Intel i7-660LM CN80617004857AA User Manual

Datasheet

31

A display plane is a single displayed surface in memory and contains one image 

(desktop, cursor, overlay). It is the portion of the display HW logic that defines the 

format and location of a rectangular region of memory that can be displayed on display 

output device and delivers that data to a display pipe. This is clocked by the Core 

Display Clock.

Planes A and B are the main display planes and are associated with Pipes A and B 

respectively. The two display pipes are independent, allowing for support of two 

independent display streams. They are both double-buffered, which minimizes latency 

and improves visual quality.

Sprite A and Sprite B are planes optimized for video decode, and are associated with 

Planes A and B respectively. Sprite A and B are also double-buffered.

Cursors A and B are small, fixed-sized planes dedicated for mouse cursor acceleration, 

and are associated with Planes A and B respectively. These planes support resolutions 

up to 256 x 256 each.

Used for boot, safe mode, legacy games, etc. Can be changed by an application without 

OS/driver notification, due to legacy requirements. 

The display pipe blends and synchronizes pixel data received from one or more display 

planes and adds the timing of the display output device upon which the image is 

displayed. This is clocked by the Display Reference clock inputs. 

The display pipes A and B operate independently of each other at the rate of 1 pixel per 

clock. They can attach to any of the DisplayPorts. Each pipe sends display data to the 

PCH over the Intel Flexible Display Interface (Intel FDI).

The display ports consist of output logic and pins that transmit the display data to the 

associated encoding logic and send the data to the display device (i.e., LVDS, HDMI, 

DVI, SDVO, etc.). All display interfaces connecting external displays are now 

repartitioned and driven from the PCH with the exception of the eDP DisplayPort. 

The DisplayPort abbreviated as DP (different than the generic term display port) 

specification is a VESA standard. DisplayPort consolidates internal and external 

connection methods to reduce device complexity, support cross industry applications, 

and provide performance scalability. The integrated graphics supports an embedded 

DisplayPort (eDP) interface for display devices that are integrated into the system 

(e.g., laptop LCD panel). All other display interfaces connecting to the LVDS or external 

panels are driven from the

PCH.