The USB Type-C connector is seen progressively as a widespread connector, since it can uphold quite a few “substitute modes”. That essentially means that your mobile devices turns off the USB association (at least potentially, except for USB 2.0) and permits the utilization of those actual wires for something different. Two of these substitute modes are HDMI and DisplayPort.
There’s no benefit in many monitors to help HDMI through Type-C. For one purposes, the video outputs that run as alternate modes on Type-C connectors, such as HDMI and DisplayPort, are “source” modes. They are expected to drive these video standards, not allowa them for show. It’s certainly possible to add alternate modes for display sink, but there’s no compelling reason. HDMI already has its connector standards. The main reason to make Type-C an “everything” connector is for a phone or laptop with limited space.
Furthermore, data protocols that run faster than USB require special electronically “tagged” cables that identify the cable function. So you don’t run HDMI over a USB Type-C cable, you run HDMI over an HDMI cable that’s terminated in a Type-C connector at one end and electronically tagged as an HDMI cable.
It does make sense for a laptop or even a table/phone to use Type-C instead of HDMI. In fact, many already do. Phones going back years supported the MHL (Mobile High-Definition Link) video standard via the USB Mico-B connector’s only common alternate mode. A laptop could manage HDMI and DisplayPort via a Type C connector, allowing that to of course support normal USB stuff as well. So it’s a good idea for these devices, since most users probably never use an HDMI connection.
Additionally, as of now, it’s not quite perfect. The only standard Type-C alternate mode is HDMI 1.4b. You really want HDMI 2.0 or better output for modern PCs or UltraHD-4K video gear into modern monitors. There are actually dongles that seem to do this, but they’re actually runing a DisplayPort alternate mode and converting that to HDMI 2.0 in the dongle.
Post time: Sep-25-2021