Hacker News Reader

Comment by usernew | Hacker News Reader

I'm not addressing the Alt-mode. Please read what was written, and reply to what was written. The comment to which I replied said you connect devices with display port, not HDMI, because all your devices are monitors. The real-world use case is USB-C to HDMI, to connect to a TV. I have no idea what my cables do, but they have USB-C on one end, and HDMI, not DP on the other, and I plug them into the TV.

The comment stated you don't need HDMI on the other end. I am not arguing for "Alt-mode" protocol, nor did I write "Alt-mode" anywhere in my comment. I am specifically replying to the wrong fact that most people use USB-C to connect to and HDMI port, not a DP port, on the other end of the cable.

From a quick google, the reason Alt mode is "dead" is because most devices natively support HDMI and you don't need alt-mode. https://www.notebookcheck.net/The-demise-of-HDMI-over-USB-C-...

View on HN

You seem pretty confused.

> From a quick google, the reason Alt mode is "dead" is because most devices natively support HDMI and you don't need alt-mode.

If you do video over USB-C, you need alt-mode. Everything uses DisplayPort alt-mode and converts it to HDMI if needed. These days most devices have no other form of video connectivity than USB-C.

You link to an article that literally states "DisplayPort has won".

> The real-world use case is USB-C to HDMI, to connect to a TV.

The real world use case is to connect a PC or phone to an external display. Usually that's going to be a PC monitor, where physical DisplayPort actually is ubiquitous these days. Personally, I don't even have a TV - I'm not exactly a gamer so I don't see why would I need one.

(I actually connect my laptop to a screen using HDMI connector on the screen side, but that's only because it's about 10 years old :P)

I recently picked up a $100 external display on amazon. It's essentially a laptop screen with a magnetic cover a la surface tablet.

It's just a screen, no touch capabilities or any real processing onboard.

This screen has 3 usbc ports and a mini hdmi port. It also has an audio out jack.

In theory, it can be driven with a usbc to usbc cable from a phone or computer, but I don't have a device that can drive it this way.

The second usbc port is auxiliary power for when your phone can't power the whole screen.

The third usbc port is for daisy chaining another device.

The way I use this thing is from my (fairly old) laptop that only has display port out. I have an adapter that changes the DP port on my laptop to full side hdmi and then use the hdmi to hdmi mini cable that came with the screen.

Unfortunately, this setup does not pass sound to the audio jack. I wish my laptop had an hdmi port instead.

I have a similar portable screen with almost the same set connectors (only two USB-C ports and miniHDMI, no daisy chaining). That "(fairly old)" is the key there, as pretty much all modern laptops support DisplayPort over USB-C. I can plug that screen to my 4 year old laptop or my phone using USB-C to USB-C cable and it works, including audio.

You are missing that there is a chip in HDMI side of the cable that converts DisplayPort to HDMI. DisplayPort is what goes over the cable and what the device knows about.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com