Technology for a display source device is described. The display source device can receive a frame start indication from a display panel at a start of a frame. The display source device can align a timing of the display source device to a timing of the display panel based on the frame start indication received from the display panel to obtain frame-level synchronization between the display source device and the display panel. The display source device can send one or more frame update regions to the display panel in accordance with the timing of the display source device that is aligned to the timing of the display panel.