We’re seeing a lot more USB-C smartphones these days, so it’s nice to see that the accessory market is growing rapidly too. One cool new category are USB-C to HDMI cables, which are the easiest way to connect your phone to a TV without requiring a USB-C to HDMI adapter.
That’s courtesy of the newly-announced ‘HDMI Alt Mode’, which lets cable makers build simple cables with a USB-C plug on one end, HDMI on the other and no expensive tech in the middle. That should keep costs down, and means there’s less to go wrong too.
This will be awesome for connecting your phone to your TV to watch The Great British Bakeoff with your friends, but it will also work with tablets, laptops and other USB-C-toting devices.
However, there is one downside to the new simplified mode — you won’t be able to use the latest HDMI standard, version 2.0b. Instead, you’ll be limited to HDMI 1.4b, meaning 4K / 60 fps video and 4K video with HDR won’t be supported. Thankfully, I’m pretty sure Bakeoff isn’t in HDR yet, so this isn’t a massive deal.
What do you think of the new standard? Let us know in the comments below.