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I appreciate this article but fundamentally this is just a fault of the USB-C standard. One of the hardest parts is not just that it's sometimes confusing what

I appreciate this article but fundamentally this is just a fault of the USB-C standard. One of the hardest parts is not just that it's sometimes confusing what is supported, a lot of the complexity is also pushed onto what any given usb-c cable supports. Sometimes, especially with video, there is a distinct direction built into many of these cables. Now you need to find in your cable bin/storage the right kind of cable for each application potentially killing a lot of re-usability (if you have neatly organized usb-c cables labeled by their technical capabilities you're much better than me). Not to mention, there are issues with power. Lots of laptops have video wired to usb-c which you can connect to a monitor, but I bought a portable monitor that took usb-c as an input using the DP standard last year and it was a nightmare to get it work correctly. My understanding was that usb-c => DP, most of the time the cable itself is unpowered from the usb-c side since the monitor accepting displayport will power the connection on its side (since it's usually plugged in). Since mine was a portable monitor this wasn't the case and I basically needed to use a wacom link to combine a DP signal, separate usb power into a combined signal out. Totally lame...

Felger 5y ago
I will be given the same task of get a USB-C portable monitor to work on a Huawei Mate D14 (1 USB-C) next week. Already preparing for that massive headache.
kunai 5y ago
I remember back in 2015-2016 when everyone was heralding USB-C as the one port to rule them all. Turns out, it's more like 17 ports in a trench coat to rule them none. It's been five years since USB-C became standard on MacBooks and we've seen Apple reverse course on the idea it could replace everything, and with the exception of a handful of ultraportables, most PC laptops and motherboards still include 2+ USB-A ports as well as other IO. In other applications, like cars, aircraft, public charging stations, USB-A is here to stay, and the advantages of USB-C are dubious at best. A more fragile port, for... what, reversibility? Having a clear use case for a port is invaluable. When I plug in an HDMI cable, I know it's going to be used for display output. MagSafe? Power delivery. USB-A/Firewire? A client peripheral connected to a master computer bus, like a printer or MIDI keyboard. USB-C eschews that philosophy entirely. In a way, it's almost like a step backwards to the days of serial ports and DIN cables, with different standards competing for supremacy and no way of knowing if Thing A works with Thing B without trial and error.
- jeffbee 5y ago
  > When I plug in an HDMI cable, I know it's going to be used for display output https://www.cmple.com/learn/learning-center-hdmi-cables-with-ethernet https://www.cmple.com/learn/learning-center-hdmi-cables-with... > Firewire? A client peripheral connected to a master computer bus Nope. Firewire is masterless/multi-master/peer-to-peer. That's why you could not only transfer music from you laptop to an iPod, but from one iPod to another iPod without any (other) computers on the bus. It is also why two computers can by attached via Firewire, as a generic network link or for low-level debugging.
  - selectodude 5y ago
    I have never seen an HDMI cable with ethernet. Ever. Monoprice doesn't even sell HDMI+Ethernet cables.
    - eyeareque 5y ago
      I’ve had a super old DVD player connect to the internet over an hdmi cable to my blue ray/surround sound system device that had Ethernet connected. It used the connection to patch itself, didn’t even ask if I wanted to.
    - k33l0r 5y ago
      Even a $7 AmazonBasics HDMI cable has Ethernet support (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014I8SSD0 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014I8SSD0), not that this really matters since hardly any devices ever supported Ethernet over HDMI. Also, Ethernet over HDMI is limited to 100 Mbit/s which would make it slower than most modern Wi-Fi networks (leaving aside any possible reliability issues).
    - kalleboo 5y ago
      The first monoprice cable that came up on Google says it supports Ethernet https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=42682 https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=42682
- crackercrews 5y ago
colejohnson66 5y ago
A big mistake was turning the cables from passive wires connecting two ports into things needing active circuitry in the plug. Average consumers don’t think like this. They just want the “iPhone to USB” cable. Some consumers won’t understand why cable A is any different than cable B. After all, they both have the USB C thingy on both ends.
- jeffbee 5y ago
  That's just reality and there is not a way around it. If you want the cable to be removable at both ends, more than an inch long, and really really fast, then it has to be active.
  - cuu508 5y ago
    Aren't passive DisplayPort cabbles really really fast, and longer than 1 inch?
    - organsnyder 5y ago
      DisplayPort cables don't carry PCIe lanes.
      - colejohnson66 5y ago
        True, but DP 2.0 is 20 Gb/s/lane and PCIe 4.0 is 16 GT/s/lane. Unless I'm missing something, those data rates aren't that far apart.
- deepsun 5y ago
  They could mandate icons, same as USB, USB 2 and USB 3 all have their own icons, usually displayed on cables and receiving ports.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - 5y ago

Felger 5y ago

I will be given the same task of get a USB-C portable monitor to work on a Huawei Mate D14 (1 USB-C) next week. Already preparing for that massive headache.

kunai 5y ago

I remember back in 2015-2016 when everyone was heralding USB-C as the one port to rule them all. Turns out, it's more like 17 ports in a trench coat to rule them none. It's been five years since USB-C became standard on MacBooks and we've seen Apple reverse course on the idea it could replace everything, and with the exception of a handful of ultraportables, most PC laptops and motherboards still include 2+ USB-A ports as well as other IO. In other applications, like cars, aircraft, public charging stations, USB-A is here to stay, and the advantages of USB-C are dubious at best. A more fragile port, for... what, reversibility? Having a clear use case for a port is invaluable. When I plug in an HDMI cable, I know it's going to be used for display output. MagSafe? Power delivery. USB-A/Firewire? A client peripheral connected to a master computer bus, like a printer or MIDI keyboard. USB-C eschews that philosophy entirely. In a way, it's almost like a step backwards to the days of serial ports and DIN cables, with different standards competing for supremacy and no way of knowing if Thing A works with Thing B without trial and error.

jeffbee 5y ago
> When I plug in an HDMI cable, I know it's going to be used for display output https://www.cmple.com/learn/learning-center-hdmi-cables-with-ethernet https://www.cmple.com/learn/learning-center-hdmi-cables-with... > Firewire? A client peripheral connected to a master computer bus Nope. Firewire is masterless/multi-master/peer-to-peer. That's why you could not only transfer music from you laptop to an iPod, but from one iPod to another iPod without any (other) computers on the bus. It is also why two computers can by attached via Firewire, as a generic network link or for low-level debugging.
- selectodude 5y ago
  I have never seen an HDMI cable with ethernet. Ever. Monoprice doesn't even sell HDMI+Ethernet cables.
  - eyeareque 5y ago
    I’ve had a super old DVD player connect to the internet over an hdmi cable to my blue ray/surround sound system device that had Ethernet connected. It used the connection to patch itself, didn’t even ask if I wanted to.
  - k33l0r 5y ago
    Even a $7 AmazonBasics HDMI cable has Ethernet support (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014I8SSD0 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014I8SSD0), not that this really matters since hardly any devices ever supported Ethernet over HDMI. Also, Ethernet over HDMI is limited to 100 Mbit/s which would make it slower than most modern Wi-Fi networks (leaving aside any possible reliability issues).
  - kalleboo 5y ago
    The first monoprice cable that came up on Google says it supports Ethernet https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=42682 https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=42682
crackercrews 5y ago

colejohnson66 5y ago

A big mistake was turning the cables from passive wires connecting two ports into things needing active circuitry in the plug. Average consumers don’t think like this. They just want the “iPhone to USB” cable. Some consumers won’t understand why cable A is any different than cable B. After all, they both have the USB C thingy on both ends.

jeffbee 5y ago
That's just reality and there is not a way around it. If you want the cable to be removable at both ends, more than an inch long, and really really fast, then it has to be active.
- cuu508 5y ago
  Aren't passive DisplayPort cabbles really really fast, and longer than 1 inch?
  - organsnyder 5y ago
    DisplayPort cables don't carry PCIe lanes.
    - colejohnson66 5y ago
      True, but DP 2.0 is 20 Gb/s/lane and PCIe 4.0 is 16 GT/s/lane. Unless I'm missing something, those data rates aren't that far apart.
deepsun 5y ago
They could mandate icons, same as USB, USB 2 and USB 3 all have their own icons, usually displayed on cables and receiving ports.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- 5y ago