Reminds me of those USB/eSATA combo ports that you can plug both into. funnily enough, this machine also has one of those.
So it’s news that a device was actually built according to a standard?
The DisplayPort standard supports being passively converted to HDMI, but you still need a DisplayPort connector on the source end. This is a weird custom port which can physically accept a DisplayPort connector or a HDMI connector, so you don't need a special DP to HDMI cable, a regular HDMI to HDMI will work.
I'm guessing this isn't more common because the HDMI forum charges a license fee per port, so turning every DP port into a DP/HDMI hybrid would increase the unit cost.
Which makes me wonder why HDMI seems to be the default for laptops, etc. Is it just a matter of one industry (HDMI forum) pushing other industries to adopt one standard over another?
I'm sure it is mostly because HDMI was ubiquitous before DisplayPort had any real market presence. Even if DisplayPort is generally better, manufacturers are probably willing to accept the costs and limitations of HDMI to ensure their products are compatible with the majority of audio/video sources/displays.
My guess is that it because laptops need to be connected to TVs and projectors that only have HDMI ports. Monitors have both DisplayPort and HDMI.
Note that this is changing fast as laptops get rid of all ports in favor of USB-C which can carry DisplayPort. In practice many laptops sold today do not support HDMI but support DisplayPort albeit through a different connector.
A witch! A witch! We’ve found a witch! May we burn her?