Notice I said "true" displacement mapping. What 3D Studio MAX does is true displacement mapping. As you can see in your version of MAX, you first create a mesh with a lot of detail. Then you apply your displacement map. The result is the mesh is deformed according to the map.

The examples we see here are not showing a mesh being displaced. It is really (if I understand this correctly) a fancy form of "bump mapping" (meaning: the mesh is not altered by the map).