diff --git a/adapters/index.html b/adapters/index.html index 07725b5..cba68df 100644 --- a/adapters/index.html +++ b/adapters/index.html @@ -27,8 +27,7 @@ Display Cables and Adapters Guide - - + @@ -53,7 +52,7 @@ Compatibility

@@ -4083,6 +4275,10 @@ Thunderbolt 3 outputs can also be connected to monitors that have Thunderbolt or Thunderbolt 2 inputs via an adapter.

Thunderbolt 3 inputs will only accept video from a Thunderbolt 3 source, or a Thunderbolt or Thunderbolt 2 source via an adapter.

+ + UPDATE JAN. 2018:

+ + Thunderbolt 3 input ports on monitors using the new Titan Ridge TB3 controllers can accept video input from standard USB Type-C DP Alt Mode outputs, they do not require a Thunderbolt 3 source anymore.

Technical Overview

@@ -4096,6 +4292,8 @@ The PCI Express connection to the system consists of either 2 or 4 lanes of PCI Express 3.0, providing either 16 Gbit/s or 32 Gbit/s of data transfer capability. The connection to the GPU consists of either 4 or 8 lanes of DisplayPort 1.2, providing either 17.28 Gbit/s or 34.56 Gbit/s of video bandwidth (a standard DisplayPort connection is 4 lanes). Only a combined maximum of 40 Gbit/s may be sent out across the USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 interface, so the data transfer capability and video transfer capability cannot both be used at maximum capacity at the same time. Some Thunderbolt controllers may also support dual Thunderbolt 3 ports, which must share the PCIe and DisplayPort connections to the system.

+ (UPDATE JAN. 2018: Updated "Titan Ridge" Thunderbolt 3 controllers use 4 or 8 lanes of DisplayPort 1.4, providing either 25.92 Gbit/s or 40.00 Gbit/s of video bandwidth.)

+ Most laptops or motherboard with a single Thunderbolt 3 port use a lower tier controller connected with PCIe 3.0 ×2 and DisplayPort 1.2 ×4. These can only output up to 20 Gbit/s and are not capable of higher video modes such as 5K 60 Hz.

Most products with two or more Thunderbolt 3 ports use one or several dual-port controllers, which have the full PCIe 3.0 ×4 / DisplayPort 1.2 ×8 connection, but these resources are shared by both ports. High-bandwidth video modes such as 5K 60 Hz or high data transfer rates up to 32 Gbit/s are possible on one port, but fully saturating one port will severely reduce similar capabilities on the second port.

@@ -5110,47 +5308,36 @@ [Link] -
- Do HDMI cables have versions?

+
+ Do HDMI cables have versions?

- No, HDMI cables do not have versions. In fact, advertising a cable as an "HDMI 1.4 cable" or "HDMI 2.0 cable" or "HDMI 2.0 compliant" (etc.) has been banned by the HDMI Licensing authority since 2009, and any cable product which references HDMI version numbers is considered a non-compliant cable.

+ There are differences between various HDMI cables, but they are not classified by "HDMI version" because that would not be an accurate way of distinguishing the different cable types.

-
+ HDMI cables, for the most part, all have the same internal design, the same wiring layout, etc. There is one exception to that which is the "HDMI with Ethernet" cable; these are wired slightly differently (pin 14, a reserved pin in normal cables, is connected and formed into a twisted pair with pin 19). However, the inline ethernet feature has pretty much never been used in any product, so this distinction can be ignored. "HDMI with Ethernet" cables are still fully compatible with all other HDMI devices and don't affect any other aspect of the connection, so it doesn't matter if your cable is a "with Ethernet" version or not.

- What are the rules for referencing HDMI® version numbers?

+ Although HDMI cables all have the same design and wiring, that doesn't mean they will all function identically. Higher resolutions and higher refresh rates both increase the amount of data that needs to be transmitted across the cable, and cables have limits to how much data per second they can handle (bandwidth). As the signaling frequency increases, the signal starts to drop off and becomes more and more difficult to read on the other end, and eventually it will be too degraded to recover the data. Different cables have different limits to how high of a frequency they can transmit reliably, depending on the manufacturing tolerances and length of the cable.

- Effective January 1, 2012 [for non-cable products; this policy was effective immediately (2009) for HDMI cables], when marketing an HDMI Product, any references to HDMI version numbers is prohibited.

+ So in this sense, the quality of a cable does matter, since cables with more tightly controlled manufacturing will be capable of facilitating bandwidth levels beyond what lesser quality cables can handle. However, there is no need to shop for expensive "high-quality" cables hoping to get one that can handle as much as possible. It's worth pointing out the HDMI ports on your devices have limits too, based on the version; For example, HDMI 1.4 ports have a maximum of 10.2 Gbit/s, and HDMI 2.0 ports have a maximum of 18.0 Gbit/s. You won't get more bandwidth than that out of those ports no matter what cable you use, so getting cables that advertise super high bandwidth ("27.0 Gbit/s!") won't give you any benefit compared to an 18.0 Gbit/s cable. As long as the cable is good enough to handle the maximum bandwidth of your ports, there's nothing further to be gained from a better cable.

- HDMI Cables

- - Using HDMI version numbers in the labeling, packaging, or promotion of any cable product is prohibited. This includes releases of the HDMI Specification (for example, HDMI 1.4, 1.3, etc.), interim version numbers (for example, HDMI 1.4a, 1.3a, etc.) and CTS (Compliance Test Specification) version numbers (for example, 1.4a, 1.3c, etc.).

- - Cable products that refer to version numbers are considered non-compliant and subject to trademark enforcement actions.

- - http://www.hdmi.org/learningcenter/trademark_logo_pub.aspx
- http://www.hdmi.org/learningcenter/videos_player.aspx?v=trademark_cables -

-
- - So does that mean all HDMI cables are the same?

- -
- No. There are several different types (or "categories") of HDMI cables, rated by bandwidth. This is not the same as an "HDMI version". The HDMI cable category certifies that the cable can handle a certain amount of bandwidth. Higher resolutions and higher refresh rates increase the bandwidth required for video transmission, so for high-bandwidth formats like 4K 60 Hz not all HDMI cables will function properly. All other features* of all HDMI versions do not depend on the cable to "support it". Features like HDR, audio, ARC, 3D, variable refresh, and anything else will work on any cable. HDMI 2.0 features do not require a so-called "HDMI 2.0 cable" rated for 18 Gbit/s, which is why they are not called "HDMI 2.0 cables" in the first place, they are called Premium High Speed HDMI cables (as listed in the table below). The only thing that requires these cables is high-bandwidth video like 4K 60 Hz. The cable does not affect support for any other feature of any HDMI version. (*The only exception to this is inline Ethernet, which does require a special "HDMI with Ethernet" cable.)

+ To avoid any guessing games as to how much bandwidth a cable can handle, the creators of the HDMI standard have established certifications for cables that have been tested to handle a certain amount of bandwidth. These certification levels are conveniently matched with the maximum limits of various HDMI versions (with the exception of the Standard Speed certification, which is only about half the maximum bandwidth of HDMI 1.0–1.2, but nobody makes Standard Speed HDMI cables anyway).

- +
- + + - - - + + + + + - - - + + + + - + + +
- HDMI Cable Categories + + HDMI Cable Certification Levels
- Certification Name + Cable Type - Tested up to... + HDMI Versions
Matched With1 + 		+ Bandwidth
Tested At 		Equivalent to (approx.)... @@ -5158,113 +5345,120 @@
- Category 1 ("Standard Speed") + Standard Speed HDMI Cable + + -
 - 2.2275 Gbit/s
(74.25 MHz TMDS clock) + 2.2275 Gbit/s 		- 1280 × 720 at 60 Hz
- 1920 × 1080 at 30 Hz
+ 720p @ 60 Hz
+ 1080p @ 30 Hz
- Category 2 ("High Speed") + + High Speed HDMI Cable - 10.2 Gbit/s
(340 MHz TMDS clock) + 		+ 1.3 - 1920 × 1080 at 144 Hz
- 2560 × 1440 at 75 Hz
- 3840 × 2160 at 30 Hz
+ 		+ 10.2 Gbit/s + + 1080p @ 144 Hz
+ 1440p @ 75 Hz
+ 2160p @ 30 Hz
1.3a
1.4
1.4a
1.4b
- "Premium High Speed" + + Premium High Speed HDMI Cable - 18.0 Gbit/s
(600 MHz TMDS clock) + 		+ 2.0 - 1920 × 1080 at 240 Hz
- 2560 × 1440 at 144 Hz
- 3840 × 2160 at 60 Hz
- 5120 × 2880 at 30 Hz
+ 		+ 18.0 Gbit/s + + 1080p @ 240 Hz
+ 1440p @ 144 Hz
+ 2160p (4K) @ 60 Hz
2.0a
2.0b
- 48G + Ultra High Speed HDMI Cable + + 2.1 - 48.0 Gbit/s
(1.2 GHz TMDS clock) + 48.0 Gbit/s 		- - 2560 × 1440 at 360 Hz
- 3840 × 2160 at 180 Hz
- 5120 × 2880 at 100 Hz
- 7680 × 4320 at 50 Hz
- - (HDMI 2.1 uses compression to achieve higher modes like 8K 60 Hz) + 		+ 2160p (4K) @ 144 Hz
+ 4320p (8K) @ 50 Hz +
+ 1 The maximum speed guaranteed by this certification tier is exactly the maximum speed of these HDMI versions
+

- Because HDMI version 1.4 allows a maximum bandwidth of 10.2 Gbit/s and High Speed HDMI cables are certified to handle 10.2 Gbit/s, it seems natural to call them "HDMI 1.4 cables". Likewise, HDMI 2.0 allows up to 18.0 Gbit/s and Premium High Speed HDMI cables are certified for that speed, so it seems natural to call those cables "HDMI 2.0 cables". However, this should be avoided. Even if an HDMI cable can only handle 10.2 Gbit/s, using it with an HDMI 2.0 system will not "downgrade the connection to HDMI 1.4". It will limit the bandwidth (the maximum resolution and refresh rate) to 10.2 Gbit/s, but all other HDMI 2.0 features will not be affected and will work just fine. Cables do not affect feature/version support or compatibility, they only affect maximum bandwidth, which is why they are classified by bandwidth ratings and not by their "HDMI version", which is a property that cables do not actually have.

+ There are no other classifications for HDMI cables besides those. HDMI cables are only rated by bandwidth because they only affect bandwidth. Feature support, such as 3D, HDR, FreeSync, or audio is not affected by the cable and will work on anything (with the aforementioned exception of Ethernet, which requires an HDMI with Ethernet cable). Since multiple versions of HDMI have the same maximum bandwidth, there is not a separate type of cable for every version. There are no "HDMI 1.3 cables" and "HDMI 1.4 cables" for example. Both of those versions have the same maximum bandwidth, 10.2 Gbit/s, so are therefore both covered by the same type of cable, a High Speed HDMI cable.

- It should also be noted that a certification is not a maximum bandwidth rating. If a cable carries a "High Speed" certification, it simply means that the cable was tested at 340 MHz (10.2 Gbit/s) and functioned properly at that speed. It may or may not continue to function properly at higher speeds, the certification doesn't test that. If you ask whether a regular High Speed (10.2 Gbit/s) HDMI cable will handle 18 Gbit/s speeds, the response is often "It won't be able to, High Speed cables can only handle up to 10.2 Gbit/s". No; High Speed cables can handle at least 10.2 Gbit/s. The bandwidth requirement of the certification is the minimum guaranteed, not the maximum it can handle. In fact quite a lot of normal High Speed HDMI cables can handle 4K 60 Hz perfectly well, but there's no way to tell whether it can or can't from the product description. Customer reviews can be enlightening in this situation. Just be wary of retailers like Amazon, which combine reviews from cables with multiple length options. Just because a 6 foot High Speed cable works at 4K 60 Hz doesn't mean the 10 foot variant of the same cable will also work at 4K 60 Hz. Length is the main factor in signal distortion in twisted-pair cable, so a longer version of a cable may not handle as much bandwidth as its shorter versions, even if they're all cut from the exact same cable stock.

- - Of course, one might think "Well, if a cable were capable of handling 18 Gbit/s, it would have a Premium High Speed certification, not a High Speed certification". But actually, it wouldn't if it was certified during the first few years after HDMI 2.0 was released, when the Premium High Speed certification didn't exist. Every cable made during that time that functioned properly at 10.2 Gbit/s was given a High Speed certification, and that was that. Some of them could also handle 18 Gbit/s while others couldn't, but the High Speed certification doesn't discriminate between the two.

+ If you have a device or display with an HDMI port of any version between 1.3 and 1.4b, then any HDMI cable with a High Speed certification will handle any signals your devices might send. If you have devices with HDMI 2.0–2.0b ports, then a High Speed HDMI cable may or may not work, since they have only been tested up to 10.2 Gbit/s. That doesn't mean they won't work at 18.0 Gbit/s, it just means it's not guaranteed to. Premium High Speed cables on the other hand have been tested at 18.0 Gbit/s, and therefore are certain to handle anything that comes out of an HDMI 2.0–2.0b port.

- High Speed HDMI Cables and HDMI 2.0

- + You said some cables can handle more bandwidth than others because the signals don't degrade as much in higher quality cables. But isn't cable quality irrelevant because digital signals are immune to interference?

+ All electrical signals are subject to interference, regardless of whether that signal is representing information analagously or digitally. However, if the information is being represented digitally then the signal distortion caused by interference can be corrected, and the final result is no different than if there were no interference in the first place. While this does effectively eliminate the effects of interference, it does not prevent the interference from being there, and if the signal is distorted so much that it is beyond recognition and can't be corrected, then it will suddenly stop working.

-
- TLDR:

- The vast majority of normal High Speed HDMI cables will work at 4K 60 Hz, they don't need to be special "4K" HDMI cables. If you're buying a new 4K display and already have some HDMI cables laying around, try them first. If it turns out they can't handle 4K 60 Hz (it's not absolutely guaranteed) then go look for a Premium High Speed certified HDMI cable, but in most cases you will not need any new cables.

+ This matters for cables because higher bandwidth formats like 4K 60 Hz will experience worse signal loss than lower formats like 1080p 60 Hz. Therefore, a cable that can reliably transmit 1080p 60 Hz video won't necessarily be able to do 4K as well. The increased signal loss with the higher format may be enough to cross the threshold into being too distorted to recover.

+
- For existing High Speed cables with long lengths (10+ meters), it is less likely that they will be able to handle 4K 60 Hz. A Premium High Speed certified cable will probably be required. -

+ Aren't the names "High Speed HDMI Cable", "Premium High Speed HDMI Cable", and so forth just meaningless made-up marketing names?

+
+ No, these are official names for the various cable tiers, established directly by the HDMI specification. Refer to HDMI 1.4 page 11, section 4.1.1. The Premium High Speed certification was added in 2015 as a standalone release (here), not part of any of the HDMI specification documents.

+
- Due to the way HDMI 2.0 was released (without an 18 Gbit/s certification for cables), there is some ambiguity as to whether or not High Speed HDMI cables (certified at 10.2 Gbit/s) will work at 18.0 Gbit/s. There is testimony for both sides; some people report that they tried several High Speed cables which failed at 18 Gbit/s speeds, and finally bought a cable advertising 18 Gbit/s (or "HDMI 2.0") which did work, and therefore insist that cables rated for HDMI 1.4 speeds are insufficient, and "HDMI 2.0 cables" are a real thing. And yet others report that they bought an "HDMI 1.4" cable rated for 10.2 Gbit/s, which worked perfectly at HDMI 2.0 speeds, and therefore insist that there are no special cables needed for HDMI 2.0, and that any normal High Speed HDMI cable will work fine at HDMI 2.0 speeds.

+ Didn't the HDMI creators say that any High Speed HDMI cable will handle the full 18.0 Gbit/s of the HDMI 2.0 spec? Isn't the whole "Premium High Speed" cable just a made-up marketing thing?

+
+ On the initial release of HDMI 2.0, it is true the HDMI creators did say that existing High Speed HDMI cables would be able to handle the full 18.0 Gbit/s of HDMI 2.0:

- The latter position can be hard to argue with, given that the HDMI Consortium gave this official statement when HDMI 2.0 was released:

Can existing HDMI cables support the higher bandwidths of HDMI 2.0 Specification?

- Yes, existing High Speed HDMI Cables (wire only) will support the new higher bandwidths (up to 18Gbps).
+ Yes, existing High Speed HDMI Cables (wire only) will support the new higher bandwidths (up to 18Gbps).

+ + Does HDMI 2.0 require new cables?

+ + No, HDMI 2.0 features will work with existing HDMI cables. Higher bandwidth features, such as 4K@50/60 (2160p) video formats, will require existing High Speed HDMI cables (Category 2 cables).

- Numerous accounts of people using regular 10.2 Gbit/s-advertised High Speed HDMI cables for 4K 60 Hz add further support to this and make it a very solid position indeed. Unfortunately, it is not always true. Not all High Speed cables can handle 18 Gbit/s. Granted, most of them can, which is why many people have successfully used High Speed HDMI cables at 18 Gbit/s, but not all of them can, which is why others have experienced failures.

+ However, this has since been shown to not always be true. While many High Speed cables do work fine at the full 18 Gbit/s speed, it is not guaranteed. Some do and some don't.

- Since signal integrity gets more and more difficult to control as the cable gets longer, it's mostly only with long cables that you start seeing High Speed certified cables that can't deliver 18 Gbit/s. Most of the time people deal with cables on the shorter side, maybe 2 to 3 meters long, where handling 18 Gbit/s is not much more difficult than 10.2 Gbit/s, so almost any cable capable of 10.2 Gbit/s can also be used for 18 Gbit/s at those lengths unless it really just barely passed the High Speed certification.

- - However, at longer distances like 10 or 15 meters, manufacturing tolerances need to be a lot tighter to minimize distortion, and it's far less likely that a High Speed certified cable will continue to operate flawlessly all the way up to 18 Gbit/s. But, since most consumers only deal with shorter lengths where most High Speed cables do indeed work at HDMI 2.0 speeds, the failures at longer lengths went mostly unnoticed, and there have been countless articles written and shared across the internet about how all HDMI cables are the same and that any High Speed cable will work for HDMI 2.0 speeds, when in fact that isn't quite true in all situations.

- - The HDMI Consortium has since created the Premium High Speed certification, which actually tests cables at 18 Gbit/s, to address this problem.

-
- HDMI Licensing acknowledges the issue of some "high speed" cable not quite being up to the task of actually handling the full 2.0 bandwidth, saying:

- - "Although many current High Speed HDMI Cables in the market will perform as originally expected (and support 18Gbps), some unanticipated technical characteristics of some compliant High Speed HDMI Cables that affect performance at higher speeds have been found. These cables are compliant with the Category 2 HDMI Cable requirements and perform successfully at 10.2Gbps, but may fail at 18 Gbps." -

- - Of course, some people dismiss the "Premium High Speed" certification as a marketing ploy (or even deny that the certification exists) and continue to insist that any High Speed cable will work at 18 Gbit/s and that Premium High Speed cables are exactly the same. While it's true that most of the time a High Speed cable will do the job, in which case using a Premium High Speed cable makes exactly zero difference, it's simply false to say that all High Speed cables will work at 18 Gbit/s, despite what the HDMI Consortium's HDMI 2.0 FAQ page says. And in those cases, having a Premium High Speed certification does matter. They aren't just the same thing as High Speed cables re-labeled for marketing. As said of course, usually you won't need a Premium certified cable, but in some circumstances you might.

- - BJC sums it up quite nicely in a sentence:

-
- There is, therefore, for most users no reason to rush out and buy new cables to handle HDMI 2.0. It's quite possible, for reasons we'll get to, that you may find that you need to do this, but it's by no means a foregone conclusion. -

- - In short, if you're buying a new 4K 60 Hz display and already have some HDMI cables laying around, try them first. The vast majority of normal High Speed HDMI cables will work at 4K 60 Hz, they don't need to be special "4K" HDMI cables. If it does turn out that they don't work, then go look for a Premium High Speed certified cable.

+ The reason most High Speed certified cables still work at 18 Gbit/s is because cables are usually offered in several lengths which are all cut from the same cable stock. Signal loss increases with distance (and conversely, decrease with lower distance), so when cable manufacturers chose cable that can handle High Speed certification requirements at 10 meters, the 2- and 3-meter cuts of that cable will often handle even higher speeds.

+ + Certifications obtained for one cable are valid for all shorter versions of that cable, so a manufacturer will submit their longest version and obtain a High Speed certification for that entire product line, and may not bother to submit the shorter versions individually to get Premium High Speed certifications for those. Also they usually want you to buy one of their more expensive cables for higher formats like 4K, and so they don't want their lower-end cables to have Premium certifications even though the short versions may be perfectly capable of 18 Gbit/s operation.

I would recommend reading these articles for more detail:
+ https://www.bluejeanscable.com/articles/bad-reasons-to-upgrade-hdmi-cable.htm http://www.bluejeanscable.com/articles/note-about-hdmi-2.htm
http://www.bluejeanscable.com/articles/premium-hdmi-cable.htm

@@ -5332,8 +5526,6 @@ Citation Needed!!!

- Indeed.

- Here's the first sentence of the video section of the HDMI 1.4a Specification:

@@ -5432,13 +5624,13 @@ - + - + - + @@ -5480,6 +5672,7 @@
Resolution: ✕
Frequency: Hz