• FierySpectre@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    It gets even better, each function of the port also needs proper support from the cable. Often cables do not support the full spec of usb to cut costs.

    While the symbols in the post are often put on computers, for usb cables this is seldom done (only a few brands do).

    Source: had to find a cable that supports both DP and PD to connect a portable external monitor after I lost the original cable. (1/9 cables worked)

    • forrcaho@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Yeah, it’s gotten so bad I eventually ordered a USB cable checker to figure out what any given USB cable is capable of (and to see if the cable has gone flaky, which seems to happen a lot). I haven’t received it yet so I don’t know if I can recommend this item, but … gosh darn you sure need something like this.

    • zarenki@lemmy.ml
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      1 month ago

      For that portable monitor, you should just need a cable with USB-C plugs on both ends which supports USB 3.0+ (could be branded as SuperSpeed, 5Gbps, etc). Nothing more complicated than that.

      The baseline for a cable with USB-C on both ends should be PD up to 60W (3A) and data transfers at USB 2.0 (480Mbps) speeds.

      Most cables stick with that baseline because it’s enough to charge phones and most people won’t use USB-C cables for anything else. Omitting the extra capabilities lets cables be not only cheaper but also longer and thinner.

      DisplayPort support uses the same extra data pins that are needed for USB 3.0 data transfers, so in terms of cable support they should be equivalent. There also exist higher-power cables rated for 100W or 240W but there’s no way a portable monitor would need that.

  • Rainer Burkhardt@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Thank God there’s a standard for USB. And another one. And another one. And another one. And another one. And another one. And another one. And another one. And another one. And another one. And another one. And another one…

  • tia@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    The USB-C standard and particularly the USB PD (power delivery) is so complex it almost feels comical.

    The PD standard document (freely available on usb.org) is over 800 pages long and features a lengthy part about the role of the cable alone which is mostly hidden from the user. Here’s a short video about this issue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bZ0y9G-4Pc

    • computergeek125@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      If you’re trying to get Lemmy to print the backslash, you need to make it a double backslash since backslash is an “escape” character that means “ignore any special formatting meaning of the next character” (among other meanings)

  • merc@sh.itjust.works
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    1 month ago

    I just love that in a world with Power Delivery (PD) they decided that the best way to indicate Display Port (DP) was to have an ambiguous symbol involving a P and a D.

    • thehatfox@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      The P and D symbol is the DisplayPort logo. I’m not sure when it was first used, but the DisplayPort standard itself is quite a bit older than USB Power Delivery.

      It’s still confusing though regardless of which can lay the best claim to the letters P and D. I would have suggested Power Delivery could use some sort of lightning bolt symbol, but then I realised that would probably conflict with Thunderbolt, which also uses USB-C.

      It’s almost as if having all these different features would be easier to differentiate if they had different physical shapes.

      • merc@sh.itjust.works
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        1 month ago

        Yeah, Display Port is old, but I’ve never seen that P and D symbol before, or at least never noticed it. And, even if it existed before Display Port over USB, you’d think that that potential confusion was a good opportunity to come up with a new logo for something that would be put next to a USB port.

        It’s almost as if having all these different features would be easier to differentiate if they had different physical shapes.

        I think the goal was always that you’d only ever need one type of port and one type of cable and that that port and cable could do anything. Unfortunately, because there are so many revisions and so many features are optional, you’ve now got a situation where the port is the right shape, the cable fits into the port, but you can’t get the thing to work without reading the fine print, or without decoding obscure logos.

      • someguy3@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        How about a monitor/TV for display.

        I like that battery for power, though a vertical battery would be clearer.

    • someguy3@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      I like how they (seem to) try to get away from Latin alphabet, just to go with DP for display port.

    • Psythik@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Also, giving anything the initials “DP” is weird and creepy as fuck, given that “DP” was already a well-established acronym in the porn industry years before DisplayPort was even conceptualized.

      • merc@sh.itjust.works
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        1 month ago

        If you’re going to forbid any 2-letter initialism because it might have naughty connotations, you’re not going to be left with many options.

    • tetris11@lemmy.ml
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      1 month ago

      Thank god that no one made a transfer speed standard of 88 Gb/s

    • linearchaos@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      I see them on the back of full size computer cases and on docks. They will often be one SS port on the top. I had no idea what it meant before now.

  • Aceticon@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    A small correction on USB PD…

    It’s not just USB PD that supports power delivery: Standard USB from way back in 1.0 also supports power delivery to devices as standard, but it’s only up to 100mA in USB 1.0, 500mA in USB 2.0 and 900mA in USB 3.0, all at 5V.

    USB PD is a dedicated power delivery USB protocol that supports much higher currents (up to 5A) as well as dynamically configured voltages (so, not fixed as 5V anymore) though it’s all negotiated so your 5V-only phones isn’t going to just get burned with 20V from a USB PD charger.

    Since Power = Current * Voltage USB PD can put out quite a lot of power for supporting devices (the maximum depending on what both sides support), which means much faster transmission of power via USB which for example means faster charging of chargeable devices via USB with USB PD.

    Anyways, the point being that even really old USB 1.0 can charge your device (just really really slow, though you’ll be hard pressed to find anything that doesn’t support at least USB 2.0 which can send 5x the current of 1.0 hence charge 5x faster than it), and that standard charging speed goes up with each new Standard USB generation since each has a higher maximum current than the previous one, so for example a standard USB 3.1 charger without USB PD support can still push a nice amount of power down the line to charge devices. It’s just that with USB PD things really take off (though only up to a shared maximum that both sides support) and it can push enough power to support larger devices such as full-blown monitors or even charging notebooks.

    • computergeek125@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      You’d be surprised. My mouse only needs 2.0, but uses a C connector for compatibility. It provides an A to C cable with only 2.0 wiring, which is a decision I assume they made to allow the wire to be more flexible as it can be charged during use or used entirely wired.

      • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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        1 month ago

        Same with my keyboard, and I appreciate the compatibility. If it doesn’t need anything faster than 2.0 speeds, there’s no reason to include more expensive parts.

  • Psythik@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    What about red USB-A ports, and USB-C ports with no symbol by them at all (like on phones and desktop PCs)?

  • Qutorial@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    All they had to do was require stamped icons on the ends of the plugs in the spec, and instead we have the current cable mystery clusterfuck 🤦

  • Fuctangle@sh.itjust.works
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    1 month ago

    Why not label the ports and cables with:

    • 10Gb/s
    • 2.1Amps
    • 1080p at 60hz

    It’s future proof and doesn’t need a decoder manual other than basic literacy. It can be in whatever language the fucking keyboard is. If you want to be redundant but even more clear:

    • Universal Serial Bus -> (this hole right here)
    • Speed: 40Gb/s
    • Power: 2.4Amps
    • Audio/Video: 4K at 120Hz or 8K at 30Hz