DisplayPort 1.4 vs. 1.2: What's the difference?
A more important feature of DisplayPort 1.4 is the introduction of Display Stream Compression 1.2 support (DSC).
DisplayPort 1.2
DisplayPort version 1.2 was introduced on 7 January 2010. The most significant improvement of the new version is the doubling of the effective bandwidth to 17.28 Gbit/s in High Bit Rate 2 (HBR2) mode, which allows increased resolutions, higher refresh rates, and greater color depth.
DisplayPort 1.4
The DisplayPort 1.4 standard was first published in March 2016. While it didn't introduce any new transmission modes, and therefore did not increase the available bandwidth or data rate, it did maintain the strong showing from DisplayPort 1.3. That gives DisplayPort 1.4 a maximum total bandwidth of 32.4Gbps and a maximum total data rate of 25.92 Gbps. That gives it enough bandwidth to handle a 4K UHD stream at up to 120Hz with 24-bit/px color, or a 5K display at up to 60Hz, with 30-bit/px color. It even supports 8K video, but only at up to 30Hz due to the hefty bandwidth demands.
A more important feature of DisplayPort 1.4 is the introduction of Display Stream Compression 1.2 support (DSC). As a visually lossless encoding technique, DSC is a fantastic way to get more for your cabling and with DisplayPort 1.4 and DSC, you can support 4K at up to 120Hz with 30-bit/px color and HDR-enabled, or 8K at up to 60Hz.
While living room gaming consoles, Blu-ray players, and HTPCs most often use the humble HDMI connection for their video and audio transmission needs, high-end desktop PCs have been using something different. DisplayPort is a much more capable cable type that has been the connection of choice for high-end monitors and graphics cards for years.
Even DisplayPort 1.2, originally released in 2010, offers more bandwidth than all but the latest of HDMI standards. DisplayPort 1.4 is a much more capable standard, with limited competition from even the latest and greatest.
That doesn't mean DisplayPort 1.2 is bad though. In fact, in the battle of DisplayPort 1.4 vs. 1.2, you might be surprised how competitive it is.
The raw data
At the heart of every high-end cable standards are some numbers that dictate just what it's capable of. DisplayPort cables have offered broad and impressive bandwidth for data transmission since their first iteration, and that has only improved in successive generations. When it comes to DisplayPort 1.4 vs. 1.2, the newer standard is more capable, but DisplayPort 1.2 is still impressive.
DisplayPort 1.2 offers a maximum total bandwidth of 21.6 Gbps over its four lanes, and a maximum total data rate of 17.28 Gbps. In comparison, DisplayPort 1.4 has the same four-lane structure, but expands the maximum total bandwidth to 32.40 Gbps, and maximum total data rate to 25.92 Gbps.
These figures are identical to those of DisplayPort 1.3, because DisplayPort 1.4 was more of a feature update than a physical change to the cable or design. However, it did integrate Display Stream Compression (DSC) 1.2, a lossless compression format that opens up a wider range of resolutions and refresh rates than its bandwidth might otherwise allow.
So, who comes out on top when we pit DisplayPort 1.4 vs. 1.2? DisplayPort 1.4, by a noticeable margin.