So they want us to replace one cable with two cables.
That's progress is it?
Genius, just genius.
That's progress is it?
Genius, just genius.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
MiniDisplay Port to HDMI Cables "Unlicensed" and Cannot Be Sold
- Thread starter drewyboy
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Because mDP is for MONITORS, where as HDMI is for TV, hence 2560x1600 only being at 24fps over HDMI 1.4
A £500 laptop isn't a "decently priced" laptop, £500 is a cheap laptop.
I agree, even with a reasonably high quality cable, there is ghosting over VGA at 1920x1080.
If mDP is proprietary then so is every other connector, including VGA, DVI, HDMI, RJ-45 etc. mDP is an open standard, the same connector is used for Thunderbolt.
Thunderbolt is a step towards the "one cable to rule them all" that you so desire, as it is a very capable standard.
In the morning.
I like to think that ten years experience in high-speed electronics design trumps a 10s glance at wikipedia.
Consulting the book of knowledge, an actual document from DisplayPort org:
http://www.displayport.org/cms/sites/default/files/downloads/DisplayPort_Technical_Overview.pdf
Which is a great reference document and shows a DP to HDMI /DVI Adapter
with level shifter, 3V/5V converter, and DDC buffer w/HMDI detect.
Here is a chipset if you would like to make a dongle:
http://www.paradetech.com/products/...splayport-dual-mode-to-hdmidvi-level-shifter/
Which reiterates that DP is *not the same as, nor electrically, logically or physically compatible* with HDMI.
Now, as to the popularity of (mini)DisplayPort and the forecasts, the correlation between that and Mac sales is probably very high. I have seen one Dell monitor and a ThinkPad PC with (mini)DisplayPort. Yes, I prefer mDP, but let's not kid ourselves that it's some huge standard outside the Appleverse.
This is true. However, in the case of MacBooks, isn't it just that the Mini DisplayPort connector actually goes to DVI/HDMI circuitry as well? (ie. No conversion is needed as laptop has both connected to the one socket.)
License-finickiness - not totally unlike what we have seen with Intel and NVIDIA. 
Oh well, I can get my necessary cable-supplies from the PRC any day.
Oh well, I can get my necessary cable-supplies from the PRC any day. Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)
HDMI supports 2560x1600 (75hz @ 24bpp, 60hz @ 32bpp) as of HDMI 1.3 - with that said, I'm not a huge fan of HDMI since I'd prefer audio to be transferred over a different cable (such a pain to use HDMI with receivers). Unfortunately display port doesn't really fix that problem either.
diamondsw said:
Possibly because projectors are video equipment, not monitors, and as such need to connect to things other than computers (such as Blu-Ray players, which will only support HDMI for HD output), and projectors don't have to support >1080p resolutions (that monitors do).
HDMI doesn't work beyond 1920x1200, and monitors are far larger. Thus Apple uses a more flexible standard. You can drive an HDMI TV with a $20 dongle. You cannot drive a 2560x1600 monitor with HDMI, period. Newer computers will use Thunderbolt, which includes mDP.
So in essence, you want Apple to abandon a more capable port that is the basis for Thunderbolt and has increasing adoption in the PC space, for one that is limited to HDTV resolutions and can be replaced with a $20 dongle.
Thank God you don't run Apple.
HDMI supports 2560x1600 (75hz @ 24bpp, 60hz @ 32bpp) as of HDMI 1.3 - with that said, I'm not a huge fan of HDMI since I'd prefer audio to be transferred over a different cable (such a pain to use HDMI with receivers). Unfortunately display port doesn't really fix that problem either.
Moshi Mini DP to HDMI Adapter was broken down. it s not good and easy to break. I had purchased Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter Cable (6 Feet) from Amazon.com last Wednesday. It s good for video and sound. Video display size on HDTV is little than Moshi adapter. Not full. I wonder about Kanex iAdapt MDPHDMIV2 HDMI V2 - Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter with Audio Support. Do you have it? Is that good and worth? Full video display on side-on-side for 1080i HDTV?
Uncertified HDMI male to male cables by the thousands on Amazon... that's fine.
So what's the real issue here? That the DisplayPort standard offers more versatility for less money (free). DisplayPort is trying to use backward compatibility with HDMI as a stepping stone to ubiquity. Making $.04 on a DisplayPort adapter cable isn't worth HDMI losing their stronghold.
It's what HDMI did to DVI-D, isn't it?
They aren't worried that devices won't come with HDMI ports, as TVs will for a very long time. They are worried that people won't use them (won't buy HDMI cables)... like the lonely component ports on the back of every TV.
So what's the real issue here? That the DisplayPort standard offers more versatility for less money (free). DisplayPort is trying to use backward compatibility with HDMI as a stepping stone to ubiquity. Making $.04 on a DisplayPort adapter cable isn't worth HDMI losing their stronghold.
It's what HDMI did to DVI-D, isn't it?
They aren't worried that devices won't come with HDMI ports, as TVs will for a very long time. They are worried that people won't use them (won't buy HDMI cables)... like the lonely component ports on the back of every TV.
FUGLY Piece of ****
Now, I understand both avenues of grief towards either having an hdmi port made into all newer models of macs or just leaving as is and subsequently getting a 'dongle', 'cord', 'attachment', etc., etc. These are a newbies' two bits (IMHO) ... leave Macs as is, they work excellent as they are currently being made (for me, that is). I left a great HP 17" laptop that had a built-in HDMI plug, and never had a problem with THAT particular aspect, but let's face it, Windows laptops bite. I do alot of graphic work which sometimes needs the space that my hdtv affords, but when I do, I'll just add the cord or whatever is being used then.
I recently came back to Mac with a MacPro 13", I really wanted to make use of my HDTV space with my Mac, so I went to Apple store (after Googling diff products), asked what I could use to view Mac on HDTV and was sold the mini to hdmi cord. Got home, and friggin thing worked for maybe a week, and then started giving me massive headaches because I had to position cord just right in order to work both audio and vid. Went back to Apple store and ultimately purchased this ugly thing, and even though there are horrible reviews associated with it, so far no troubles on my end.
Now, I understand both avenues of grief towards either having an hdmi port made into all newer models of macs or just leaving as is and subsequently getting a 'dongle', 'cord', 'attachment', etc., etc. These are a newbies' two bits (IMHO) ... leave Macs as is, they work excellent as they are currently being made (for me, that is). I left a great HP 17" laptop that had a built-in HDMI plug, and never had a problem with THAT particular aspect, but let's face it, Windows laptops bite. I do alot of graphic work which sometimes needs the space that my hdtv affords, but when I do, I'll just add the cord or whatever is being used then.
So basically everyone was doing what ever they wanted and people are mad at this. Well get over it, its a standard, your suppose to follow it, if they wanted a new one they could have gone thru proper channels but that not what they did they just did what ever they wanted and for all we know it does not meet the standards set by the organization.
ROFL reading fangirls getting mad, maybe we need to do the same with wifi and everything else until we are back in the 70's with everyone doing their own and no one can connect to each other, pathetic.
ROFL reading fangirls getting mad, maybe we need to do the same with wifi and everything else until we are back in the 70's with everyone doing their own and no one can connect to each other, pathetic.
HDMI 1.4 also does 3840×2160p at 24 Hz/25 Hz/30 Hz and 4096×2160p at 24 Hz, which is a resolution used with digital theaters
Last edited:
Only two figures on that graph are known, all the rest, are guesses into thin air.
That graph is like a joke. It's not convincing, but amusing. Is it based on anything other than the author's gut feeling??
The chipset you linked to provides a "Level shifting" solution. It only works if the dongle is plugged into a "dual mode" DisplayPort source. The dual mode DisplayPort source uses a dedicated "adapter detect" pin to identify when a "dual mode" adapter has been plugged in, and when that signal is present, the DisplayPort source switches into into HDMI mode. In this case, the DisplayPort source changes the content of its logical output to take away the DisplayPort micropacket data format, and replace it with a normal DVI/HDMI bitstream.
(Dual-mode DisplayPort source chipsets make up the vast majority of DisplayPort instances out in the wild today -- another piece of information in the specification document you linked to.)
Quite literally, the data coming out of the dual mode DisplayPort source, when a dongle containing this chipset is plugged in, is logically identical to HDMI. It is only the electrical (voltage levels) and physical (connector shape) properties that are incompatible and require conversion.
A price-before-all operation could probably revere engineer the "adapter detect" pin just enough to figure out how to use passive components to trigger the DisplayPort source to switch to HDMI mode. Add appropriate passive voltage shifting, and you've got a so-called DisplayPort-to-HDMI cable using only passive components. But, if the passive solution doesn't live up to quality requirements (especially with respect to bandwidth, phase shift, etc), then it may not provide an acceptable user experience.
Last edited:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8F190 Safari/6533.18.5)
DP has been growing at 150% a year along with Intel and AMD announcing they are phasing out VGA and DVI for it.
Atlantico said:
Only two figures on that graph are known, all the rest, are guesses into thin air.
That graph is like a joke. It's not convincing, but amusing. Is it based on anything other than the author's gut feeling??
DP has been growing at 150% a year along with Intel and AMD announcing they are phasing out VGA and DVI for it.
Agreed, I bought one from them a couple of years ago and it just flat out doesn't work. Most of the time I have to wiggle the mDP end around for a good several minutes before my MBP will detect my TV, and then if I move it one tiny bit it loses connection.
oh my goodness!
i have a few of them cables installed, and waiting....
PLEASE send someone to arrest me...........
oh yeah babi, bring your own 'cuffs.. and leather
i have a few of them cables installed, and waiting....
PLEASE send someone to arrest me...........
oh yeah babi, bring your own 'cuffs.. and leather