abandon those who have a DVI-based monitor today."