New Reversible USB Type-C Standard Gains Support for DisplayPort Video

[MacRumors]

The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) today announced a DisplayPort Alternate Mode for the upcoming USB Type-C connector standard, which will let USB-Type C connectors and cables deliver DisplayPort signals.

As noted by AnandTech, DisplayPort technology built into USB Type-C has the potential to connect monitors, cables, docking stations, and more. With the ability to support displays and carry video data via USB, USB Type-C could potentially serve as the next Thunderbolt connector, powering 4K and higher resolution displays.

The DisplayPort Alt Mode repurposes some or all of the four existing SuperSpeed USB lanes to deliver full DisplayPort performance, and uses other signaling available in the USB Type-C connector for DisplayPort's AUX channel and HPD (Hot Plug Detection) function. This enables computers, tablets, smartphones, displays, and docking stations to implement the new USB Type-C connector at both ends while using the DisplayPort Standard over USB Type-C to transmit high-resolution A/V along with USB data and power.

Finalized in August, the USB Type-C connector specifications are much improved over previous USB generations. The slim connector is entirely reversible, making it easier to plug in, and due to its thin design, it's suitable for both mobile device and larger computers. It's also certified for USB 3.1 data rates of up to 10 Gbps and can deliver a maximum of 100W of power.

With an alternate DisplayPort mode and four lanes of signaling, one USB Type-C cable could be used to provide power to a device while also driving a connected display. According to VESA, Type-C ports and the first DisplayPort Alt Mode capable devices (using DisplayPort 1.2a) will be available beginning in 2015.

Earlier this morning, a rumor suggested Apple's upcoming 12-inch MacBook would take advantage of the new reversible USB Type-C connector, which is plausible as that device is rumored to begin shipping in mid-2015.

Article Link: New Reversible USB Type-C Standard Gains Support for DisplayPort Video

 

[Logic368]

man, kinda sucks to have another connector standard. Oh well, i guess that's the price of progress. Maybe they're trying to figure out how to combine USB and thunderbolt and displayport.

 

[noidpr]

This could mean more USB ports on all macs.

 

[usersince86]

Also HDMI?

NOTE: an article on PC World about USB type-C says, "The dock can also be configured with DisplayPort protocol converters to support HDMI, VGA and/or DVI monitors."

Good news!

 

[H2SO4]

So before Thunderbolt gained traction it has serious competition?
They should have priced it reasonably while they had the chance, I wonder if TB will be the next FireWire as far as consumers are concerned.

 

[Woodcrest64]

What about running a 5K monitor though and requiring the newer display port 1.3 for Retina Apple Displays?

I can see the iMacs having a 5K Retina display as soon as late next year but for the Mac Pros to use it they are going to need a display port capable of providing over 30Gbps. Thunderbolt 2 only delivers 20Gbps.

 

[jaming82]

On Mac Pros I can see this being used for displays while TB2 can be used exclusively with sending data for drives since it is still faster.

 

[subjonas]

This can potentially be great news for Cintiq users. Currently we have to plug in 3 different cords (power, USB, and display). This could get rid of one of the cords for sure, and possibly the other, only leaving one. That would be too cool. Next stop, wireless.

 

[dagamer34]

So before Thunderbolt gained traction it has serious competition?
They should have priced it reasonably while they had the chance, I wonder if TB will be the next FireWire as far as consumers are concerned.

Thunderbolt was always about ridiculously high bandwidth which required active chips to achieve. USB 3.1 next year will hit what Thunderbolt 1 got in 2011 (10Gbps), and Thunderbolt 3 next year will be pushing for 4x that (40Gbps). And since it's PCI-E, it doesn't have the overhead USB has.

 

[ravenvii]

SWEET!

So before Thunderbolt gained traction it has serious competition?
They should have priced it reasonably while they had the chance, I wonder if TB will be the next FireWire as far as consumers are concerned.

Already is, IMO.

 

[dagamer34]

What about running a 5K monitor though and requiring the newer display port 1.3 for Retina Apple Displays?

I can see the iMacs having a 5K Retina display as soon as late next year but for the Mac Pros to use it they are going to need a display port capable of providing over 30Gbps. Thunderbolt 2 only delivers 20Gbps.

Thunderbolt 3 pushes 40Gbps, though that means all of the bandwidth per Thunderbolt controller literally goes towards powering 4K to 8K displays. Not that great when you also wanted to push high-bandwidth transfers to an external RAID or some external capture card.

 

[carestudio]

I heard that USB 3.1 can also carry PCIe thing. Unless Thunderbolt make it faster and also compatible with USB 3.1 , and cheaper, otherwise hard to compete with USB.

 

[CrazyForApple]

I hope so, it gives more room for other connectors

 

[DonutHands]

poor ADB, oops, i mean ADC, oops, i mean FireWire, oops, i mean Thunderbolt.

 

[mytdave]

wtf?

Does this strike anyone else as a really stupid idea?

Consumers already get confused with the existing USB options, now a new connector and diluting DisplayPort connection option even further? Insanity.

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

man, kinda sucks to have another connector standard. Oh well, i guess that's the price of progress. Maybe they're trying to figure out how to combine USB and thunderbolt and displayport.

You're right about everything except Thunderbolt. Thunderbolt is now DEAD. This just killed it. It's a total replacement for Thunderbolt 2 while retaining USB connectivity and cable standards AND is reversible. It gets rid of ALL major problems and ALL major complaints and it's a HUGE standard (unlike Thunderbolt which hardly anyone supports or uses except Apple). It sucks to be people who bought into Thunderbolt and it sucks to own a Mac Pro. You've just been PWNED!

I called this a couple of years ago. No one gives a crap about APPLE standards and Intel or not, it's ONLY been really used by Apple. You CANNOT create "standards" when you represent 8% of the market. Making matters worse, Apple wanted to have exclusive access to Thunderbolt the first year. WHY???? There was NOTHING available for it and it only meant that PC adoption would not occur for at least another year to even start. They helped doom their own connection standard. Call it Steve's dying folly if you like, but it was a stupid move.

Thunderbolt was always about ridiculously high bandwidth which required active chips to achieve. USB 3.1 next year will hit what Thunderbolt 1 got in 2011 (10Gbps), and Thunderbolt 3 next year will be pushing for 4x that (40Gbps). And since it's PCI-E, it doesn't have the overhead USB has.

Dream on. They can't even hardly get any devices to support Thunderbolt I several years later and they're all universally OVERPRICED. Don't give me the "Pro" line of defense because Apple has done everything in its power to KILL its own Pro market and hand it lock, stock and barrel to Windows. The Mac Pro is really a Prosumer machine (given the lack of internal expansion, rack mount capability and even software now that most have left the market), except most prosumers can't afford it. I doubt you'll even see Thunderbolt III. For goodness sake, look how long it's taken to get significant USB3 adoption by consumers (given the lack of desktop sales and the lack of mobile support). By the time Thunderbolt III makes an appearance, USB 4 will be out in short order and that will be the last you will EVER see of Thunderbolt, virtually guaranteed and IMO good riddance. We don't need competing standards and we certainly don't need overpriced products for those standards. Sometimes competition is BAD (look at HDDvd vs. Blu-Ray and how that only slowed adoption).

 

[Woyzeck]

Does this strike anyone else as a really stupid idea?

Consumers already get confused with the existing USB options, now a new connector and diluting DisplayPort connection option even further? Insanity.

Well, as it's USB it will - unlike Thunderbolt - become an adopted standard. USB 3.1 is about convergence, so we'll be able to connect more peripherals to our notebooks using USB than before.

 

[MacsRgr8]

So, now it's USB Type C @ 10 Gbps.
Thunderbolt 2 is @ 20 Gbps

Next up:
USB Type C2: 20 Gbps
Thunderbolt 3: 40 Gbps...

Which will become the winner with 1 Tbps...?

Which wil become the de facto standard?

(Something tells me it will be USB Type C)

 

[garylapointe]

Less ports?

This could mean more USB ports on all macs.

The first thing I thought was "great, now they're going to short me ever more ports on my portable devices"....

Gary

 

[littyboy]

I dont think it will be in the new "ultrathin" macbook, at least not in early models. Apple does not have a track record of adopting up-to-date USB early. Take the USB 3.0 for example, that took a while. It seemed as though Apple wanted to stray away from USB but eventually gave in.

 

[Analog Kid]

Ah, another step along the path of USB playing catch up. "See you can do that with USB too!".

I still see USB as a peripheral bus. Great for keyboards, mice and card readers, but just too unwieldy for mass data storage or high speed comms. It'll be interesting to see how well implemented the DP support is-- or whether it's a bolt on that will need a few generations to smooth over.

..., I wonder if TB will be the next FireWire as far as consumers are concerned.

Yes. I think it always was. I'm ok with that-- I was a huge FireWire fan and got great use out of that standard before Thunderbolt came along. Much more dependable and easy to use in my experience. A little harder to share things with the PC world (unless there's also a USB port) and a bit more expensive.

Thunderbolt will be the same.

 

[macs4nw]

…..I wonder if TB will be the next FireWire as far as consumers are concerned.

Like FW did, Thunderbolt is not going away anytime soon; still the preferred data transfer protocol for Pros.

Having said that, with the addition of DisplayPort, this USB Type-C sounds really promising. Also the thinner design will be welcomed by manufacturers, but probably means another adapter transition period for us…..

 

[iamkarlp]

So before Thunderbolt gained traction it has serious competition?
They should have priced it reasonably while they had the chance, I wonder if TB will be the next FireWire as far as consumers are concerned.

Thunderbolt is Apple's* answer for those of us who used the expresscard format on our portables and the tool which allowed them to redesign to macbook pro.**

Not a single one of the personal apple machines I have ever seen or worked on (maybe 50~75 in total) have used thunderbolt, nor have they needed it. However of the business apple machines I have seen over that same time period (an additional 40~50) I think all but one or two were using thunderbolt in some manner to which USB would be highly un-suited. Whether that be high-end RAID arrays, pro video I/O, 10Gb ethernet (or 8+Gb fiber channel) or external PCIe card cages, etc.

At the end of the day, thats just life. Thunderbolt wasn't designed to replace USB, it was designed to allow those of us with very heavy I/O requirements a path forward in an increasingly miniaturizing world.

Karl P

*And to apples credit they did it with Intel, and then let intel run with it because this problem isn't unique to the Mac world. Needing high speed low overhead i/o is just as big of a deal over on the portable windows side, it's just more-normal to carry around a physical workstation with your I/O in that world than carry around a mobile device with detachable I/O such as is common in the Apple world.


**I understand that some consider the Mac Pro a downgrade, but most of the commercial mac pro projects I have worked on in the past few years needed more PCIe slots than we had, so if the MacPro was to be redeveloped with onboard PCIe, it really needed more of them, not less, seeing as that wasn't likely to happen, I'm happy with what it ended up being.

 

[omenatarhuri]

Cool but I hope they don't hold back the new imac for this.

 

[MacModMachine]

sounds much better than thunderbolt to me.