EDID (Extended Display Identification Data) is information that allows devices (such as computers, media players, and gaming consoles) to interact with displays (monitors, televisions, and projectors) for optimal adjustment of video and audio output parameters.
Structure of EDID
- Manufacturer Identification: Data about the display manufacturer, its model, and serial number.
- Supported Resolutions: A list of resolutions that the display supports, including the maximum resolution and refresh rate (for example, 1920×1080 @ 60Hz).
- Color Palette: Information about supported colors and color spaces (such as sRGB, Adobe RGB).
- Supported Audio Formats: If the display supports audio output, EDID may include information about supported audio formats.
- Specifications: Additional information, such as screen size, support for various modes (such as 3D), and other characteristics.
Operating Principle
The signal source (GPU/splitter/controller) makes a request to the display device (monitor/sending card), receives a data table in response, interprets it, and sends a signal corresponding to the data.
Modern graphics cards allow the emulation of arbitrary resolutions, bypassing the EDID data.
Example: In the NVIDIA Control Panel, under the Resolution Changes section –> Create Custom Resolution.
Professional graphics cards in the “Quadro/A” series from Nvidia and “FirePro/AMD Pro” from ATI/AMD have the ability to forcefully embed data at the output from the graphics card, which will not depend on external factors and will be retained even if the display device is turned off.
To emulate or modify EDID, there are both hardware and software solutions available, which can be found among manufacturers like Analog Way, Extron, Kramer, Lightware, as well as from various Chinese noname brands.