Fresco Logic FL2000, USB VGA drivers 2.0.31986.0 WHQL
Written by . Posted in FRESCO LOGIC
Mobile High-def Link (MHL) has finally met its match as Fresco Logic formally announced its first USB display silicon, the FL2000. The chip, currently demoed at Computex 2012 Taipei, is also the industry's first USB Audio/Video-class device controller which the USB promoter group (a.k.a. USB-IF) hopes to competes with the connection-agnostic MHL. Fresco Logic's FL2000 arrives just 6 months after the the USB AV specs was adopted. This probably suggests that MHL is already securing a foothold in the smartphone market with Samsung and HTC Android handsets.
Details on the FL2000 are still sketchy but the controller will likely need to conform with HDCP, 8-channel uncompressed HD audio to match the capability of MHL. Fresco Logic is uniquely positioning the FL2000 to deliver as a solution for bus-powered secondary monitor and pico-projector market as USB 3.0 makes its way into Ultrabooks, tablets, and smartphones. There will be plenty of Windows 8 tablets slated to ship in Q4 this year and almost all of them have USB 3.0 built-in. So it remains to be seen whether or not existing machines and this new batch of Windows 8 devices will need additional upgrade before they can transport A/V signals over USB. Also interesting is the impact on DisplayLink which has a dominance in the USB display market.