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HDMI hooks up with USB-C in cables that reverse, one way

One cable to rule them all … and in the darkness stream them

HDMI Licensing, the administrator of the High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) spec, has decided that the time has come to do away with dongles and given the thumb's up to USB-C.

“The HDMI cable will utilize the USB Type-C connector on the source side and any HDMI connector on the display side,” HDMI licensing says. “Unlike the other Alt Mode display technologies which require various adapters or dongles to connect to HDMI displays, HDMI Alt Mode enables an easy connection via a simple USB Type-C to HDMI cable.”

USB-C to HDMI cable

Only one side of this cable can be reversed. So good luck with that

HDMI Licensing says it's made the decision to hook up with USB-C because gazillions of devices will use it any month now, so it makes sense to give the people what they want and just let their new kit plug straight into tellies and monitors rather than making them pfaff about with dongles.

The new cables will support HDMI 1.4b features such as resolutions up to 4K, Audio Return Channel, 3D, HDMI Ethernet Channel, and Consumer Electronic Control.

All of which is good news for punters and handy for business device-buyers who can now plan on HDMI as a pretty sensible display standard. The news may be less well-received by Intel, which jumped through a lot of hoops to make its own Thunderbolt standard USB-C compatible but kept its own distinctive connector. ®

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