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drewyboy

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 27, 2005
1,385
1,467
So, the great wisdom that is HDMI Org has sent out basically letters telling any cable manufacturer to halt production and sales of Mini DP -> HDMI cables because it is now deemed "illegal". Monoprice has already halted sales and any mention of it on it's website even though pages can still be found cached from google, but they have all been discontinued. Read further at Techradar.
 

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Apr 12, 2001
63,482
30,719
MiniDisplay Port to HDMI Cables "Unlicensed" and Cannot Be Sold




Mini DisplayPort to HDMI cables, such as those used to connect recent-generation MacBook Pro's to high-definition televisions do not comply with the official HDMI specifications.
hdmitomdp-500x218.jpg



HDMI Licensing, LLC, the trade group that controls adoption of the HDMI specification, explained the situation to TechRadar UK:
The HDMI specification defines an HDMI cable as having only HDMI connectors on the ends. Anything else is not a licensed use of the specification and therefore, not allowed.

All HDMI products undergo compliance testing as defined by the Compliance Testing Specification. The CTS clearly defines necessary tests for all products defined in the HDMI Specification. Since this new cable product is undefined in the Specification, there are no tests associated with this product. It cannot be tested against the Specification.
Basically, a cable that has a HDMI connector at one end and a Mini DisplayPort connector at the other is not a "true" HDMI cable, and is thus, by definition, outside the HDMI specification.

As a result, these cables are considered unlicensed by HDMI Licensing and are not to be sold. Mini DisplayPort to HDMI cables can still be found, for example at the Apple Online Store -- but some retailers, like MonoPrice.com, have already discontinued their mDP to HDMI offerings.

Instead, users can buy Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Female dongles. These dongles, when combined with a standard HDMI-HDMI cable, connect MacBook Pros, and other devices with mDP ports, to high-definition televisions and desktop monitors that accept HDMI.

Most Macs made in the past 18 months support multichannel audio passthrough via Mini DisplayPort. This means that users can connect one cable from their computer to a HDTV or surround sound system, and it will carry audio and video signals over the single cable.

Article Link: MiniDisplay Port to HDMI Cables "Unlicensed" and Cannot Be Sold
 

SilianRail

macrumors 6502
Feb 24, 2011
352
56
Mini%20DisplayPort%20to%20HDMI%20adapter.jpg


That looks ****ing ridiculous. If you pay them their 5 cents per device why can't they be happy?
 

djpuma

macrumors regular
Jul 13, 2010
139
33
I use the kanex iadapt to go from mdp to hdmi and it works great. Transfers the audio over too, so when watching movies on my mbp I don't have to connect an audio cable as well.

Not sure about a mdp to hdmi cable. I'd rather have the connector and use any hdmi cable lying around.
 

Eddyisgreat

macrumors 601
Oct 24, 2007
4,851
2
Problem : mDP to HDMI Cables.

Solution : Call them mDP to HDMI dongles and slap the cheapest ferrite core you can find onto the end of one.
 

tann

macrumors 68000
Apr 15, 2010
1,944
813
UK
Image

That looks ****ing ridiculous. If you pay them their 5 cents per device why can't they be happy?

Ah that's not too bad.

It will be as annoying as a MDP to VGA/DVI cable lol. I've lived with one of those sticking out the side for a while.
 

Consultant

macrumors G5
Jun 27, 2007
13,314
34
The MDP to female HDMI adapter is much smaller than a cable.

If you are connecting to HDMI device, chances are they already have a HDMI cable.
 

intellca

macrumors newbie
Nov 19, 2010
12
0
I have a DVI to HDMI cable, is that not allowed too? lol... I mean it has DVI on one end...
 

dustinsc

macrumors regular
Nov 21, 2009
230
52
Glad I got mine while I could. A dongle is ridiculous. Apple just might consider adding an HDMI port to notebooks. It's not too inconvenient to get a mini-display to HDMI cable, but I am not doing the dongle thing again.
 
May 24, 2011
54
0
Apple should just stop with their own priority ports and implement a HDMI port on macbooks. Stupid enough that you have to buy an adapter to use any non-apple monitor.
 

srazz

macrumors regular
Jun 15, 2010
160
45
Mini DisplayPort to HDMI cables, such as those used to connect recent-generation MacBook Pro's to high-definition televisions do not comply with the official HDMI specifications.

HDMI specifications? What a joke. HDMI is so hosed up why bother. In the A/V world HDMI is more of a problem than a benefit.
 

ert3

macrumors 6502a
Dec 10, 2007
802
0
Wirelessly posted (iPhone 8gb: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/9A5248d Safari/6533.18.5)

Pointless distinquetions are pointless
 

Doctor Q

Administrator
Staff member
Sep 19, 2002
39,782
7,514
Los Angeles
Why does HDMI Licensing, LLC have influence over sites like MonoPrice?

Why can't retailers continue to sell cables that people want even if the cables don't have an "industry certification"?
 

dustinsc

macrumors regular
Nov 21, 2009
230
52
Apple should just stop with their own priority ports and implement a HDMI port on macbooks. Stupid enough that you have to buy an adapter to use any non-apple monitor.

While I agree with your point, Apple isn't using a proprietary (I assume that's what you meant) port. mDP is a standard used by a bunch of computer companies, most notably favored by Dell. It's clearly a better technology for monitors. But, like I said, I agree with your point and think there should be an HDMI port on Apple laptops.
 

res1233

macrumors 65816
Dec 8, 2008
1,127
0
Brooklyn, NY
Why does HDMI Licensing, LLC have influence over sites like MonoPrice?

Why can't retailers continue to sell cables that people want even if the cables don't have an "industry certification"?

This is pretty ridiculous when you consider the fact that if you glue an HDMI cable onto an mDP to HDMI adapter, you more or less have the same thing, yet that they're okay with...
 
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