As one of the most powerful dedicated gaming machines around right now, the PS5 has a lot of capabilities. Not only can it play both physical and digital games, but it’s also capable of reading Blu-ray discs, streaming movies, and much more. The PS5 also has a range of hardware connections available, so you can hook up external devices like the PS VR2 headset, extra storage media, and much more. If you’ve got a PS5, you have much more than a simple games console.
With that said, there are some things the PS5 simply can’t do, which brings us onto today’s question: does the PS5 have DisplayPort? This display connection can be found on plenty of modern monitors and displays, but can you hook up your PS5 to one if it doesn’t have an HDMI port? Let’s take a look at whether or not your PS5 has DisplayPort and what you can do about it.
Your PS5 doesn’t have a DisplayPort socket
Let’s get the bad news out of the way first: your PS5 does not have DisplayPort. There is no way to connect a DisplayPort cable to a corresponding port on the console, because such a port does not exist. This means that if all you have is a DisplayPort cable and you want to hook up your PS5 to a monitor, you won’t be able to do so, sadly. You’ll have to find another way of connecting your machine to the display. Thankfully, there are several ways you can do that!
How to hook up a PS5 to a DisplayPort monitor
If you do have a DisplayPort monitor and you’re determined to connect it to the PS5, you’re not without options. Here are some of the things you can do to facilitate the connection.
- Buy a DisplayPort to HDMI cable. There are tons of DisplayPort to HDMI cables out there on the market, and all of them should work with the PS5. Bear in mind that many of these cables don’t support 4K at 60Hz, like the PS5 is capable of outputting; they often top out at 4K30 or 2K (1440p) 120Hz, which should still be sufficient for your needs, especially given the recent PS5 system update that implemented VRR at 1440p.
- Buy a DisplayPort to HDMI adapter. If all you have is a DisplayPort cable and you don’t want to use a different cable, then you can buy an adapter that converts DisplayPort to HDMI. Again, because you’re essentially introducing an extra step into the display process, some HDMI to DisplayPort adapters (or vice versa) will result in a loss of quality, but you can also find adapters that support 4K at 60Hz, so make sure you shop carefully.
- Use the HDMI port instead. Most monitors will also have an HDMI port in addition to their DisplayPort socket. It’s definitely a better idea to use the HDMI port if you can. The PS5 isn’t designed to run through adapters; while these will suffice in a pinch, it’s really designed to run through a single HDMI cable, and you’ll get the best picture quality and refresh rate if you play it this way. If you can help it, you definitely shouldn’t use an adapter or an HDMI to DisplayPort cable as we’ve outlined above, although those solutions really are the only way to connect the PS5 to DisplayPort.
What exactly is DisplayPort?
Of course, it’s entirely possible that you’ve gotten this far and you don’t actually know what DisplayPort is. Allow us to enlighten you on that front. DisplayPort was originally created in order to replace ports like DVI and VGA, which were becoming obsolete on personal computers and monitors. If you’re using a desktop PC, you’ll probably still be able to see a VGA or DVI port on your motherboard (but probably not on your graphics card if you have an external one; you’ll have DisplayPort sockets instead).
DisplayPort actually uses similar technology to USB in order to transmit data, and it doesn’t look dissimilar either. The most recent and up-to-date version of DisplayPort is 2.1, and it offers support for high bandwidth and the latest monitors.
DisplayPort vs HDMI
When it comes to comparing DisplayPort and HDMI, let’s get one thing out of the way first: if you’re using a PS5, then you should definitely opt for HDMI, as we’ve stated. This is because the PS5 doesn’t have native DisplayPort, and it’s almost always a good idea to hook up devices to external displays with as few adapters or extra cables as possible, as this will potentially “slow down” the signal (it’s a little more complex than that, but this is the basic idea).
So, what are the advantages of DisplayPort over HDMI? The truth is that the two technologies are pretty similar. You probably wouldn’t notice the difference if you hooked up your monitors to your PC via DisplayPort and then via HDMI, but there are some notable differences on the technical side. HDMI, for instance, supports ARC and eARC, which allow two-way audio processing. If you have a fancy TV, then you may well have an ARC or eARC-enabled port, and you should hook up your sound system via that port. DisplayPort doesn’t support ARC or eARC, but it does feature built-in support for Nvidia G-Sync and AMD Freesync, whereas HDMI only supports Freesync. In real terms, connecting your monitors to your PC via either cable will result in a good picture, but for PS5, stick with HDMI.
