The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) announced Tuesday that it has adopted Apple's Mini DisplayPort (mDP) as a standard, meaning that it will be available for other companies to license through VESA.

"The mDP standard defines the mechanical dimensions of the mDP connector and the cable assemblies and adaptors that are supported," the organization said in a statement. "Devices using the mDP connector will meet all the electrical and protocol specifications required by DisplayPort 1.1a, and cable assemblies incorporating an mDP connector at either or both ends must meet the cable assembly electrical specifications required by the standard."

The VESA organization is a non-profit body that sets industry standards for video-related technologies. Its membership is comprised of 15 corporation, of which Apple is one. Apple has repeatedly developed and used DisplayPort technologies before they have become standards, but the adoption of mDP represents a fairly swift adoption process for the company.

As a standard, other companies will be able to adopt the technology for their own products. If this happens, Apple's portable line will be able to use third party displays with mDP support without adapters, and the same will be true of Wintel users when it comes to Apple displays.

VESA added, "Originally developed by Apple for its new generation of portable PCs, Mini DisplayPort is much smaller than DVI (Digital Video Interface) or VGA connectors and enables full function display output on ultrathin notebooks and netbooks. Earlier this year, Apple agreed to license the mDP interface to VESA for inclusion in the DisplayPort standard."

Apple's Mini DisplayPort on a Unibody MacBook Pro