The two protocols of HDMI interface and Type C interface must be familiar to everyone. The former controls the connection of TV, TV box, sound bar and other devices, and the latter is the 100-watt fast charging transmitter that our mobile devices have long been inseparable from, so the impact of the two on our lives is closely related.
However, in terms of daily use, Type C is still better. After all, daily charging of mobile phones is often necessary, and the cards are even bigger. Even the iPhone is affected by the EU charging law and may cancel the Lightning interface and change it to Type-C to increase the charging speed and file transfer speed.
In fact, with the widespread promotion of Type C interface, more and more device interfaces have been replaced by this all-round player. Mobile hard disks, laptop chargers, docking stations, etc., all show its trend of gradually replacing other interfaces to dominate the world.
This makes most people wonder whether HDMI will be replaced by Type C one day?
To know whether they can be unified, we must first see whether the characteristics of the two can overlap.
HDMI and Type C, the epitome of the evolution of the times
Let's talk about the HDMI interface first. For a long time, the interface between computers and display devices has been occupied by VGA/DVI. They both have relatively high-definition image quality transmission and have a good future in the industry.
But with the changes of the times, the rapid development of televisions has made these two interfaces increasingly weak, especially the lack of support for audio output, which has already made TV manufacturers very disgusted, not to mention that VGA/DVI is still a PC manufacturer's thing.
Over time, TV manufacturers could no longer bear it, so they formulated the HDMI 1.0 standard in 2002, marking the official entry of HDMI technology into the historical stage.
As soon as the HDMI interface came out, both the convenience and speed of the interface were much better than the original VGA/DVI. Especially in the era of pursuing beauty and compactness, the HDMI cable interface perfectly met the needs of the times and has been far ahead in the popularity of TV interfaces.
The HDMI protocol version has also developed from 1.0 to 2.1 in 20 years, the bandwidth has increased from the initial 4.95Gbps to 48Gpbs, and the display resolution has gradually increased from 1080p to 8K (DSC compression transmission technology can also achieve 10K resolution picture transmission).
It can be said that the development of the HDMI protocol has a significant and decisive impact on the dissemination of high-definition videos today. With its ultra-high bandwidth and the addition of new functions such as VRR and ALLM, the TV not only has ultra-high-definition picture display, but also has an extraordinary blessing for TV gaming.
Let's talk about Type C, the full name is USB Type-C, which belongs to a category of USB interfaces.
It must be said that the most practical change in recent years is that Type C has unified the charging port of mobile phones, integrating all kinds of Mini-A/B, Micro-A/B on the market, avoiding the problem of redundant charging cables caused by different mobile phone models.
Of course, the most important thing is that Type C solves the pain of plugging in the front and back, and you no longer have to be annoyed by misaligning the interface.
In addition to the unified appearance, Type C is also very fast in data transmission. In addition to supporting its own USB protocol, it also supports DisplayPort and USB Power Delivery, which means that it is not only data transmission, but also compatible with video transmission and charging protocols.
As for the transmission protocol, USB is not as streamlined as HDMI. After USB 3.0, it has begun to free itself, such as USB 3.1 Gen1, USB 3.2 Gen2, USB 3.2 Gen2×2 and the latest USB4.
For a while, it also made many people scratch their heads, but as long as you look at the actual transmission bandwidth, you can distinguish them, and now USB4 can also reach 40Gbps.
In addition, there is also a Thunderbolt interface, which has now developed to the Thunderbolt 4 version, supporting 40Gbps bandwidth as well as charging, data and video transmission, which can also be called a full-featured Type C (some low-end computer interfaces only provide data transmission but no charging).
From the above content, the HDMI interface is mainly more focused and has better adaptability for TVs and monitors. The latest HDMI 2.1a version can bring 8K ultra-clear images through a bandwidth of up to 48Gbps;
The most intuitive is that with the VRR and ALLM functions brought by the HDMI 2.1 version, it has a natural smooth blessing for game consoles. As long as you have PS5, Xbox Series X, Switch and other game consoles, you can use a good HDMI cable to have an excellent large-screen gaming experience.
Of course, the wire material also needs to be picked to provide stable picture transmission and high-definition picture display.
Here I recommend the HD140 high-definition cable used by UGREEN, which supports the 48Gbps bandwidth of the HDMI 2.1 protocol, perfectly supports 8K 60Hz pictures, and dynamic HDR, VRR, ALLM and other functions are also adapted. It is very suitable for friends who like console games.
As for Type C, in addition to being the most widely used port on mobile devices, more and more computers are now moving towards the Type C port, and even Mac Book only has a Thunderbolt port.
However, whether Type C will replace the HDMI port depends on when display devices are equipped with only Type C ports. Otherwise, if you want to connect to a general monitor or TV, you must add a Type C to HDMI adapter or expansion dock.
From the above, it is impossible for Type C to completely replace the HDMI interface in a short time. Even if mobile phones, computers and other devices have been unified, it is not easy to change the ideas of TV manufacturers.
If you want to use a computer to open a large-screen experience, you should just use the HDMI interface! If there is really a day when Type C is completely unified, it can only be said that it is either a general trend or too much.