Expect the venerable VGA (Video Graphics Array) port and even the newer DVI port to become a thing of the past over the next five years. So says a new NPD In-Stat study released late last week. In a report published on PCWorld, Brian O'Rourke, research director at NPD In-Stat, pointed out how new laptops today come with HDMI and DisplayPort for interfacing with HDTVs, monitors and projectors.

VGA has no upgrade path, and DVI has only gone through one minor upgrade cycle; in comparison, HDMI and DisplayPort are continuously being upgraded, according to O'Rourke. More importantly, chipmakers such as Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) and AMD are phrasing out chipset support for VGA by 2015, while AMD has announced it will phrase out chipset support for DVI by 2015. As such, NPD In-Stat has forecast that shipments of devices with DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort will swell pass two billion by 2015.

VGA's long history stretching back to its introduction in 1986 makes it difficult to envision a world without it. Still, there have been ample signs of its impending obsolescence, such as the introduction of DVI and HDMI ports in mid- to high-end displays in recent years.

Of course, its forced retirement will mean that VGA will no longer be available as a fallback option for auditoriums and function rooms around the world. The presence of interface adapters can help, though businesses will probably need to give greater consideration to the presence of multiple interface support when acquiring new display devices or projectors.

For more:
- check out this article at PCWorld

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