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DisplayLink Corp.
Company typePrivate
IndustrySemiconductors
Founded2003
FounderDr. Quentin Stafford-Fraser,
Martin King
Headquarters
Palo Alto, California, US
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Hamid Farzaneh
(CEO), (President)
Productsnetwork display chips
Number of employees
100 (2008)
WebsiteDisplayLink.com

DisplayLink (formerly Newnham Research) is a semiconductor and software startup company. DisplayLink network display technology is designed to connect computers and displays using USB and Wireless USB, allowing multiple displays to be connected to a single PC. DiplayLink's primary customers are LCD monitor manufacturers (Samsung, LG, ASUS), notebook OEMs (Toshiba, Sony, Lenovo), and projector manufacturers (InFocus).

DisplayLink operates world-wide with offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Taiwan.[1] The company is privately funded and to date has raised $51 million in financing from venture capital organizations Atlas Venture, Balderton Capital, DAG Ventures and DFJ Esprit.[2]


Company History

DisplayLink was founded in 2003 as Newnham Research by Dr. Quentin Stafford-Fraser (inventor of the web cam) and Martin King.[3] The Newnham Research team invented the NIVO (Network In, Video Out) designed for low cost thin client computing over Ethernet networks.[4] 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.[5]

November 2007, Newnham Research renamed itself to DisplayLink, a name that better described their display connection technology.[6]

DisplayLink launched its first semiconductor product family, the DL-120 and DL-160 USB 2.0 graphics devices, in January of 2007[7], signaling 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 2008, DisplayLink announced the first Wireless USB products powered by their technology. To date they have announced products or partnerships with Wireless USB technology vendors Alereon[8], Realtek[9], and WiQuest[10].

Technology

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 or Mac OS X 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.[11]

While the basic network graphics technology can be used on a variety of network interface (Ethernet, and Wi-Fi), DisplayLink has to date only designed products around USB 2.0 and Wireless USB connectivity.

Products with DisplayLink technology are supported on Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000.[12] Beta drivers for Mac OS X are also available.[13] The technology is not currently supported on Linux.[14]

References

  1. ^ "List of DisplayLink Offices". Retrieved 2008-10-08. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  2. ^ "DisplayLink Fact Sheet" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-10-08. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  3. ^ "About DisplayLink (DisplayLink Website)". Retrieved 2008-10-08. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  4. ^ "What is an Ndiyo system?". Retrieved 2008-10-08. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  5. ^ "DisplayLink launches high-speed USB graphics technology for multi-monitor computing applications". Retrieved 2008-10-08. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  6. ^ "DisplayLink launches high-speed USB graphics technology for multi-monitor computing applications". Retrieved 2008-10-08. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  7. ^ "DisplayLink Launches ICs for Connecting Computer Displays via USB and Wireless USB". Retrieved 2008-10-08. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  8. ^ "DisplayLink and Alereon Announce World's First Wireless USB Graphics Adapter". Retrieved 2008-10-08. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  9. ^ "USB Implementers Forum Certifies IOGEAR's WUSB to VGA Kit". Retrieved 2008-10-08. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  10. ^ "WiQuest and DisplayLink Collaborate on High Performance Graphics over Wireless USB" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-10-08. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  11. ^ "DisplayLink Fact Sheet" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-10-08. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  12. ^ "DisplayLink Software Downloads". Retrieved 2008-10-08. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  13. ^ "DisplayLink Mac OS X Beta Drivers". Retrieved 2008-10-08. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  14. ^ "Toshiba Dynadock on Linux". Retrieved 2008-10-08. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
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